Carbon Credits

As the call to action to decarbonise the global economy advances, firms are facing increasing pressure to implement net-zero strategies. To achieve net zero, firms need to reduce energy use through process optimisation, move away from the combustion of fossil fuels, and shift to zero-carbon technologies to generate electricity. However, in some cases, emissions are unavoidable, whilst firms lack the incentive to reduce their carbon emissions in others. This has led to carbon markets - trading systems wherein carbon credits are sold and bought.

Carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits are sold and bought. The 2022 MPhil in FinTech students recently developed a proof-of-concept decentralised exchange for carbon credit trading called Mudala. Mudala, meaning 'green' in Tshivenda, is a solution to a 'carbon offsetting exchange, using blockchain technology' use case provided by Investec Bank as part of a collaboration to offer a collective learning experience between their Fintech Partnerships and Innovation team and the UCT Financial Innovation Hub.

The project culminated with a demo day at Investec Cape Town, where the students successfully presented the business case, showcased the platform and engaged in a Q&A that followed. Julian Kanjere, who oversaw the project, was proud of the outcome and commented that, "These projects are meant to prepare our students for real-world technology projects that are complex, fuzzy and require collaboration - this project with Investec delivered just that."