Welcome to Carbon is Money.

Welcome to the Carbon is Money newsletter, where we explore how to harness carbon as currency to solve climate change.

In an era when division seems to outweigh unity, nowhere is this more apparent than in the contentious debates about who is to blame for the climate crisis and how to solve it.

Yet, amidst the divisions, a common concern unites us: the growing realisation that institutions are failing to address the urgent climate challenges. This has left individuals feeling isolated in the quest for a just and sustainable future.

In the face of ineffective climate solutions, it is clear we need a new approach: the courage to make fundamental changes to our economic system to prioritise environmental value.

Drawing on our beginnings in South Africa, where we galvanised a passionate community to confront climate challenges head-on, we now understand the pressing need to reimagine financial structures and overhaul the status quo to circumvent institutional inaction. With this knowledge, we launched our carbon-backed currency, toco, in Europe. It is now available to download and use in Switzerland and Copenhagen, with more regions opening up shortly.

In this first edition, we invite you to join our global mission. Together, we can provide communities with the tools and knowledge to organise themselves around a shared purpose: protecting our commons by overhauling the system.

Thank you for your support.

Crucial Climate Conversations.

The future hinges on how we value our common resources.

Amidst these divisive debates about climate change, the intense exchange between Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and BBC journalist Steven Sakhur underscores our failure to solve the climate crisis. Trapped in a cycle of blame, our current economic system struggles to balance environmental preservation with economic growth. To move forward, we must ask critical questions to drive action and unity:

1. How can we establish and recognise the value of our natural resources while incentivising and rewarding those who protect them?

2. In what ways can developing nations access and benefit from fossil fuels, similar to how the developed world did during its growth phase?

3. How can the collective action of communities demonstrate to institutions the urgency of updating systems to assign value to our shared resources properly?

This debate reflects our own experiences as we journey through Europe. Watch as we take you through the highs and lows to find the common ground required to implement toco as a lasting solution.

Toco on the move: an update.

Toco is now live in Switzerland and Copenhagen. Communities can now use the Toco app to purchase everyday items. By choosing to use toco, a carbon-backed currency, these communities can and will lead the way, showing the world that there is a better way. These milestones represent a significant leap forward for our cause. Learn how toco works here.

In case you missed it.

Follow the conversations happening as we spread our mission across Europe. These conversations are more than sharing information; they are a call to action, inviting you to be part of a movement where your effort can shape the destiny of future generations:

• Hear from our founders as they discuss the genesis of toco, the carbon-backed currency inspired by the visionary work of Elinor Ostrom’s Tragedy of the Commons and Delton Chen’s ideas popularised by Kim Stanley Robinson in Ministry for the Future.

• In conversation with Tom Raftery on the Climate Confident podcast, we explore the transformative potential of toco currency.

• Listen to how we make sense of the complexities of climate tech with Richard Delevan on Wicked Problems.

• Watch us at the Economist Impact 9th Annual Sustainability Week, where we explore the intersection of finance and carbon and propose how to rewire the financial system to prioritise carbon as money.

The carbon reserve: safeguarding the common interests of toco holders.

The Carbon Reserve issues and supports the toco currency based on verified atmospheric carbon reductions.  

As an independent, non-profit foundation, the Carbon Reserve provides market infrastructure to open up carbon markets to global communities, accelerate the demand for decarbonisation, and empower people everywhere to participate in combatting climate change. Through market operations, the Carbon Reserve supports carbon prices, manages liquidity, and reduces volatility. Learn about the key governing principles and their mandate here.

The Carbon Reserve considers best practice guidance when it selects carbon credits for inclusion in its portfolio of assets. The revised Oxford Principles emphasise the need to transition to a portfolio of offsets dominated by carbon removal with a low(est) risk of reversal, including biochar and DACCS.

The Carbon Reserves portfolio's recent biochar purchases and assets align with this guidance. The Carbon Reserve expects to increase its holding of carbon removal assets in the coming months. Read more about the project here. View the Carbon Reserves’ current portfolio of assets here.

Thank you for reading and sharing. Together, we protect the common.