Please describe your proposed solution

<u>Project Backgrounds - initial Carbon x Web3 Database work in 2022-2023</u>

PositiveBlockchain and ECOTA have pioneered the Web3 Carbon Database, an expansive open-data platform that curates key information from 190+ startups and projects leveraging blockchain for environmental assets. It is available here <https://www.ecota.io/working-group-ecosystem-analysis>

This page has been pivotal in facilitating easy access to critical information for stakeholders in the environmental asset space: startups, investors and buyers in the carbon space, journalists, universities and researchers, ReFi talents.

Our next step, supported by this grant, is to launch a dynamic dashboard that not only lists projects in a table, but also tracks and displays the on-chain activities of pivotal carbon/environmental asset tokens (trading volume, market cap, credits issued versus retired, chain used, etc.).

<u>Problem Statement - Why such a Dashboard</u>

The global environmental asset market (carbon, biodiversity, real world commodity tokens..) has seen a lot of growth, adoption and innovation since 3 years with 200+ startups looking at the potential of web3 in this space, including many projects built on Cardano.

However, there are still a lot of quality and transparency issues in this market, and a lack of harmonization which leads to a further fragmentation. Many tokenization initiatives have been frozen by traditional web2 players, or some simply stay away from it because they do not understand the technology well enough or because of slow UX/infrastructure/legal maturity. Also, it is still very hard to track on-chain activities of carbon tokens as they span through multiple blockchain platforms.

<u>Purpose of the Project</u>

The Web3 Carbon Dashboard will serve as a dynamic tool for:

• Monitoring real-time transactions of carbon tokens.
• Providing insights into token standards and methodologies used.
• Offering a global overview of the carbon credit lifecycle, from issuance to retirement.
• Enhancing decision-making processes for both traditional financiers and Web3 participants.

This dashboard aims to set new standards for data accessibility and reliability, fostering innovation and strategic investments in the climate finance sector.

Project beneficiaries and impact

This project aims to be accessible especially as a knowledge bridge between web2 and web3 participants, but also engage with any groups in the space: startups, web3 companies and tech platforms from Cardano and beyond, researchers, investors, carbon buyers..

<u>Note on Global Initiatives</u>

The traditional carbon market is already realizing the potential of blockchain to avoid risks of double counting for the sales of carbon credits, or other the registrations of projects. For example, The government of Singapore and the World Bank have launched CAD Trust, a meta-registry built on Chia blockchain, that aims to prevent projects from being in two registries at the same time.

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

The whole Cardano ecosystem needs strong, sustainability-oriented use cases to continue growing. The environmental and real-world assets space are very fit for purpose and aligned to the Cardano ecosystem.

The project will impact Cardano in two ways:

• We focus on Cardano tech components to built the dashboard (Cardano oracle and on-chain analytics providers)
• Cardano-based environmental tokens will also be part of the dashboard, containing projects from multiple blockchain platforms.

We will be able to track:

• Number of Cardano-based project on the overall Web3 Carbon Database (200+ startups)
• Number of Cardano-based project with live data feeds in the dashboard
• Number of page visitors
• Engagement through platforms and community (partners, webinar events, contact forms) as we believe this can help create a lot of insightful discussions and collaboration in the global environmental asset space.

ECOTA and PB have organized several webinars to share insights from the database:

• [July 2024](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khh8AzIJSI&ab_channel=EuropeanCarbonOffsetTokenizationAssociation >) recording
• November 2024: recording

We will continue such knowledge sharing efforts and use different communication channels to report progress, learnings and updates from the Dashboard.

SustainableADA will help to promote it especially within the Cardano ecosystem

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We are building on a solid basis with the existing Web3 Carbon Database worked initiated by ECOTA and PositiveBlockchain in late 2022 already.

PB has been around since 2018, and ECOTA since more than 2 years.

We have already created specialized knowledge unique in the market, focusing on understanding the broad ecosystem of web3 players in the environmental digital asset space.

We are therefore very well positioned to be the organization providing such an ecosystem-wide, cross-chain dashboard.

With SustainableADA, we have a key catalyst in the impact Cardano ecosystem.

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: <u>Database Updates and Expansion:</u>

We will start with an initial Database update and expand our directory to keep pace with the growing ecosystem of blockchain-based environmental assets. This includes adding new startups and projects, detailing their roles along the value chain of carbon tokenization, and updating information on blockchain platforms and GHG project methodologies such as VCS, CDM, ISO, and emerging standards.

<u>Data Categorization and Accessibility</u><u>:</u>

Core data points will be organized and made accessible in a directory page that features a searchable and filterable Airtable format. This will allow users to download data in CSV format, ensuring open access to valuable information that can inform decision-making and innovation in the sector.

<u>Estimation duration:</u>

2 months

<u>Acceptance criteria: </u>

• At least 30 new projects added from the existing list of 192 startups
• Cardano-bases projects and startups listed (already a few there)
• Database cleaned, updated, available in read and download on the website
• Form for individual submits is active (already in use)

Milestone 2: <u>Identify Best-in-Class Web3 Carbon Tokens</u>

Identify and showcase the most advanced projects from the database, particularly those that focus on the issuance and transactions of tokenized carbon or biodiversity credits.

We will set criteria for inclusion such as the launch status of tokens, their primary object of tokenization, and their volume of activity. Projects most advanced or “leading” will be listed.

Some potential candidates can include analyzing projects like Toucan, MOSS, Flowcarbon, Nori, Coorest, Regen, C3, Dovu, Open Forest Protocol, Single Earth, Gain Forest, and others noted for their impactful contributions. From Cardano: Veritree or Guildone.

<u>Estimation duration:</u>

2 months

<u>Acceptance criteria: </u>

• Criteria to select top projects in place
• List of leading project to start with: suggesting 6-10 projects to start with

Milestone 3: <u>Technical solution and provider selection</u>

We will define the specification for the dashboard and data points to retrieve:

• Smart contract addresses
• Token type and standards
• Underlying blockchain
• Token ticker
• Market cap
• Trading volume
• Issued credits - when applicable
• Retired credits - when applicable

<u>Potential providers:</u>

We will select providers of onchain analytics and oracles services built on Cardano and have already identified potential candidates:

• Charlie3, the premier decentralized oracle solution built on the Cardano Plutus back-end https://charli3.io/
• Blockfrost which provides Cardano API <https://blockfrost.io>
• Tatools a comprehensive asset tracking platform for the Cardano eosystem <https://www.taptools.io/>
• Orcfax <https://orcfax.io/>
• Some members of the ecosystem conducting token research or analytics projects such as Xerberus will be contact as partner or advisors.
• Other solutions may include Balance (https://twitter.com/BalanceData2 and ADAstat (https://adastat.net/)

<u>Estimation duration:</u>

2 months

<u>Acceptance criteria:</u>

• Functional and technical requirements done, mockups ready
• technical provider selected

Final Milestone: <u>On-chain Web3 Carbon Token Dashboard development and release</u>:

Design a user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation and interaction with the data, catering to both experienced stakeholders and newcomers in the blockchain and environmental sectors.

<u>Dashboard Development</u>:

Develop and launch dashboard that presents real-time, on-chain activity of the most impactful Web3 Carbon Tokens identified in our database review. This tool will serve as a central point for accessing up-to-date information on token issuance, trading volumes, pricing data, and retirement activities.

<u>Estimation duration:</u>

4 months

<u>Acceptance criteria:</u>

• dashboard live and accessible

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Lucas Zaehringer as project Lead: Founder of PositiveBlockchain https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-zaehringer-65725145/

Abdullah Yildiz as co-Lead: Managing Director at ECOTA https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdullah-melik-yildiz-002b50175/

Maximilian Rösgen: Managing Director at ECOTA https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximilian-roesgen/

Cole Bartlett: Founder of SustainableADA https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-bartlett/

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Most costs are related to time and software with own development efforts and contractors from the Cardano ecosystem.

Database:

4000 ADA

Database collection, cleaning, verification, expansion with newly listed projects.

Lead: PositiveBlockchain (50%)

Contributors (25% each): SustainableADA, ECOTA &amp; ecosystem members in working group

Technical Development:

16000 ADA

Allocate funds towards the technical development and continuous technical improvement of the dashboard, including software development, analytics, data integration:

• 6000: project management, requirement engineering, front-end integration on existing ECOTA website, testing
• Lead: ECOTA (50%),
• Contributors (25% each) PositiveBlockchain, SustainableADA
• 10000: will go exclusively to the Cardano technical solution provider(s) selected

Community Engagement and Education - general cross-chain web3, and web2 communities:

3000 ADA

Fund initiatives aimed at educating the community about the importance and usage of the dashboard and database, including workshops, webinars, report publications and collaborative projects with educational institutions.

• Lead: shared ECOTA and PositiveBlockchain (50% each)

Community Engagement and Education - Cardano specific communities:

2000 ADA

Series of posts and 2 focused online events to highlight the dashboard and learnings, focusing on participants in and related to the Cardano ecosystem.

• Lead: SustainableADA (100%)

Maintenance:

2000 ADA

Initial maintenance costs for API services, Oracles fees and other software infrastructure costs.

This structured use of funds will ensure that the project not only maintains its current momentum but also expands its impact and usability, directly contributing to the transparency and efficiency of the environmental markets through innovative blockchain solutions.

Dependency of the co-developers of the projects:

• PositiveBlockchain: non-profit association, curating the largest directory of impact web3 startups
• ECOTA: European Carbon Offset Tokenization Association
• SustainableADA: a leading impact organization in the Cardano ecosystem

Both PB and ECOTA have collaborated on the Web3 Carbon Database (190+ startups father in an open database working along the value chain of carbon tokenization), and are continuing partnering to launch the on-chain Web3 Carbon dashboard.

Both PB and SustainableADA have worked on mapping the Cardano impact ecosystem (successful project under Fund8 completed)

Dependency on external technical developer for building a part of the dashboard based on existing Cardano onchain analytics and Oracle services.

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Most of the fund will go directly to software developers building Cardano on-chain analytics and Oracle solutions.

The project overall will benefit the long-term interest and visibility of project building, or willing to-build on top of Cardano Real World Assets (RWA) focusing on environmental assets.

It will also engage with and create value for Cardano builders focusing on environmental-related RWA projects.