Environmental Responsibility

Carbon Responsible helps ETC Group calculate relevant carbon emissions in line with its recommended methodology. Established in 2012 with a focus on addressing emissions in the travel sector, Carbon Responsible has evolved into a leading provider of a comprehensive industry database, playing a crucial role in guiding industry reporting standards. Expanding beyond its initial scope, the company now specialises in robust corporate and investment reporting on emissions and sustainability matters more broadly.

Native specialises in crafting impactful climate action projects, driving change at the community level. ETC Group collaborates with Native as an independent provider to purchase high-impact gold-standard carbon credits.

Over two decades, the company’s track record showcases its commitment to catalysing transformative initiatives that deliver vital carbon and biodiversity benefits. Collaborating with more than 500 corporate supporters, Native assists companies in fulfilling their sustainability goals. As a certified Public Benefit Corporation and thrice-honored 'Best for the World' B Corp, Native collaborates with entities dedicated to creating meaningful social and environmental impacts.

As a disruptive and relatively recent innovation, the social impacts of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, both positive and negative, are still emerging. However, two evolving benefits brought by cryptocurrencies are already evident: financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Many consider that human bias typical of traditional financial services can play out by discriminating against minorities, whether on ethnic, gender, religious or other grounds. Being free from these biases, cryptocurrencies are entirely inclusive, as evidenced by their growing popularity amongst certain minority groups. ‘Sending money home’ has always been a way that emigrants have helped their families, and some of the poorest countries in the world rely on these overseas remittances. In fact, they can be a meaningful part of national GDP. The incumbent remittance industry charges in the order of $25 billion per annum in transfer fees for funds often used for basic fundamental needs such as housing, education and healthcare. By contrast, cryptocurrencies enable this transfer at no cost, using a smartphone. The result? More and faster economic empowerment for those who need it most.

Being decentralised, and with embedded democratic and inclusive decision-making procedures, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies employ a totally different governance system to traditional financial institutions. This contrast makes direct comparison between the two difficult, and both have advantages and disadvantages. Governance advantages of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies include transparency and traceability. For instance, rather than relying on a selected - and generally exclusive - board to make strategic decisions around risk management and core procedures, the process is open to everyone in the community.What’s more, it is transparent and all transactions are fully traceable, which is often not the case in the traditional financial system. A governance and transparency challenge for the crypto ecosystem is that individual identities can be difficult to trace, however this will likely change further down the road.