DePIN will drive environmental impact by being a solution for climate crisis

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It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the effects of the climate crisis. But our approaches to monitoring and addressing this existential challenge often feel outdated and inadequate. The decades-old climate models we rely on have significant limitations and cannot provide the hyper-local, real-time and comprehensive data we need.

Early climate models were limited by the computing power of the time, unable to include many critical physical processes or run at high spatial resolutions. Scientific understanding of key components such as clouds, oceans, ice, and the carbon cycle was also lacking. These models were plagued by inaccurate predictions, a lack of observational data for validation, and coarse spatial grids that failed to resolve regional details. Although they still captured overall global warming trends, these limitations hindered their accuracy and reliability.

Furthermore, obtaining valuable information that affects our daily well-being, such as air quality, noise levels and light pollution, remains challenging today due to high infrastructure costs, especially in the densely populated areas where most of us live. However, emerging technologies such as web3 and decentralized networks offer a new way forward; a path built on transparency, community ownership, and aligned incentives to encourage the creation of private infrastructure, resulting in bottom-up climate solutions.

How does web3 power environmental monitoring at scale?

Web3’s ethos is focused on decentralized management, giving power back to individuals and communities. It’s about moving away from relying solely on centralized approaches and enabling direct participation in the systems that impact our lives.

Web3 offers a way to democratize environmental monitoring for climate action, creating a more transparent record and incentive structure for collecting critical data. It provides citizens with the tools to take climate action in their communities.

This decentralized approach contrasts with current centralized environmental monitoring models, where data collection and decision-making are often far removed from affected communities. Web3 empowers local citizens to take ownership of environmental data, create a tamper-proof, public record of that data, and enable new incentive structures to encourage widespread participation.

Prime examples range from the effects of the 70,000 wildfires that occur in the US each year, which I experienced firsthand while living in the San Francisco Bay Area, to the toxic air we breathe across Europe and the world’s worst polluted regions in Southeast Asia. A piecemeal approach will not scale to cover large areas at risk, and today’s society is more aware than ever of the dangers we face. This is where the distributed, citizen-led approach of projects powered by decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) can be transformative.

DePIN represents a new model for distributing physical infrastructure by encouraging participants to create and grow private networks. In this case, the network consists of climate sensors owned by infrastructure investors and climate-conscious consumers alike, rewarded with strategically aligned incentives for collecting data. Participants can be rewarded with tokens or other incentives for contributing data from high-risk positions, aligning individual and collective interests.

This concept of incentivized distribution is a key part of what web3 models enable, creating a virtuous cycle of engagement and influence. It’s about leveraging the power of decentralized technologies and aligning incentives to unlock new solutions to pressing challenges.

Realizing this vision of a Web3-enabled climate response will not be easy. This will require overcoming challenges in data quality, governance, and accessibility, as well as closing the gap between web3 and peripheral communities. But the potential to create a more agile, inclusive, powerful and effective approach to the climate crisis is huge. By embracing decentralization and encouraging communities to take an active role in environmental monitoring and action, we can create a more resilient and adaptable system to face the defining challenges of our time.

The benefits and possibilities of citizen-supported climate action

The vision of Web3-powered climate action is compelling, but what might it actually look like in practice? The potential benefits and possibilities are enormous.

While air quality monitoring is available today, it often lacks the hyperlocal data needed to fully understand our environment. A widespread community-owned sensor network could fill these gaps, providing unprecedented insight into the invisible threats around us and a better understanding of how to deal with the harm caused by them. Just as Google Maps revolutionized navigation, a web3-powered sensor network could transform our collective environmental awareness, making detailed data on air pollution, noise levels and light pollution accessible at everyone’s fingertips.

But the impact goes far beyond awareness. This data transparency can inform better climate policy and create new accountability. Communities facing massive environmental harms can use this information to advocate for their needs and press for stronger regulations and enforcement.

Web3 use cases like DePIN open up many other possibilities for directly encouraging positive climate actions. People can earn tokens for producing high-quality environmental data or measurably reducing their carbon footprint. These rewards can be used for environmentally friendly products or to fund local sustainability projects, opportunities we are currently exploring.

Reimagining climate monitoring for meaningful change

The limitations of current climate monitoring approaches have never been clearer. To tackle the urgent challenge of the climate crisis, we need a paradigm shift in the way we understand and respond to our changing planet.

But it will take all of us to realize this future. It needs the cooperation of technologists and environmentalists, policymakers and ordinary citizens. So think of this as a call to action; an invitation to learn more, find your place in this vital movement, and help spread the word.

DePIN represents a powerful new toolkit for climate action. It points to a future where we can mobilize a truly global response to this global threat by empowering community members with data and agency, aligning incentives for action, and providing detailed understanding.

Luca Franchi

Luca Franchi is the co-founder and CEO of Ambient, the world’s largest decentralized environmental monitoring network. He has been leading growth for over two decades at various startups and large companies in the enterprise and consumer sectors in the US and Europe (O2 UK, Telefónica, Sky).