Laszlo Giricz, Founder and CEO, discusses the work underway at Poseidon to provide solutions for greenhouse gas emissions during the current battle against the climate change emergency
About 66 million years ago, a group of senior dinosaurs pondered whether the cost for a global asteroid defence system would be justified. After thorough consideration, it was decided that it was not worth the money. And even though many of the younger dinosaurs kept on telling their parents that they were really scared of the shooting stars they occasionally saw, the older and wiser dinosaurs assured them that shooting stars were beautiful and not something to be scared about.
Joking aside, we, of course, know that dinosaurs did not have the capacity to understand this risk, let alone prepare a mitigation. That is why it is even more surprising that the apparently most intelligent species that ever walked on this planet does not use its knowledge, intelligence, and combined resources to address the greatest threat to our existence. Let us look at the facts.
There is an over 90% consensus amongst climate scientist, globally, that we are heading towards a climate catastrophe. Scientists that say that this is nonsense turn out to be experts in fields that have little to do with the climate of our planet. Changing weather patterns have already negatively impacted global agriculture and recent extreme weather events clearly pushed humanity to its limits. 40+ degrees Celsius might be nothing more than a warm day in the Middle East, though, across Europe, where houses were not built for such temperatures and where humidity levels are significantly higher, the situation had been life-threatening.
And not just for humans. Bees are starving because they are coming out of their winter sleep earlier than they should and plants are dying because temperatures and rainfall are not as they used to be. The severity of the situation seems so overwhelming that it is hard to imagine there is still a way to resolve it. When we look at the wide-spread political and social issues that around four million wartime refugees from Syria have caused across Europe, the predicted hundreds of millions of climate refugees globally seem like an unsolvable challenge. It is clear that understanding this threat is not enough and unfortunately, global action is still far from what it needs to be.
In the year 2015, 197 countries signed the Paris Agreement and agreed that the temperature rise compared to pre-industrial levels had to remain below 1.5 degrees Celsius. It was an unprecedented unanimous agreement across all parties of the United Nations that climate change is a severe threat to human existence. Unfortunately, according to Climate Action Tracker, less than 4% of those countries have done enough to keep temperature rise below 2 degrees.
Luckily, there is a growing number of eco-warriors who understand that the time to act is now. They dedicate their lives towards making this world a better place for all of humanity and they use all their resources to achieve this goal. One of these eco-warriors is Laszlo Giricz, the founder of Poseidon. While living in Singapore, he was exposed to the yearly haze, when smoke from largely illegal deforestation in Indonesia results in a significant reduction of visibility and air quality across Southeast Asia. He knew something had to be done, and in 2017, Poseidon was born.
Poseidon at its core is the dream that a future where every consumption is turned into positive action truly is possible. Everything, really everything that is purchased has an impact on our environment. Whether it is a product or a service, consumption impacts the people and the ecosystems around us. When that impact is negative, both long-term and short-term solutions are required. In the long-term, solutions are required that reduce or ideally even eliminate negative effects. In the short-term, unavoidable negative impacts need to be addressed with positive action.
A utopian future where all transportation will be environmentally friendly, perhaps using electric engines or hydrogen-powered, seems possible. Being realistic, it is clear that this will take decades and not just a few years. What can be done until then? What if it would be possible to address all the negative impacts today by doing good somewhere else? What if releasing a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere could be addressed by ensuring more than that amount is protected somewhere else?
Poseidon has successfully been providing a solution for greenhouse gas emissions to corporations like the ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, the supercar manufacturer BAC, the shoe brand Vivobarefoot, and even government entities like the council of the iconic city of Liverpool.
Since May 2018, Poseidon connected real-word positive impact, protecting the rainforest of Cordillera Azul in the Peruvian Amazon, with the emissions created by everything from shoes to city councils. Of course, the ultimate solution has to be the significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Until that day, Poseidon’s platform bridges the gap.
To give a more detailed look at the solution, first, the climate impact is qualified and quantified, as for example the greenhouse gas emissions of the city council of Liverpool through Carbon Trust. Then, more than the negative impact, more than the greenhouse gas emissions that the city council is responsible for, is protected by saving an appropriate area of rainforest from deforestation. By having a greater positive than negative impact, the activities of Liverpool City Council were turned into climate action. And to ensure traceability and transparency, Poseidon is using the environmentally-friendly Stellar blockchain technology to provide verifiable proof of positive action. It is a real solution using cutting-edge technology that is available today.
The sheer size of environmental and social challenges globally is overwhelming. A few dozen years ago, there would have probably been very little hope. Today, with the revolutionary solutions Poseidon and other eco warriors are creating, the tools to avert a climate catastrophe are available. It is still possible to change course and rescue an environment that is able to support life on Earth. Poseidon’s platform can empower everyone to be part of the solution and hopefully, humans will not end up like dinosaurs.
Please note: This is a commercial profile
