Samsung Electronics America confirmed on January 3 at the CES Tech Conference in Las Vegas that it will partner with veritree, a blockchain-based climate solutions platform. Through this partnership, they aim to plant 2 million mangrove trees in Madagascar in the coming three months. Veritree utilizes blockchain technology to manage the process of reforestation and validate that every listed tree is planted.
The Galaxy phone maker is set to lead a tree-planting initiative in Madagascar and track it using distributed ledger technology (DLT). Notably, this tree-planting initiative is part of Samsung’s nature-based action plan to boost environmental sustainability, mainly to trap and sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
Their target is to restore around 200 hectares of land sequester nearly 1 billion pounds of CO2 over 25 years. Veritree was created by tentree, a sustainable apparel firm that plants 10 trees for each clothing item that is sold. Tentree will handle all the involved logistics.
Created as an accounting system, Veritree tries to offer significant transparency of the whole process ranging from field-level data collection, site planning, tree inventory, and impact monitoring. The tree planters use their phones to track the trees that a sponsor has already paid to plant, eventually developing a digital map of the corresponding digital trees.
Mark Newton, Samsung’s head of corporate sustainability, stated that investing in innovative technology and “nature-based solutions” is essential for fighting climate change. Based on an official Samsung statement, mangrove trees are some of the most effective nature-based carbon sinks globally.
Mangrove roots are normally covered by water, and they capture and store CO2 in the soil. Samsung now wants to work with the local community members of the Mahajanga region of Madagascar. Mahajanga is an area faced with a huge rate of deforestation, and Samsung wants to reach its 2 million tree goal by the end of Q1 2022.
This tree planting initiative is part of the phone maker’s increased efforts surrounding sustainability. Apart from using renewable energy in the US, the firm recently unleashed a new smart TV lineup with an integrated NFT platform.
