How to Take Climate Action in Web3 with Aerial
Unless you have been living under a rock, developed agoraphobia or quit the news due to COVID information overload, you would have heard a thing or two about record-breaking climate events that affected millions of people worldwide. We witnessed Australia’s devastating wildfires that burnt 42 million acres, releasing dangerous amounts of carbon into the air while turning New Zealand’s beautiful white glaciers brown with ash. Across two continents, East Africa and Central America, severe droughts brought forth new levels of famine and disease. Yet, on the other side of the globe, South Asia experienced massive flooding, resembling a scene from the movie Water World, drowning cities, crops and homes.
Though climate change is a controversial topic and can be politically charged, what we do know is that the Earth is heating up. Like a child who has developed a fever, we can either wait it out or take action before we cross that fatal threshold. From electrifying anything and everything to outer space mining and colonizing Mars as possible solutions, climate action touches every aspect of our society, economy and environment. As such, the international community is coming together through the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to take climate action.
How does this translate into Web3?
What seemed like Bitcoin’s continued ascension, headlines in 2021 circulated that crypto was trashing the planet, triggering alarm bells across climate campaigners, governments and other big energy users. Energy used for bitcoin mining was estimated to be higher than the domestic energy consumption of Belgium. For Ethereum, it was estimated that an average NFT, pre-merge, had a carbon footprint equivalent to driving around 500 miles in a gasoline-powered car.
From this, news came out that China banned crypto mining while Tesla stopped accepting bitcoin as payment. Then in September 2022, Ethereum reduced its carbon footprint by 99.99% by introducing proof-of-work (POW) and proof-of-staking (POS) protocols as part of its network upgrade.
To reach mass adoption and scalability, the Web3 community needs to continue understanding its role in climate action.
One company has developed a sustainable platform to track and offset the carbon emissions from brands, artists and everyday people.
Aerial
With the goal to foster climate action for everyone, Aerial was born when its founders travelled the world witnessing first-hand the negative effects of climate change. Launched in 2019, Aerial focuses on three main principles:
1. Tracking carbon footprints
2. Offsetting carbon emissions
3. Educating the community
Teaming up with some of the biggest names (e.g. Sharkira, Calvin Harris, Moon Birds, PROOF Collective, Dead Fellaz, KINGSHIP, Levi’s, Budweiser, Pepsi, Campbell’s, CNBC, etc.), Aerial has enabled its partners to offset their NFT collections’ emissions by contributing to key environmentally-focused projects, such as the United Nations REDD+, forest conservation and carbon removal.
In addition, the Aerial App provides the easiest and most accurate way to track and offset an individual’s personal carbon footprint by calculating how much carbon is released into the atmosphere. Armed with this knowledge and ongoing insights through exclusive content, individuals can contribute towards verified projects directly through its free App.
Explorers NFT collection
Aerial is bringing another dimension to its arsenal of utilities with its upcoming NFT collection. Minting an Explorer NFT will unlock surreal experiences while directly contributing towards the removal of carbon from the atmosphere through trait-specific Explorers. Associated traits will allow holders to be part of the solution. Ocean-based Explorers (e.g. surfers, divers, etc.) will focus on eliminating carbon through ocean-based projects, whereas land-based Explorers (e.g., climbers, skiers, etc.) will support land-based projects. And these aren’t just any environmental projects that are chosen by Aerial.
Imagine helping a project that bioengineers trees to grow faster and become drought-resistant. Technology like this has been developed to help trees upgrade their ability to do photosynthesis to grow faster, increase their intake of more carbon and release it slower and through decomposition. Holders will be a part of cutting-edge climate adaptation innovations such as this and many others.
For adrenaline junkies and adventure seekers, holders will join a community of explorers and climate action supporters that offer opportunities to witness unimaginable IRL experiences with real-life professional explorers (e.g., a NASA astronaut, a free-diver that swims with sharks and an acclaimed nature photographer). In addition, holders can immerse themselves in various scavenger hunts virtually or in person. Expeditions and exclusive events will also provide life-changing experiences while gaining a greater appreciation of our natural world.
About the team
Aerial was founded by Andreas Homer (CEO), Ebby Amir and Ari Sawyers, who collectively possess a track record of selling multi-million dollar start-ups acquired by Microsoft and KakaoTalk. Specializing in product design, engineering and business development, these founders have worked for multi-billion dollar tech giants (e.g., Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc.), giving them the expertise in developing in-demand products and establishing high-profile partnerships to scale their business model.
Then, history repeated itself. Aerial, through its founders, garnered mass media exposure and success with its partnerships with multi-billion dollar brands, big-name artists and performers, top-tier NFT projects and groups, other influencers in the entertainment space, and more.
They say that “Success leaves clues” so people who perform at the highest levels are doing something different than anyone else in the space. This is just the beginning for these founders and Aerial’s journey towards climate action.
Aerial’s founders established partnerships with household names across Web2 and Web3, including: Levi’s, Pepsi, Budweiser, Campbell’s, Dole Foods, MLS, Sharika, Calvin Harris, Sia, Susan Sarandon, Korn, Moon Birds, PROOF, DeadFellaz, KINGSHIP, David Lynch, Martha Stewart, Melanie Martinez and Ellen DeGeneres.
More information
- Website: https://aerial.is/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/withAerial
- App: https://aerial.is/download
- Aerial Explorers: https://twitter.com/AerialExplorers
Brought to you by Wonderlust, a Web2 professional raising the bar in Web3 as a builder, strategist, advisor and content writer.
Author: Wonderlust
Links: https://linktr.ee/wonderlust777
