Origin
In recent years, extreme weather events and natural disasters such as cold waves, heatwaves, hurricanes, floods, and forest fires have been occurring frequently worldwide. These occurrences, combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have brought increased attention to issues of human survival and global economic sustainability. Among these issues, addressing climate change has long been a critical topic. Physical risks, transition risks, and liability risks associated with climate change are also increasingly entering people's perspectives.
In the "Our Common Agenda" report, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that humanity faces a grave and urgent choice: to either continue on the path towards collapse or achieve a breakthrough towards a greener, better, and safer future. "We know that GDP as a metric does not account for human well-being, planetary sustainability, and non-market services, nor does it consider the distributional aspects of economic activity.
It is absurd that when people engage in overfishing, deforestation, or burning fossil fuels, GDP rises. We are destroying nature but treating it as an increase in wealth. This discussion has been ongoing for decades. Now is the time for collective commitment and supplementary measures. Without such fundamental transformation, the targets we set for biodiversity, pollution, and climate change will be unattainable."
While the international community is making every effort to combat the pandemic, extreme weather events are also occurring frequently in many countries around the world. From heatwaves to heavy rain and flooding, severe weather conditions are causing significant human casualties and economic losses. The pressure on people from global climate change seems to be increasing. Over the past two years, not only NGOs like Greenpeace and advocates for sustainable development but also governments and institutions at various national and regional levels have strengthened their cooperation and engagement in the field of climate change.
Currently, the use of carbon-based energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas) is rapidly increasing. The combustion process of carbon combining with oxygen produces heat and excessive circulation of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases floating in the Earth's atmosphere. This obstructs the exchange of energy between the Earth and space, disrupts the carbon cycle in the natural world, and causes the Earth to "heat up."
Carbon dioxide is a core participant in biological activities. Comparative data shows:
Optimal state:
• Carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's atmosphere had long stabilized at 270-290ppm.
Crisis state:
• In 2020, carbon dioxide concentration reached a new high of 413.2ppm, 149% of pre-industrial levels.
• Methane distribution is at 262% of the levels in 1750.
• Nitrous oxide distribution is at 123% of the levels in 1750.
• Over the past 30 years, the radiative forcing of long-lived greenhouse gases has increased the warming effect on climate by 47%, with carbon dioxide accounting for approximately 80% of the increase.
Data from the latest bulletin released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in October 2021.
As global warming continues, countries are all pursuing a green economy. The green economy is a modern civilization supported by high technologies, sustainable development, and the integration of humanity as a whole. It is an economy that combines marketization with ecological organic integration and fully reflects the value of natural resources and ecosystems. It is a benign development model that combines economic reproduction with natural reproduction, and it is an inevitable product of human society's sustainable development. The green economy sector primarily includes industries such as solar power generation, wind power, hydroelectric power, IT industry, arts, cultural education, and pollution-free crop production. Specifically, the green economy industry is essentially an industry that integrates modern civilization with high-tech support. It is also an industrial economy that reflects the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. It is an economic project that fully reflects the value of natural resources and ecological mechanisms. Carbon neutrality will play a crucial role in the realization of the green economy.
Carbon neutrality refers to achieving a balance among the amount of carbon dioxide generated and released into the atmosphere through human production and activities, the amount of carbon dioxide that can be absorbed or sequestered naturally by Earth's processes (such as oceans, soil, vegetation, forests), and the amount of carbon dioxide that can be captured, sequestered, and utilized through purposeful human interventions in response to climate change. The sum of these three components is zero, indicating carbon neutrality.
Carbon neutrality is a central objective in addressing the global environmental crisis, as defined collectively in various international agreements: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, Climate Action Summit.
Carbon neutrality targets have also been established by major world powers/economies:
Achieve carbon neutrality
Before 2050
Before 2050
Before 2050
Before 2050
Before 2050
Proportion of greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030
50% to 52%
Achieve carbon peak
55%
68%
46%
With the emergence of diverse technologies and new applications, there are new possibilities for achieving carbon neutrality. For example, the metaverse can empower carbon neutrality in various ways.
The Metaverse encompasses the achievements of the information revolution (5G/6G), internet revolution (Web 3.0), artificial intelligence revolution, as well as developments in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), DID technology, NFT technology, DAO organizations, and more. It guides the interaction between information science, quantum science, mathematics, and life sciences, providing imaginative pathways for the digital transformation of humanity.
• Web 3.0 represents the blockchainization of the internet and is the next generation of the internet.
• The digital economy is an economic form that directly or indirectly utilizes data to guide the functioning of resources and promote productivity development. It is the next generation of the new economy.
Metaverse = High-capacity + Big Data + Zero Emissions + Fusion of the Virtual and Physical Worlds
The highly digitalized and intelligent metaverse, as the culmination of the new wave of technological revolution, is the most powerful tool required for achieving carbon neutrality. According to research by GeSI, the metaverse can empower other industries to reduce global carbon emissions by 20% in the next decade through smart energy, smart manufacturing, smart cities, and other means.
• The role of digital design and digital simulation will significantly increase the proportion of informatization and digital economy in GDP, enhance the level of diversified and intelligent energy systems, and reduce carbon emissions.
• Digital twinning will greatly reduce the costs and resistance associated with human-to-human and object-to-object movement, improve energy utilization efficiency, and lower carbon emissions.
• The advanced development of the Metaverse allows for precise computations and a high level of integration between humans and the virtual world, which will greatly drive breakthroughs in low-carbon technologies.
Currently, there is a rapid increase in the number of players in the meta-universe enabling carbon neutralization, such as, LKK Rococo, SIEMENS, Ericsson, DIOR, Boeing, BMW, Omniverse, moziware, Universal Studios, Night Zhouzhuang, Roblox, Microsoft Project XCloud, Horizon Workrooms, 2ndblock, Zepeto, Vyou, Pixsoul, etc. Among them, Green Meta stands out with a view to becoming a benchmark for the digital economy of the carbon neutral meta-universe.
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