In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and s
In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is holding its 76th annual meeting between Sept. 14 and 30 to bring countries together at a critical time for marshaling collective action to tackle the global environmental crisis, which has worsened the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: How will blockchain technology help fight climate change? Experts answer
Ahead of the UNGA meeting, the latest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out that ambitious climate action has now become a matter of urgency — especially since the publication of “Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. Synthesis report by the secretariat,” which shows that the world is not on track to reach the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to address climate change in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
Furthermore, 200 of the world’s leading health journals released a joint statement, pleading with global leaders to cut greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change, which they say is the greatest threat to public health (Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 13).
Related: Blockchain tech makes sustainable development goals more achievable
A plan for sustainable green recovery from the pandemic necessitates understanding the links between climate change, health and inequality; and implementing ambitious climate change policies that align with the Paris Agreement. The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a call for action by all countries and people to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. More important than ever, these goals provide a critical framework for a green recovery from COVID-19.
Blockchain technology and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have been instrumental in funding these goals during 2021 — declared by the UN General Assembly as the “International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development” — which has witnessed the rapid spread of highly transmissible variants of COVID-19 amid the worst wildfire season on record.
COVID-19: Art charity and blockchain
The COVID-19 pandemic has created both a public health crisis and an economic crisis. The pandemic has disrupted lives, pushed the hospital system to its brink and created a global economic slowdown resulting in losses totaling over $1.7 billion for the United States arts and cultural sector alone.
According to X4Impact — a data insights, research and consulting services company for social innovation in the United States — over 457,000 nonprofit organizations in the U.S., which have combined funding of around $2.9 trillion, continue to experience an increase in demand for their services against a significant decrease in income. The extent to which the coronavirus has affected the U.S. charitable sector remains unknown.
Pinpointing the urgent need for funds for charities and artists as well as COVID-19 victims (SDG 3), Bundeep Rangar — CEO of PremFina, the United Kingdom’s first venture capital-backed alternative insurance premium finance company — explained to me: “Last June, Art & Co held a first of its kind blockchain technology-assisted charity art auction. The auction bidding sales process, tracking sale proceeds and distribution of proceeds to charities was tracked by LuxTag Blockchain/NEM.”
Since June 2020, when I held my first digital art show inspired by climate change and COVID-19 (SDGs 3 and 13), NFTs and blockchain technology have steadily seeped into the art and charity world, enabling artists and museums to monetize their work and continue to receive payments for their work even after it is sold.
Related: Digitizing charity: We can do better at doing good
COVID-19: Museums and blockchain
Among the sectors most impacted by the pandemic are museums, which play an important role in raising awareness about climate change (SDG 13) and providing reliable information (SDG 4). With essentially all U.S. museums shutting down, these institutions saw great financial losses while having to incur digitization costs to survive and continue to reach the general public during lockdowns.
Diane Drubay — the founder of We Are Museums and a minter of NFTs on the platform Hic Et Nunc, who exhibited at DoinGud’s first “Origins Exhibition” — told me: “I see clean blockchains, such as Tezos, as a fabulous opportunity for museums. Low carbon footprint currencies and marketplaces provide an easy, fair and ethical access to blockchain and NFTs, shifting the industry from this high energy-consuming, exclusive and money-making space depicted by the media.” She continued:
“We are still in the education phase when museums need to become blockchain literate to fully understand its…
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