Ureca, a Singapore-headquartered climate tech company, has launched a platform that gives retail investors direct access to carbon credits in a bid to mobilize a global movement of climate action.
Available through both a mobile app and the web, the platform allows individuals and corporates to buy, sell, and trade carbon credits from project developers that are accredited by some of the world’s biggest international carbon offset standard programmes – Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Gold Standard, Verra and the Spanish registry of carbon footprint by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco).
Ureca uses a combination of blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning technology to provide digital MRV (measurement, reporting and verification) solutions.
The MRV system enables individual households as well as small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to transition to clean energy and produce and sell carbon offsets. This will lower the barrier of entry and enable any investor to invest in and offset high-quality carbon credits, while empowering anyone to take action in the fight against climate change, Ureca says.
Investors will have access to the details of the projects such as key project documents (i.e., circulating volume of carbon credits available for purchase and offsetting, number of credits issued annually by the respective projects, developer details, etc.), credit rating details, the sustainable development goals attained, and the methodology adopted for each project.
The platform will also allow its users to earn rewards and incentives through its ecosystem with plans to roll out the feature in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Recently, in partnership with The Asia Foundation, Ureca marked its first carbon credit powered by the MRV system. The credit was generated by five families, living in the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The families stopped using coal in their homes and successfully transitioned to clean energy.
Commenting on the launch of the platform, Ureca founder and chief executive officer Orchlon Enkhtsetseg says: “What was so far a complex ecosystem mostly accessible to corporations, is now democratized and available to anyone that wants to make a difference. We hope to catalyze a movement and empower grassroots participation by providing unprecedented access to individuals and SMEs to be a part of the carbon market.”
Photo: Families living in the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia use solar panels to help generate carbon credits through Ureca’s MRV system.