DigitalArt4Climate announce competition winners at COP26

November 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

The 30 finalists and winners of the DigitalArt4Climate competition were announced at a COP26 press conference.

A panel of thought leaders and blockchain visionaries from around the globe converged in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 11 for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) summit to announce the finalists and winners of an illustrious display of artistic entries to the DigitalArt4Climate competition.

DigitalArt4Climate is a multi-faceted crypto climate initiative, organized by IAAI GloCha in collaboration with the UN-Habitat youth programme, which empowers the global community of artists to create of nonfungible token (NFT) works inherently focused on advocating for climate action.

Moderated by the CEO of The Oblique Life, Romi Sumaria, and attended by Head of Metaverse Growth at Unique Network, Irina Karagyuar, Founder of DigitalArt4Climate, Miroslav Polzer, and Cointelegraph editor-in-chief, Kristina Cornèr, among others, the panelists shared an array of projects and ideas for the use of clean, carbon-efficient technologies to support imminent environmental challenges.

DigitalArt4Climate representatives and partners at the COP26 conference

Founder of GloCha, DigitalArt4Climate and esteemed COP26 host, Miroslav Polzer, announced that the competition had received 208 entries from across 58 countries, and noted that the artists utilized an array of traditional and technological instruments and mediums ranging from digitized acrylic and mural paintings, through to artificial intelligence and generative art.

In addition to showcasing the work of the 30 finalists throughout the COP26 summit on digital billboards and via the project’s website, DigitalArt4Climate have also partnered with environmentally-conscious metaverse space, Artgence to create a three-dimensional and emotionally immersive virtual gallery.

The distinguished collection is expected to be individually auctioned off on June 5th 2022, recognized globally as World Environment Day, in support of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

Broadcasting a philosophical vision on how artistic recognition can allow us to acknowledge universal challenges, Miroslav Polzer stated:

“We believe that through the process of appreciating art we witness the struggles and the brilliance of humanity, and through the process of creating art we surrender to the brilliance within ourselves.”

The four competition winners were decided by the results of an online public vote, while the competition's special winner slot was selected by members of the consortium.

First prize was awarded to Filipino digital ecological artist, Bricx Martillo Dumas, for his piece titled Nexus, a sorrowing depiction of human hand holding a plastic bag containing a blue-coloured drink and straw, in addition to a cigarette whose smoke floats into the atmosphere as tiny leaves.

Bricx Martillo Dumas' Nexus (Philippines) - 1st Place

Martillo spoke passionately (2:55 timestamp) about the importance of collective ownership in pursuing climate action, citing his life-changing experience of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 in his home-town in the Philippines as the fundamental reason for his environmental impetus behind climate action.

Second place in the competition was awarded three-ways to Iranian artist, Amir Karimi for Every Second Lake, French artist, Ekaterina Lestienne’s for The Wildfire, and United States artist, Chloé Hajjar for Allegory of Survival.

Finally, the competition’s special award, the solitary choice by the consortium, was granted to Mathare Roots and the Graffiti Girls from Mlango Kubwa for their mural artwork, Team Spirit in Kenya.

Second placed artist, Lestienne shared vivid insights to the audience into the visual ideology of her piece.

“My layered, detailed, textured digital collage refers to the multidimensional soul of the world and can be interpreted as our precious and beautiful planet being ripped to peace by extreme climate events."

Ekaterina Lestienne’s The Wildfire (France) - 2nd Place

Later in the conference, the Head of Metaverse Growth at Unique Network, Irina Karagyuar, spoke proficiently about the importance of galvanizing humanity as a collective force to cultivate a sustainable and technologically dynamic ecosystem for the next generation:

“We have inherited incredible legacies from our common ancestors. Let’s become the ancestors that next generations will be proud of. Let's be passionate, vulnerable and rebel for life. Let’s look deeply at entirely new ways and tools to build a better world. Let our lives document humanity's impact on the planet.”

Unique Network, a parachain project in the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystem, was selected by the United Nations to facilitate a NFT climate initiative back in August 2021 as reported by Cointelegraph.

By visiting the DigitalArt4Climate website, users can now claim an environmentally-friendly free NFT asset titled Global Angel. The artwork, which has been facilitated by Unique Network and built upon Polkadot Relay Chain, signifies a message of unification between our physical and digital worlds.

Climate Chain Coalition advocates for the creation of a green economy at COP26

November 9, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Climate Chain Coalition

A number of representative and delegates supporting the Climate Chain Coalition group spoke at a dedicated panel on Tuesday at COP26.

Delegate representatives from the Climate Chain Coalition spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday.

Climate Chain Coalition, or CCC, is a global environmental initiative consisting of 250 member organizations and individuals aligned to utilize blockchain, distributed ledger, or DLT, and other promising digital technology solutions to foster the growth of a climate-focused economy.

Hosted by Strategic director of CCC, Miroslav Polzer, the panel of expert representatives, including Denby McDonnell, Dr Tia Kansara and Cointelegraph editor-in-chief, Kristina Cornèr, amongst others, spoke unequivocally about the importance of subjects ranging from carbon NFT's through to accountability in corporate practises.

Programme Manager at the Blockchain For Climate Foundation, Denby McDonnell, spoke on the panel about her organization’s endeavour to place the Paris Climate Agreement on the blockchain, specifically mentioning article 6.2, as well as discussing the recent launch of a new crypto-carbon platform, BITMO.

“The BITMO platform enables issuance and exchange of blockchain internationally transferred mitigation outcomes as ERC-115 nonfungible tokens [NFT’s] on the Ethereum blockchain.”

Amid the rising adoption of carbon-credit certifications by tech firms to accurately verify and report their carbon emission data, thought leaders and experts from the field are calling for greater advocation of carbon-negativity, rather than what some have considered “greenwashing” strategies.

McDonnell revealed the potential implications of the BITMO platform for facilitating transparent and openly accountable carbon data reporting, stating:

"BITMO is a secure record of issuance, transfer and retirement for each country's internationally transferred mitigation outcomes that can be reconciled with national carbon registries and meet future UN requirements.”

Panel representatives of Climate Chain Coalition at COP26

Dr Tia Kansara, Chief Executive Officer of Replenish Earth, and Special Advisor to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as newly appointed member of the coalition, spoke eloquently on the importance of embracing an array of technologies such as DLT to realize a net-positive economic model.

Our challenge going forward is two-fold. The first is going transboundary. At some point, we need to go beyond our own egotistical perspectives, our own nationalistic borders, to the means through which we can govern for the global commons.

Citing former U.S. President John F. Kennedy's vision for a lunar landing mission back in 1962, as well as George Land's infamous 1968 study on child geniuses which determined that "non-creative behavior is learned", Kansara stated:

The second is a step in consciousness. We cannot transform our lives by thinking and extending linear incremental models of the past, and the way that we do that is by looking at frontier tech.

Also represented at the COP26 conference on Tuesday was independent advisory group, Germanwatch, who published and presented their analytical findings in the Climate Change Performance Index 2022.

The composite index investigated the environmental performance of 60 countries worldwide, collating the data into four distinctive parameters aligned with consensus objectives in the Paris Climate Agreement, and then reporting those findings in a corresponding ranking list.

The group determined that greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) should account for 40% of the ranking system, while energy use, renewable energy and climate policy should be equally distributed a 20% share of the total.

Germany improves 6 places in #CCPI2022. #ClimateProtectionAct & lower #emissions in 2019 lead to 13th place. The new coalition must further expand performance in #EnergyUse, #Renewables & #ClimatePolicy through good mix of instruments.
More info: https://t.co/0gxhh3ITi9 pic.twitter.com/E1u6GMFaha
— Germanwatch (@Germanwatch) November 9, 2021

Assessing growth over the prior few years, as well as defined targets that governments have publicly expressed, the index outlined the United States, Canada, Russia, Algeria and Australia as just some of the more geographically prominent nations worthy of red scoring, the latter of which being the world’s largest supplier of coal.

A stark admission was within the ‘Very High’ scoring category which lay empty, despite Denmark, Sweden and Norway securing the top-3 spots.

Of the major industrialized nations, China moved up to 37th as a result of commended advancements in the renewable energy space, while the United States placed further down the rankings in 55th, one position above the Russian Federation.

Co-author of the index, Jan Burck, shared his opinion of how readers and interpreters of the report should assess the findings:

“As in the year before, we don’t see any country with a perfect record. Even the countries in the front are not doing good enough for being on track for well below 2 degrees.”

Crypto sustainability and green solutions highlighted at COP26

November 9, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Accord

Speaking at the COP26 summit, Cointelegraph's Editor-in-Chief shared expert insights into the potential impact the crypto community could have on environmental initiatives.

Cointelegraph’s Editor-in-Chief, Kristina Cornèr spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday about the positive impact of the cryptocurrency ecosystem on environmental objectives.

Arriving in Scotland's second-largest city following panel hosting duties at Lisbon's Web Summit last week, Cornèr spoke on a wide range of topics ranging from establishing interoperable relationships between people and technology to the mining impact of Bitcoin (BTC).

Commenting on the disparity between the implementation of climate change initiatives between the traditional energy sectors and the crypto community, Cornèr argued that the emergence of new technology provides an opportunity to learn, stating:

“Decentralization is an alternative to campanilism, or as it’s known in the English language, parochialism. This is a local, small mindset versus a global vision of a decentralized world.”

Before she transitioned into the cryptocurrency space, Cornèr established an illustrious background working in the environment sector as a Communications Manager for the Union of French Entreprises for Energy Efficiency and Ecology and continued on to study international energy politics and green technologies as a Research Fellow at the ENERPO Center at the European University.

Discussing the often hypocritical tendencies at global conferences and summits to advocate for universal behavior change at the consumer level, instead of governmental or corporation-led action, she stated:

“The key to big historical shifts is not in completely changing or shifting, but in new synergy between people, technology and education.”

Non-profit environmental group, Germanwatch shared their latest iteration of their annual Climate Change Performance Index 2022. The expert panel of authors spoke to a global audience about the performance of 60 nations which account for 92% of the global emissions.

Offering her opinion on the misconceptions surrounding Bitcoin's mining activity, and the impact of tarnishing a nascent industry for its early flaws, instead of recognizing its future potential for energy efficiency, Cornèr stated:

"Of course there are pitfalls as there is with every new industry, but we are on the way to creating more green solutions. What is really important with the blockchain space is that people are ready to think with a new mindset and searching for the solutions and the climate change coalition is a great example of that.”

The Crypto Climate Accord is an environmentally-focused initiative collating over 150 firms from the crypto, blockchain, tech and energy industries who seek to establish a unified approach to supporting sustainability, as well as making pledges for net-carbon output by 2030. Notable participants include Consensys, Web3 Foundation, Ripple, Near Protocol and Pixl8, amongst others.

Concluding her speech, Cornèr shared a unifying message about the inherent value of humanity, amid the rise in technology, in securing the future prosperity of Earth's ecosystem:

“The crypto community is ambitious, daring and full of potential. Innovation is about synergy. It’s beyond technology and about people. It’s about us.”

COP26