7 Steps NFT Art Platforms Can Take on Climate

The #CarbonDrop community of collaborators set out to demonstrate that while the NFT space has been a force of empowerment for many, the climate impact of the platforms using Proof of Work (PoW) must be addressed eventually.

We propose the following 7 steps that can be adopted by live NFT platforms to drive concrete climate actions. We have shared these steps with Nifty Gateway and motivated them to adopt them, and we plan on sharing them with any other platform where the #CarbonDrop operates in the future.

We hope these are useful:

  1. Introduce climate disclosure language on the NFT platform, so that users and visitors can clearly understand where and why NFTs can have a significant energy and carbon footprint.

  2. If the NFT platform generates a transaction in a PoW-blockchain for every piece in an open edition,  migrate to a smart contract that can generate only one transaction for the entire edition. 

  3. Postpone - if possible - open editions until the new smart contract is in place. Alternatively, offset emissions until this takes effect.

  4. Leverage  industry influence to advocate for PoW blockchains, to transition quickly into Proof-of-Stake or alternative low-carbon consensus protocols. Alternatively, switch to NFT minting platforms that already offer high quality smart contracts and tokens with lower-carbon consensus. 

  5. Provide verified carbon offsetting services as part of the platform, to encourage users to compensate for unavoidable impact that minting and transactions have -  highlighting that while these support important sustainability initiatives, offsetting is not the ultimate long term solution to the NFT climate issue.

  6. Initiate corporate carbon footprinting measures and tools for the platform and parent companies, along with commitments to  achieving net-zero corporate emissions under industry standards such as The Climate Pledge and Science-Based Targets, in line with the Paris Agreement 

  7. Issue an open climate announcement or press statement about the adopted steps and science based verified climate commitments, to encourage other platforms to follow suit and to respond to a concerned user community.