Blockchain for the Greater Good

A Ben & Jerry’s store in London’s trendy Soho neighborhood is tackling climate change one scoop at a time. By making a small donation for each sale, and asking customers to do the same, the socially conscious retailer is using blockchain technology to facilitate carbon offsets on a microtransaction level.

According to the Poseidon Foundation, which developed the retail-focused blockchain technology, the contributions were funneled to a forest conservation program in Peru. In just three weeks, the Ben & Jerry’s pilot protected more than 1,000 trees.

Carbon offsets are just one way that companies around the world are demonstrating their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The Ben & Jerry’s pilot shows blockchain’s CSR potential in two ways. It allows customers and employees to directly participate in an opaque process once open only to large companies, and it provides proof that their efforts are going to a greater good.

Companies don’t always follow through with their pledges. But blockchain’s smart contracts could put those worries to rest.

“People often talk about authenticity in a brand. It has become more and more important for shoppers to see that their favorite brands live out the same values that they do,” according to Samantha Radocchia, co-founder of Chronicled, a company that uses blockchain and the internet of things (IoT) to help corporations with their supply chains. “And blockchain provides something that’s sorely lacking among brands at the moment: actual proof that sustainable, ethical, and responsible practices are being used.”

The Triple Bottom Line on the Blockchain

CSR focuses on the three Ps: planet, people and profit. Known as the triple bottom line, the emphasis on social responsibility has intensified in recent years, even in some surprising places. For example, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink focused on CSR in his 2018 annual letter to the CEOs of the companies in which his $6 trillion investment firm invests.

“Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose,” wrote Fink. “To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”

IBM’s John Palfreyman outlined the ways in which blockchain can help companies demonstrate corporate responsibility: world-changing efforts require multiple businesses and partners, consensus to foster trust, a mutually accepted audit trail, immutability to prevent tampering and a system that eliminates disputes.

“Trust is the common element and net benefit from the application of blockchain to this business challenge,” wrotes Palfreyman, director of blockchain and national security of IBM’s CTO Team Europe. In May, IBM partnered with Veridium Labs to develop a tokenized marketplace for carbon offsets; it has also worked with U.S. retail jeweler Helzberg Diamonds to track the production of diamonds.