Harnessing Web3 on Carbon Offset Market for Sustainability: Framework and A Case Study

Blockchain, pivotal in shaping the metaverse and Web3, often draws criticism for high energy consumption and carbon emission. The rise of sustainability-focused blockchains, especially when intersecting with innovative wireless technologies, revises this predicament. To understand blockchain ' s role in sustainability, we propose a three-layers structure encapsulating four green utilities: recording and tracking, wide verification, value trading, and concept disseminating. Nori, a decentralized voluntary carbon offset project, serves as our case, illuminating these utilities. Our research unveils unique insights into the on-chain carbon market participants, affect factors of the market, value propositions of NFT-based carbon credits, and the role of social media to spread the concept of carbon offset. We argue that blockchain ' s contribution to sustainability is significant, with carbon offsetting potentially evolving as a new standard within the blockchain sector.