Keywords
cryptocurrency, climate impacts, environmental impacts, net zero, Paris Agreement, decarbonization strategy
Abstract
Cryptocurrencies pose a number of complex law and policy problems, the most pressing of which are the industry’s climate and environmental impacts. This article examines the climate and environmental impacts of crypto-assets in the broader law and policy context of the UN Paris Agreement and the global goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. This approach not only illuminates the limitations and paradoxical nature of the crypto-industry’s climate commitments, but also the limitations and paradoxical nature of ‘‘net zero” itself as the predominant framing of national, subnational, and nonstate actors’ climate pledges. The article concludes by examining the crypto-industry’s climate and environmental impacts and decarbonization strategies through the lens of ‘‘limits to growth” and the possibility that perpetual economic growth and environmental protection are fundamentally incompatible.
Recommended Citation
Jason MacLean, "Cryptocurrencies and Climate Change: A Net-Zero Paradox" (2023) 20:2 CJLT 129.
Included in
Computer Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, Internet Law Commons, Privacy Law Commons, Science and Technology Law Commons