A new report by global professional services firm PwC on blockchain technology has suggested it could be a gamechanger for the water sector.

The report – Building block(chain)s for a better planet – is focussed on the application of blockchain to address pressing environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and water scarcity.

“At its most fundamental level, it is a new, decentralized and global computational infrastructure that could transform many existing processes in business, governance and society”, the report says.

Currently, the most well-known blockchain applications and platforms include Bitcoin, which pioneered cryptocurrency (and crypto-assets), followed by Ethereum, a platform for building decentralized applications through smart contracts which has inspired a whole new “token economy”.

The report says there is now also emerging enthusiasm about blockchain’s potential to support global efforts to advance environmental sustainability.

Some of the applications could dramatically improve current systems and approaches, while others could completely transform the way humans interact with – and manage – natural resources and environmental stability.

The report also identifies enormous potential to create blockchain-enabled “game changers” which have the potential to disrupt, or substantially optimize, the systems that are critical to addressing environmental challenges and the ability to deliver transformative solutions.

The game changers include:

• “See-through” supply chains: blockchain can create undeniable – and potentially unavoidable – transparency in supply chains, offering the potential for full traceability of products from source to store.
• Decentralized and sustainable resource management: blockchain can underpin a transition to decentralized utility systems at scale. Platforms could collate distributed data on resources (e.g. household-level water and energy data from smart sensors) enabling more informed – and even decentralized – decision-making regarding system design and management of resources.
• Raising trillions – new sources of sustainable finance: blockchain-enabled finance platforms could potentially revolutionize access to capital and unlock potential for new investors in projects that address environmental challenges – from retail-level investment in green infrastructure projects through to enabling blended finance or charitable donations for developing countries.

On a broader level, the report says there is potential for blockchain to “facilitate a system shift from shareholder to stakeholder value” and to expand traditional financial capital accounting to also capture social and environmental capital.

Collectively, the changes could help raise the trillions of dollars required to finance a shift to low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economies.

Download the report here.