Eco Currency

The research provided in this project is a first step into a possible introduction of an ECO-currency. It is clear that the proposition provided is merely a concretization of the research and opens up a world of new questions. The proposition shows that many practical issues still need to be researched, designed for and validated. Future projects could use the foundations this project has laid, to dive into these new questions, and continue the rationale.

Species found in a single cubic foot around a coral reef in French Polynesia. Photo by David Liittschwager via National Geographic.

Photographer David Liittschwager set out for five different habitats on locations around the world to place a cubic foot. For a period resembling a twenty-four hour cycle he photographed all species that passed through this cube. Resulting photos, making of videos and an article by biodiversity expert E.O. Wilson appeared in the National Geographic Magazine of February 2010.

Screenshots of its field guide function

NOAH (Networked Organisms And Habitat) is a tool for people interested in their local wildlife. The infrastructure contains an Iphone application with which you can photograph any species that you come across.

February 10th, over fifty charity organisations (among which Christian Aid, Comic Relief and UNICEF) proposed a global tax to raise money, basically to do good. This tax will affect mostly banks but also various types of financial dealings (such as stock and bonds dealings). Getting money from ‘the rich’ to support ‘the poor’ gives this tax it’s appealing name ‘The Robin Hood Tax‘.

An interesting article in Dutch newspaper “De Pers” today about Almir Narayamoga Surui. He is the Chief of a tribe in the Brazilian rainforest. He is nothing like the stereotypical image one might have. He uses new networks and technology, such as an iPhone, Skype and FaceBook to help preserve the forest. He even has connections with Google and Al Gore to help spread his cause.

The third scenario is based on interest over environmental value. Imagine you have a piece of land, sea or something else that is worth something for the ecology. A taxator will define the worth of this specific object according to Simpson’s diversity index. Every month interest is paid in ECO’s over this amount.

The second scenario. Many of our sources and research (this, and this TED-talk give a good introduction) show that a very good way towards reaching a goal is by collaboration and a bottom up approach. We don’t need big institutions, a lot of rules and bureaucracy, but allow a self-governming emergent system to grow. This is but one of the two main pillars on which this scenario is build.

This is the first of a series of scenarios. The starting standpoint we took was that a currency should be backed up by ‘real’ value. In the past this used to be the case with gold. Gold has some good properties which make it very valuable as a trading currency, and has been used as this for over 4000 years in a almost all cultures.It is not possible to get more through manipulation, and is thus a very good way to measure wealth.

In december there was an interesting tv-show on one of the local channels in Rotterdam with an even more interesting titel: Super Sustainable Man. The question they are trying to get answered is: “What is sustainability”. Different points of view are explored: urban farming, living on water and the carbon footprint.

The Ecosystem Marketplace, a project of Forest Trends, is a leading source of news, data, and analytics on markets and payments for ecosystem services (such as water quality, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity). We believe that by making accessible information on policy, finance, regulation, science, business, and other market-relevant factors, markets for ecosystem services will one day become a fundamental part of our economic system, helping give value to environmental services that, for too long, have been taken for granted.