· The social, governance, and environmental impact of cryptocurrency encompasses both new opportunities and challenges

· A new accelerator dedicated to shaping the future of crypto-enabled Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts aims to bring key players and industry leaders together to shape a more inclusive future

· The Accelerator aims to make progress on ESG targets by generating projects, learning, and leadership focused on advancing crypto-enabled efforts worldwide

· Learn more about the project and upcoming Davos Agenda 2022

Environmental and social impact is top of mind for investors as climate change and social cohesion top the list of Global Risks 2022.

Cryptocurrencies provide both new opportunities and new challenges related to ESG across a diverse and often-fragmented ecosystem.

To support the global efforts to accelerate the development and responsible use of cryptocurrency, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with CoinDesk, announced today the Crypto Impact & Sustainability Accelerator (CISA).

CISA is designed to harmonize, enhance, and advance crypto-enabled ESG efforts across the globe. It aims to bring together a vibrant ecosystem around a uniform set of ESG goals through projects across three pillars that advance learning and enable leadership focused on diverse geographies. These include a digital ethnography of crypto-enabled financial inclusion efforts, the development of a toolkit on decentralized autonomous organizations, and the management of a workshop series focused on the intersection of crypto and net-zero efforts.

“The crypto ecosystem is expected to see massive worldwide adoption over the next few years,” said Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain at the World Economic Forum. “There is an opportunity to shape an inclusive and sustainable future to ensure we maximize the benefits and minimize the risks ahead. This project aims to bring together leaders to accomplish just this.”

The Accelerator will bring together private companies, government representatives, academics, international organizations, experts, NGOs, in multistakeholder projects to further the global ESG agenda with actionable measures. Community members include Andreesen Horowitz, Celo, Chainalysis, CoinDesk, Coinshares, Ernst and Young, Ethereum Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Grayscale Capital, Ripple, and the Stellar Development Foundation.

“The world’s environmental, social and governance challenges defy national jurisdictions, corporate structures and any form of centralized authority,” said Michael Casey, Chief Content Officer at CoinDesk. “We need decentralized information solutions that are uniformly trusted by governments, companies, investors and the general public to inform reliable resource decisions that attack those problems. CoinDesk is thrilled to support CISA’s role in gathering a global, multi-stakeholder community to advance these kinds of crypto ESG solutions.”