Ralph Chami, Assistant Director at the International Monetary Fund’s Institute for Capacity Development, isn't a tree hugging hipster. He is a financial economist whose interest in whales has unlocked a well known fact by scientists but not by the general public. A whale during its lifespan is worth $2m in carbon capture and carbon sequestration services, whilst a dead whale's meat is worth $50,000.

An African Forest Elephant's tusk is worth $40,000 but an elephant's carbon capture and carbon sequestration services as a living creature is worth $1.75m! Today we have a market for dead creatures but we don't have a market for the services rendered, in terms of carbon capture, by living creatures such as whales and elephants.

Join us in this incredible podcast to hear how blockchain can help build a living and regenerative market that not only protects those magnificent creatures but build a circular economy that is a win-win for businesses, governments, local communities and societies around the world.

 

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is an electronic ledger that ensures that all parties in a contract can record their transactions in a transparent, permanent and permissioned manner on an end to end basis. It also removes the need for intermediaries.

 

From the IMF to an article on Nature’s Solution to Climate Change

Ralph works as the Assistant Director at the International Monetary Fund’s Institute for Capacity Development. The institute is tasked with training staff of the IMF which includes over 1500 economists as well as the training of the 189 member countries of the IMF.

Ralph’s hobby is studying the great whales. A friend of Ralph belongs to the Great Whale Conservancy group which operates out of the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico. Four years ago his friend managed to get him an invitation onto a research vessel to study the great whales, including the blue whales, fin whales and gray whales.

For Ralph this was a life changing experience. Shortly after the expedition Ralph had dinner with members of the expedition whose scientists shared with him the role of whales in carbon capture and carbon sequestration – long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change. This information completely  changed Ralph’s life as he had no idea about this fact that scientists have known for a long time. It impacted him in two ways:

* First was the immensity of the role whales play in carbon capture. Whales capture carbon on their body and capture carbon indirectly through what we call primary fertilisation, the amount of carbon dioxide that the whales contribute to keeping out of the atmosphere, directly and indirectly, is equivalent to that captured by thousands of trees!

* Second was the frustration that scientists had in their failure to effectively communicate the first piece of information to saving the whales. Nobody was acting upon it.

Ralph realised that the problem in the conversa...