Starting my career in commodities trading in Switzerland never felt truly impactful to me, but it was there that I stumbled upon the European carbon market. This revelation highlighted a critical solution to the global issue of climate change. The significance of this market struck a chord, and I realized that I wanted to dedicate my career to addressing this challenge. Back in 2011, I met my current co-founder, Lisa, who shared this vision. Together, we initiated a carbon fund and began developing climate projects, securing investments as project developers. Our journey included extensive consulting for multinational corporations on climate change and decarbonization strategies. Through this evolving spiral of experiences, we recognized the need to do more than consulting and project development. We aimed to create a global impact, leading us to focus on digital technologies that could significantly enhance the fight against climate change.
Simplifying Green Finance with Evercity's Digital solutions
At Evercity, we tackle the complexities and costs associated with green finance origination. Our platform demystifies these processes for project owners, particularly those in developing countries. Having been deeply embedded in this market, we understand the challenges firsthand. Historically, climate finance processes have been manual, relying on Excel spreadsheets, documents, and numerous calls and emails among stakeholders. This complexity makes it difficult for newcomers, especially from developing nations, to navigate and access climate financing. Our technology simplifies this by offering a user-friendly workflow that guides companies through each step, providing necessary guidance, connections, and automation. Utilizing project management features, document automation, and an intuitive interface, we streamline the process. Additionally, we emphasize trust and traceability through blockchain technology, ensuring transparency and accountability. By integrating various monitoring tools and refining raw data into comprehensive reports, we establish a reliable source of truth essential for building trust in climate finance.
Tailoring solutions for diverse Climate Finance stakeholders
What sets Evercity apart is our deep understanding of climate finance, enabling us to create a universal and scalable solution that connects key stakeholders and enhances their collaboration. Our platform supports various climate finance instruments by streamlining repetitive processes and benefiting similar types of stakeholders. We cater to three main groups: climate projects and companies in both developing and developed countries, service providers including consultants, project developers, auditors, and underwriters, and institutional investors, with future plans to include retail investors. Each group benefits from our platform’s tailored functions, such as portfolio management for investors to assess impact and risk data. While the core functionality of our platform remains consistent, we also provide specific tools for each stakeholder group to address their unique needs, ensuring efficiency without the need to redevelop the platform for new markets or instruments.
Reducing Costs and Accelerating Project Timelines
By utilizing Evercity's platform, clients experience significant reductions in both time and costs associated with managing climate finance projects. Our success stories span continents, showcasing the practical application of our solutions. In Africa, for instance, reforestation and biogas projects benefit from our platform's step-by-step guidance, connecting them with essential stakeholders. In Canada, an NGO operating within the government-managed compliance carbon market uses our platform to assist indigenous communities in British Columbia. They navigate the carbon market process, manage documentation, and obtain carbon credits. Another example is a professional service provider in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, which, lacking in-house expertise in climate finance, leveraged our platform to automate operations. This allowed a small team to handle multiple projects efficiently, branding the service under their own name while benefiting from Evercity’s support. By offering our platform as a white label, we create an ecosystem where resources and projects are shared, empowering local players in developing countries to build robust climate finance businesses, thus fostering a global network of collaboration and development.
Navigating Challenges and Embracing Blockchain Potential
We've received highly positive feedback from our stakeholders, but our journey has not been without challenges. Our product can function efficiently with or without blockchain, automating up to 70% of the manual work in climate finance. We firmly believe that blockchain can offer even greater value, such as issuing green bonds or carbon-linked bonds, which can streamline processes and reduce costs. However, one of our significant hurdles is the lack of clear blockchain regulations in many countries. This regulatory ambiguity restricts our ability to fully utilize blockchain's potential, particularly in issuing assets and ensuring transparent use of investments through stable coins. Currently, we leverage blockchain primarily to enhance data transparency, but we aspire to expand its application as regulations evolve. This regulatory challenge is one of the primary obstacles we face in maximizing the impact of our technology.
Pioneering Climate Finance: Goals and Future Objectives
Looking ahead, Evercity has ambitious goals for the coming years. Last year, we launched the West African Carbon Market Accelerator at the UN Climate Conference, a major initiative supported by the UN, prominent UAE players, and West African countries. This program aims to generate high-quality carbon credits and establish a pipeline of climate projects aligned with the Paris Agreement in West Africa. Developing this initiative and presenting its results at the next climate conference is a key focus for us this year. We envision scaling this model to other African regions and globally, given its innovative framework. Our broader vision is to become the ultimate gateway to climate finance, accessible to anyone seeking funds for climate projects. This gateway will be user-friendly and universal, guiding users to the appropriate climate finance instruments and facilitating investments from both institutional and retail investors. Achieving this will help scale climate financing and meet sustainable development and Paris Agreement goals. While there are numerous ideas on how to reach this vision, we remain committed to driving forward and continuously innovating in the climate finance sector.
