Through collaboration between NAB and agri-technology firm Geora employing blockchain technology, Australian farmers will be more able to comprehend and comment on the effect of their sustainability measures.
Farmers, such as Queensland’s Leather Cattle Company, may meet the publishing covenants of NAB’s Agri Green Loan by employing the technology, as Geora integrates the company’s current sustainability data sources into blockchain. This offers standardized and transparent documentation of the Leather Cattle Company’s ecological impact and efforts to minimize emissions.
In effect, this adds another layer of clarity to NAB’s Agri Green Loan book and produces a reliable record that the Leather Cattle Company may disclose to relevant beef supply chain players. The Leather Cattle Company is integrating data pertaining to the dry matter composition of their land and the quantity of red meat generated over the loan tenure.
This effort, according to NAB’s Chief Innovation Officer Howard Silby, will illustrate how blockchain technology may assist with a variety of applications in the financial services sector, particularly climate change.
Mr. Silby stated, “We think that aspects of the coming years of finance will be blockchain-powered, and that the technology has the ability to help us monitor and audit our ESG-related financial solutions.”
“We are aware that several stakeholders need farms to update their sustainability initiatives. Digitizing and establishing trust via a clear and uniform reporting system would simplify and streamline this procedure for farm owners and the whole supply chain. The Leather Cattle Company is an excellent illustration of how the agricultural industry can utilize technological solutions, including blockchain, to illustrate the environmental effect of their investments.
“We’re aiming to extend our Agri Green Loan product portfolio, and we’re continuing to investigate how technology may help us achieve cost savings that we can transfer to clients who are spending in ‘green’ solutions that are of high quality.”
The proprietor of the Leather Cattle Company, Melinee Leather, and her husband Rob stated that this technology would provide data that will help in demonstrating the effect of the Leather’s sustainability initiatives on greenhouse gas reductions.
“We exert a tremendous amount of effort to make our cattle operations environmentally friendly and sustainable. Engaging with NAB and Geora to electronically monitor this allows us to establish the effect of these Green initiatives, as stated by Ms. Leather.
“The capacity to preserve data utilizing blockchain will also be beneficial to beef customers in demonstrating our product’s grade certifications.”
Bridie Ohlsson, CEO and co-founder of Geora, stated that she was glad to observe this partnership between conventional banking and the startup business. Geora was established in 2019 and utilizes blockchain networks to give data solutions to farmers around the world.
Ms. Ohlsson stated that the procedure of creating a more environmentally friendly farm requires the transfer of confidence from the real world to safe digital spaces.
“NAB is an essential element of the producer’s trust network in Australian farming, which is one of the grounds why we are so thrilled to be collaborating.”
Standardized reporting offers NAB a transparent, auditable record that can be pooled across numerous loans to bolster the green credentials of its green lending products. Verifiable green loan portfolios also enable NAB to operate as a mediator between investors in term deposits or bonds who increasingly want their funds to be utilized for green objectives and borrowers who need financing to move to greener business models.
NAB has just issued a stablecoin to facilitate the digitization of this relationship and increase transparency for all sides.
“With our stablecoin capability, which can be described as a tokenized deposit, and our usage of blockchain to validate our green assets, NAB’s Digital Assets product development lineup includes a tokenized green deposit option,” Mr. Silby stated.
This is the beginning of openness, which is necessary if we are to devote substantial funding toward the shift to a sustainable economy.
