We are pleased to announce the official launch of the FTX Climate Project:
The purpose of the FTX Foundation is to live in a world where everyone has equal opportunities. Unfortunately, climate change is and will be a major threat to this ideal. Everyone cares about climate change for different reasons, so we're excited to do our part.
The core philosophy of FTX Climate:
Climate change affects everyone and we all need to care about it;
The group of people affected by climate change is the countless future generations. This generation cannot speak out for this issue at present, and they are also the group of people who should not be responsible for it;
This is a solvable problem, and the greatest solution will not come through personal sacrifice.
First and foremost, we do not see ourselves as a leading authority on the environment or climate change. We have this idea in mind and are grateful for the many expert advice we have received and hope to continue to receive while implementing this plan. Our plans will continue to be released as new information comes in.
Having the resources to launch such a program is a unique opportunity without the constraints of a typical company. We don't have large manufacturing plants, massive global shipping carbon footprints, supply chains to audit, or any of the standard internal processes that other companies typically initiate. This allows us to broaden our horizons to find the most impactful actions in the world, regardless of region or method.
The main idea of the program is to focus on the most impactful solutions. The changes required for this approach are enormous, and arguing over which straw to use for iced coffee is not going to get us there.
Our preliminary plan includes:
To implement this year we will achievecarbon neutralPromise of;
support
supportcarbon removalsolutions to help it accelerate its growth;
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carbon neutral
On the surface, FTX will not have a direct impact on global climate change. We have no factories or global shipping, no supply chain or physical products, just a few small offices rented around the world, and we also operate online.
However, we do operate in the cryptocurrency industry. In this industry, a large amount of energy is used for mining the main blockchain. We understand the reasons behind this, and the benefits Bitcoin brings to the world. But the energy and environmental costs of securing the Bitcoin network can be decoupled, and we look forward to seeing mining rely on better sources of electricity in the future without sacrificing security.
Our plan was initially inspired by SBF's twitter post and later updated by the official FTX account.
Whether it’s for the immediate benefit of cryptocurrencies, or to set a precedent for other exchanges and businesses in the space, we’ve decided to include the energy used for mining in our carbon-neutral goals.
Estimates for this are important: mining is decentralized; no one knows exactly how much electricity each energy source produces; there is no principled system for attributing responsibility for mining-related pollution payment company. Even if everything is crystal clear, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is dynamic and things can change drastically from month to month.
Consider the cost of the mining environment that you have to be responsible for as $1 million by our current estimates.And we did: bought a total of 100,000 tons of carbon offsets through BurnStoves and Pachama for $1,016,000.
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Research and Policy
When launching the FTX Climate Initiative, we're excited to see how many bright, passionate people are working in the space. There are tons of free resources to learn about almost anything about the environment or climate change. In deciding where to start this initiative, we often see the headlines of billions of dollars being poured into climate change, but we also note that many organizations have limited funds. We believe that the work done by these organizations can make a significant difference, much better than spending money on this issue.
Giving Green
We have found that in the world of climate change, it is easy to find information about current events and issues, but difficult to find sound advice on the best way to help. We couldn't find a clear recommendation or a convincing argument for directing the most effective places to donate for the general public, or for a medium-sized foundation like ours. We couldn't find the perfect GiveWell type of organization to recommend and convince us where to allocate our funds.
We've donated $100,000 to Giving Green to help it grow into a solution to this problem. Incubated by ID Insights, Giving Green is a small team of very motivated individuals trying to investigate and recommend the best things your money can do for the environment. Sites like GiveWell have helped direct hundreds of millions of dollars to great places, and we're excited to see Giving Green make a difference on climate change.
Amount: $100,000
Status: Paid
Website: https://www.givinggreen.earth/
Twitter: @GivingGreenE
CarbonPlan
CarbonPlan is a group of experts whose expertise spans environmental science, law and policy. Not only have they assisted companies like Stripe and Microsoft in conducting public climate plan reviews, they have also uncovered $400 million in excess credits in California's carbon offset program and have been releasing free information and tools to help people like us with carbon-related issues Think from an expert perspective. We're excited about the work they're doing and believe that informing policy makers and people like us can have a huge impact. It is recommended to find out more details through the tool on their website: https://carbonplan.org/research
We're also happy to see their commitment to providing free services to the public, this type of public property is valuable and we'd love to do our part to help.
Amount: $200,000
Status: Paid
Twitter:
Twitter:https://twitter.com/carbonplanorg
Good Food Institute
While much of the climate change discussion focuses on energy, food production is responsible for about 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions each year. This includes deforestation, large amounts of methane being released into the atmosphere, and an overall challenge as the world's population and wealth grow. There's also the real possibility of antibiotic resistance developing, which would have dire implications for modern medicine.
We think there is a lot of important work to be done in this area and believe the GFI can play a role in large-scale reform. GFI serves as a cohesive hub to accelerate the adoption of animal alternatives through research, policy proposals, community advocacy and support for fair competition policy.
Food and people and culture go hand in hand, and it's great to see GFI working to improve the quality of the different choices, rather than against people's choices. If their work is successful, meat substitutes will taste and cost similar to existing meat products, and people will be able to choose their meals instead of animal products.
Amount: $250,000
Status: Paid
Website: https://gfi.org/
Twitter: @GoodFoodInst
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Honnold Foundation
amazon
amazon
We're excited to announce a multi-year commitment to the Amazon and the people who live within it, in partnership with the Honnold Foundation.
The Honnold Foundation was founded by Alex Honnold about 10 years ago to bring solar energy to those who need it most. FTX Climate Initiative doesn’t believe in detours that will bring about the needed change amid urgent needs, so we were delighted to hear Alex share a similar view in a previous interview discussing the foundation. He described in detail how unreasonable it is for us to expect sacrifices of rights from people all over the world who have similar needs, especially when rich countries simply do not make similar sacrifices.
When discussing their work with Foundation Directors Dory and Kate, we were delighted to see what went into their selection and execution. There's obviously a lot of care and respect for the communities we're working with, so we think we can trust these projects to be run by them.
We are committing $250,000 to:
Get $50,000 instantly to top up their Ceibo Affiliate Program needs.
Invest another $100,000 in 2022 to fully fund a brand new solar project at Amazon.
An additional $100,000 in 2023 to fully fund Amazon's second solar project.
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carbon removal
Renewable energy has grown considerably in the past 10 years. For any buyer concerned about cost, solar has gone from being unreasonably priced many times over normal energy to now being pretty much the cheapest source of energy. Renewable energy is so well developed that, in many areas, it costs more to keep a coal-fired plant running than to build a new renewable energy source.
These are developments that we are excited about, because they mean making choices that are better for the planet, without sacrifices. This is the trigger point where large-scale systemic solutions start to materialize, and the moment when the burden of justifying the choices shifts from the environmental side to the opposition side.
One emerging area that we believe could play an important role in addressing climate change is permanent carbon removal. Just as we have extracted and released carbon from the ground for the past 200 years, the ability to capture and store carbon is expected to play an important role in mitigating and even reversing climate change. However, there are currently no solutions that can do this globally, or at a viable cost.
We are committing $1,000,000 to permanent carbon capture and storage.
We are still exploring the best options and discussing performance with the top companies in this field, but will invest $1 million to do so. Permanent capture and storage is currently 50-100 times more expensive than traditional carbon offsets, and often several times more expensive than the most aggressive carbon taxes. We expect huge changes in cost and performance over the next 10 years, and we hope this million dollars helps make it a global solution.
If you are interested in this field, I highly recommend reading this free online CDR primer
If you work for a company that is addressing this issue, please get in touch at climate@ftx.com, we'd love to hear from you.
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Learning resources to learn more about climate change
If you'd like to learn more about climate-related topics, here are some of our favorite resources:
Carbon Brief
This is a great website for all climate related topics and news. Although it has carbon in its name, it also includes sections on climate science, energy and policy.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/
news
All major news outlets now have dedicated climate sections. These are usually well done, and most have excellent graphics teams, making them a joy to flip through when you don't feel like delving into a topic.
Example: New York Times climate feature, Washington Post climate feature
podcast
How To Save The Planet is a great podcast to soak up information on climate topics. Suggested starting with the episode "Is Your carbon Footprint BS?" is a good example.
My Climate Journey is also a great podcast and well worth a listen. The host, a climate-focused venture capitalist, interviewed a variety of people. Don't be fooled by the name, as most episodes actually have nothing to do with their climatic trips.
books
It depends on what you're interested in, but the following books are worth starting with:
Bren Smith《Eat Like A Fish》
Leah Stokes《Short Circuiting Policy》
And Saul Griffith's "Electrify Everything" which is not out yet but we're looking forward to reading it
and a video that we must mention
View details: https://www.ftx-climate.com/learn-more
We expect FTX Climate to spend at least $1 million per year. So far this year, we've spent $1,616,000, with an additional $1,200,000 on long-term climate and environment initiatives.
