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Amid the severe pollution gripping the national capital, <keyword id="19948557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delhi-metro" source="keywords">Delhi Metro</keyword> recorded its highest-ever daily ridership on November 18, with a staggering 78.67 lakh passenger journeys, according to official data. This figure exceeded the previous high of 77.49 lakh passengers on August 20 of this year, the data said. On November 18, the Yellow Line, which connects Millennium City Centre in Gurugram to Samaypur Badli in Delhi, saw the highest passenger traffic, with a record 20.99 lakh commuters. The Blue Line followed closely with 20.80 lakh passengers, while the Red Line recorded 8.56 lakh commuters, 8.15 lakh in Pink Line and 7.93 lakh in Violet Line. The Magenta Line saw 6.19 lakh passengers, followed by the Green Line with 4.12 lakh commuters, 81,985 in Airport Line, 57,701 in Rapid Metro, and 50,128, in the Grey Line, as per the data. Thick grey haze continued to choke Delhi for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, with pollution levels remaining alarmingly high at 488 in the 'severe plus' category. To encourage more people to use the metro in this scenario, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is running 60 extra trips on weekdays, offering more capacity than usual, an official statement said. The DMRC has recorded its 25 highest passenger journeys since August this year, the statement added. It emphasised that the more people opt for the metro over private vehicles, the greater the reduction in vehicular emissions, which will help improve the air quality of the city and its surrounding areas. In addition, the DMRC has introduced several measures to make travel more convenient for passengers, the statement read. These include the ability to book single or multiple journey tickets through various digital platforms, allowing passengers to plan their journeys anytime and anywhere without the need to stand in queues at the station. Furthermore, partnerships with organisations such as IRCTC, NCRTC, ITPO, and others have made it easier for people to not only travel by metro but also access interconnected travel options, along with various offers and events, all with seamless ease, the statement said. The DMRC also stated that it is one of the most <keyword id="24050954" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="environmentally-friendly-transport" source="keywords">environmentally friendly transport</keyword> options and the first metro system in the world to be registered for carbon credits with the United Nations for its environmental measures.

Severe pollution pushes Delhi Metro to record its highest-ever daily ridership on November 18

<div type="image" msid="51741571" hostid="261"></div>



Just before Delhi’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=odd-even+policy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate" data-type="tilCustomLink">odd-even policy</a> stages a comeback, the nation’s capital has got its first ever eco-friendly electric two-wheeler taxi service. 
 Looking to solve the problem of last mile connectivity, <keyword id="3309408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Promto">Promto</keyword> has started its service last week and is doing close to 200 rides every day. That’s not too much given the volume of traffic in the city, but it’s a good start nonetheless. 
 
The Delhi based company was started by Nikhil Malik, Karan Chadha, Pawneesh Rampal and Romesh Kumar who came up with the idea of having a battery operated two-wheeler taxi service network. The battery operated bikes are equipped with in-built <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GPS+systems&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">GPS systems</a>. 
 
The company currently has 20 such scooters, and the service is available from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Connaught+Place&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Connaught Place</a> (<keyword id="6356415" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Metro">Metro</keyword> station gate no. 7) to offer rides within a radius of 5 kms. While reach is an issue currently, affordability isn’t, as the two wheeler service is available for a mere Rs 5/kms. 
 
The taxi can be booked by calling on 82528-82528 or by hailing one from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Connaught+Place&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Connaught Place</a> metro station, gate number 7. 
 
Nikhil Malik, Promoter of Promto said, “Promto will help single office goers, students and general commuters experience the advantages of switching over to zero polluting electric mobility and reach last mile destinations from a public point such as metro stations or a busy bus terminal.” 
 
“Our battery operated bikes will be a visible alternative to immediately cut the emission as one electric bike is equivalent to reducing 1 ton of carbon dioxide emission in 3 years,” added Nikhil. 
 
Much like the Olas and Ubers of the transportation industry, Promto has a comprehensive insurance policy worth up to Rs 1 lakh for the drivers as well as the passenger for the duration of the bike ride. The company also claims all drivers go through stringent background verification and training before they’re put on the road. 
 
The company looks to expand its fleet to 500 battery-operated bikes in the next 6 months and over 10,000 electric bikes in the coming 3 years. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Delhi gets its first Bike taxi service before Odd-Even makesa comeback

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Carbon credits have seen prices nosedive as the market has come under increasing scrutiny.</li><li>"The integrity of carbon credits has been a big problem for quite some time," a researcher said.</li></ul>Amid a slew of net-zero commitments, climate-speak, and environmental activism, companies have been buying and selling carbon credits to reduce their emissions footprint. But the market is breaking down.In the past two years, demand for credits has plunged, sending prices into freefall. The recent COP28 climate conference was supposed to tackle the problem, but it failed."There are less credits that have been issued, but the demand is falling faster than the supply," Yvonne Lam, carbon market researcher at Rystad Energy, told Business Insider.The price for counterbalancing one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or one credit, is languishing at $0.64 compared to $18 in January 2022, according to one <a href="https://carboncredits.com/carbon-prices-today/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon credit tracker.</a> Another data source, the Platts Nature-Based Avoidance price, shows a plunge to $3.90 per metric ton of carbon dioxide from $11.60 last year, according to S&amp;P Global.Demand is down because of a lack of standardized rules for governing carbon markets. Recent news reports and studies questioning the system's reliability underscored that lack of rules."The integrity of carbon credits has been a big problem for quite some time," Lam said.<h3>How does it work?</h3>Carbon markets basically package the canceling out of carbon emissions into tradeable items. One credit is a token that represents the removal of one metric ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as by planting trees.The idea is that by buying credits from governments or other issuers, companies would realize a cost for their emissions. They would also have an incentive to reduce emissions by selling any unused credits. There are different types of carbon markets: one is mandatory and another is voluntary. The former is managed by a state or international body, and it includes instruments like carbon taxes to regulate energy-intensive industries like utilities. The latter is where companies and individuals trade credits without being required to. And that's the one facing the heat.The problem is there's no centralized platform over which these credits can be traded. Voluntary carbon credits can be purchased directly from suppliers in registries — like Verra or Gold Standard — or through exchanges like ACX. That means there's no universal standard under which credits are certified and validated. "No one is overseeing what is being put up in the market itself," Lam said.In January, <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/carbon-offset-market-could-reach-1-trillion-with-right-rules/">a report from BloombergNEF researchers</a> said the total value of carbon credits issued and sold to help companies meet their de-carbonization goals could approach $1 trillion as soon as 2037 – under right rules. With tighter oversight, where companies can only purchase carbon credits that are vetted, offset prices could soar above $250 a ton."Today's offset market, built mostly on bilateral transactions for cheap credits, is potentially digging its own grave," the report said. "Buyers need transparency, clear definitions around quality and easy access to premium supply, or future years will resemble what we saw in 2022."Advocates hoped that a solution would come this month.In the Paris Agreement from 2015, Article 6 lays out some rules on how the carbon trade can work. But at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, countries failed to adopt those standards."The operationalization of Article 6.4 would have provided a new structure for a global carbon market, opening up fresh demand for credits, with the UN deciding the rules on eligibility," researchers wrote in a <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/121323-cop28-lack-of-progress-on-article-6-likely-to-further-limit-carbon-market-growth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">S&amp;P Global note</a> Wednesday."Lack of progress on Article 6 [is] likely to further limit carbon market growth," they added.

Carbon markets are supposed to fight climate change. But prices have collapsed with no solution in sight.

Carbon Credits and Trading

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet"></a><div type="image" title="The toucan's namesake company is developing a blockchain-based registry for carbon credits." height="1113" width="2226" msid="99694989" hostid="261" sizebytes="118576"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Startups including Toucan and Topl are building blockchain tools for issuing carbon credits.</li><li>Blockchains, they have said, make the climate data behind the credits more transparent.</li><li>After initial resistance, climate organizations such as Gold Standard are exploring the technology.</li></ul>Carbon credits are supposed to be a straightforward way for companies to help bankroll projects that help preserve the environment in exchange for their own not-so-climate-friendly activity. In practice, though, carbon markets are far from transparent, and it's an open question whether the credits are effective at all.Several companies, including Toucan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/web3-crypto-climate-startup-return-pitch-deck-kieran-white-tesla-2022-11">Return</a>, Topl, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/open-forest-protocol-startup-pitch-deck-climate-tech-crypto-blockchain-2023-1">Open Forest Protocol</a>, are now aiming to improve the transparency and reliability of carbon credits by coupling climate initiatives with blockchain technology. Lately, even some big, established names in the industry are beginning to explore the idea.<div type="image" title="Left: Erin Murphy, the chief growth officer of Topl, previously worked in development aid and fair-trade fashion." height="700" width="1400" msid="99694991" hostid="261" sizebytes="51168"></div><h2>The need for greater transparency in carbon markets</h2>Companies buy carbon credits to offset the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions their business activity generates. Those funds go toward environmental initiatives, including reforestation projects. As companies produce emissions, those projects, in theory, are supposed to reduce their impact.But it's not clear if those projects do, in fact, meaningfully reduce carbon emissions. In January, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian published an investigation</a> that found 90% of the rainforest-carbon credits that Verra, one of the largest nonprofits in the industry, issued were worthless because the projects they were tied to did not meaningfully reduce carbon emissions. Verra has contested The Guardian's report, but Verra has also announced that it will introduce a new methodology for its carbon-credit standard.Even before the results of that investigation, scientists and technologists in the climate industry had long bemoaned the challenges of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fund-carbon-removal-corporates-avoid-bad-credits-2023-2">bringing quality climate initiatives to voluntary-carbon markets</a>. Some have cited the prohibitive costs for smaller, locally based initiatives to gain verification with an organization such as Verra or Gold Standard. Others have pointed to the need to establish more rigorous vetting standards, which they believe collaboration among various groups — including companies, nonprofits, and local residents — could best help accomplish."It's a fundamental issue in the space," Erin Murphy, the chief growth officer of Topl, which has developed a blockchain specifically designed for climate-related applications, said. "We want to see more competition, more scientific rigor in this space."Before joining Topl, Murphy worked in development aid and fair-trade fashion, where she gained an interest in using technology to trace the provenance of materials and verify their green bona fides.<div type="image" title="Salmeron Barnes, a cofounder of Aureus Earth." height="382" width="765" msid="99694992" hostid="261" sizebytes="14992"></div><h2>The potential benefits of credits on the blockchain</h2>That's where blockchain technology comes in, Murphy and other proponents said. Crypto, of course, has faced an onslaught of criticism following the failure of companies including <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/ftx-timeline-sam-bankman-fried-bankruptcy-trial-alameda-sec-doj-2023-1">FTX</a>, BlockFi, and Celsius. But some in the climate industry believe blockchain technology itself — outside of speculation on particular currencies — can provide greater transparency to the carbon-credit markets by bringing together various groups to evaluate a project's merits, incentivizing their participation, and clearly laying out the criteria used to generate a particular credit.The blockchain-based system, they said, can also guard against the same credit being issued to more than one company — an issue known as double-counting. And as several blockchains — <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/ethereum-merge-explained-blockchain-update-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-crypto-eth-vitalik-2022-9">most notably ethereum</a> — have sought to reduce their energy consumption, the technology has become more palatable to those conscious of their carbon footprints.Aureus Earth, which is developing financial tools to encourage reduced carbon emissions in the construction and real-estate industries, turned to blockchain technology to boost its data-collection process' rigor, Salmeron Barnes, the company's cofounder and managing director, told Insider."The decentralized verification capability, and the promise of new low-emissions blockchain offerings, are what attracted AE to create a blockchain-based registry," he wrote in an email.<div type="image" title="John Hoopes, a cofounder of Toucan." height="750" width="1500" msid="99694993" hostid="261" sizebytes="46382"></div><h2>After initial resistance, the climate industry is opening up to blockchain</h2>To be sure, early attempts to move carbon credits onto the blockchain have faced some speed bumps.When Toucan, in late 2021 and early 2022, first began moving existing carbon credits from Verra onto the blockchain, the process resulted in a <a href="https://time.com/6181907/crypto-carbon-credits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flood of older — often low-quality — credits on its registry</a>. In response, Verra banned such credit conversions last May. John Hoopes, a cofounder of Toucan, told Insider the company intended its initial conversions of credits onto the blockchain to be a small pilot, but received much more interest than anticipated.Despite the flaws of that initial attempt, it showed ample market demand for blockchain-based carbon credits, Hoopes said.Other established organizations are beginning to take notice of the technology's different use cases. In September, <a href="https://digitalx.undp.org/topl_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the United Nations Development Programme placed Topl in its Digital X catalog</a> of digital tools to address issues including the climate crisis, gender inequity, and global-health disparities.And after early resistance, even large, standard-setting organizations such as Verra and Gold Standard have shown willingness to explore the technology. Verra completed a consultation on blockchain technology in January and plans to finalize its approach "in the near future," a spokesperson told Insider.Meanwhile, Gold Standard is working with several startups to develop a potential set of standards for blockchain-enabled credits. A spokesperson said that the company hasn't made a final decision on whether to enable the use of blockchain but is "looking carefully at how uses of the technology can be enabled to realize the benefits it can offer."Hoopes, whose startup is among those invited to work with Gold Standard on its blockchain pilot, is optimistic."Getting that first authorized credit tokenized is going to be a real milestone," he said. "Once we have a framework established, then we're going to be able to go nuts on building out all these use cases and proving that blockchain-based carbon registries are better than the alternative."In case you missed it, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/xlSZrPlRGbA?feature=share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch a replay</a> of Insider's One Planet virtual event with activist and artist Elijah McKenzie-Jackson.

Startups want to use blockchain technology to improve the carbon-credit markets. Here's why big names in the climate industry are warming up to the idea.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">AP Photo/Mary AltafferA commuter swipes her MetroCard above a contactless card payment scanner installed at a turnstile at the Chambers Street subway station in New York. The Metropolitan <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">Transportation</keyword> Authority is phasing out its MetroCard in favor of a new payment system that allows commuters to use their cellphones or certain types of debit or credit cards to pay their fares directly at turnstiles. ()</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nyc-subway">New York City subway</a> will soon have something much of the world has had for years: tap-to-pay fares.</li><li>The new OMNY system will debut on May 31, and roll out to the entire system by 2021.</li><li>Despite its ease of use, most Americans don't have contactless cards yet. Visa and Chase are trying to change that.</li></ul>Americans who have travelled abroad have likely gotten a taste of what transportation could be like.In London, for example, a simple tap - of an Oyster card or your credit card - gets you through onto the Tube. The same is also true in Hong Kong, Singapore, Santiago, Chile and other cities across the world.But New York, the US's largest transportation system, like in other technologies, has been slow to catch up. The subway system, after all, only ditched physical tokens for fare payment in 2003. That's finally going to change.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-launches-tech-accelerator-to-fix-crumbling-subway-slow-buses-2019-2" data-analytics-position="1">New York's MTA is launching a first-of-its-kind tech accelerator to help fix its crumbling subway and slow buses</a>Starting on May 31, New Yorkers at certain stations on the system's busiest line - including at the iconic Grand Central Terminal - will be able to tap their contactless credit cards to pay their fare. Over the next two years, the technology will eventually roll out to all of the city's 472 stations and 5,700 buses routes by 2021, the MTA is targeting.

New York is finally catching up to the rest of the world and moving away from its iconic MetroCard. But there's one glaring problem with the replacement.

Think Mumbai and we think of the ‘maximum’ city; the city that never sleeps; the city on the Indian coastline that never ceases to amaze with its spirit and perseverance; the city that never loses the spring in its step. 
 
Till now, the city lived and thrived upon its local train network. Most of the population must have spent most of their time in those trains, only visiting their respective homes to catch up on food and sleep. That may sound like an overstatement to many who don’t live there. But the truth is this train network, stretching up to 465 km and built by the British way back in 1853, forms the very core of the city’s soul. 
 Only recently, the city that is always on the move, got wind beneath its wings. It was a historic occasion for Mumbaikars when the <keyword id="117023" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mumbai-metro">Mumbai Metro</keyword> started rolling on elevated tracks, connecting 11.40 km and helping 700 million passengers reach their destinations. Needless to say, the metro has added immense pace to their already busy life. 
 
Just like the human facelift, it adds to the character of the city when it gets a metro. The city then ceases to live in time warp and joins the cadre of the ‘selected few’ cities in the world which are green, futuristic and efficient in every way. 
 
Other ‘metro’ cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore are already contributing in reducing traffic density while the upcoming metro rail projects in cities like Jaipur, Kochi, Hyderabad and Chennai will ensure similar advantages. Plans to expand train operations are also afoot in the ‘metro’ cities. 
 
Cities such as Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Bhopal are also making a beeline to get the ‘metro’ projects approved although they do not qualify for the same due to limited population. But this may spell good news for international players who see an opportunity to participate in building the country’s infrastructure. 
 As India has been one of the favourite destinations for international investments, countries like South Korea are showing interest in building the transport infrastructure of the country. In fact, Korean company Hyndai Rotem recently placed a huge order with Voith for the extension of <keyword id="6366797" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delhi-Metro">Delhi Metro</keyword>. 
 
It is no wonder then that the infrastructure of Mumbai is undergoing a ‘Gen Z’ category of facelift. You need to keep in mind that the cities clocking growth are the ones which are driving the new economy and the facilities created for these cities with tremendous ‘growth potential’ are presumed to be world class, too. 
 
To understand this better, we need to compare the Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore Metro with those in Singapore, Hong Kong or New York. It will be a fair comparison because all the metro systems of the world today serve the same purpose – that of catering to different pockets of urban population. 
 
Interestingly, a metro city is defined as one that has found solutions to meet its ever-growing transportation needs. A ‘global city’ is the one that has more than 60-80% of its population travelling by public transportation. And a metro rail plays a significant role in this marker of progress. It also efficiently addresses a city’s growing energy needs while bringing down the carbon footprint. 
 
The world’s oldest metro system is the London Underground or the Tube that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013. This one has stood the test of time, compared to most other metros in the world, and has kept London comparatively free from traffic congestion. 
 
Compared to the world metro networks, India has miles to tread and catch up with the speed. The Indian metro lines don’t come close to the technology advancements featured by the trains across the globe. But then, India has a unique problem – the high density of population. 
 
However, Hong Kong, which decidedly grapples with the same challenge, does its act rather efficiently. The Hong Kong MTR (Metro) has earned praises for its presentation and schedule. It has also kept up with modern technology and offers free Wi-Fi services to passengers. 
 Seoul’s <keyword id="6366667" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Subway">Subway</keyword> is managed by three companies and has a hassle-free run day after day, on nine dedicated lines. Technology planners from the world over come here to get their lessons in connectivity. 
 
While the Singapore Metro has been given partial thumbs-down by users for keeping the ticket queues long and inefficient, the London Tube is constantly undergoing upgrades in order to cope with modern-day requirements. The Paris Metro hasn’t done too badly either, considering the fact that it is one of the five busiest cities in the world. However, technology upgradation seems to be the need of the hour. 
 
Now that India is embracing speedy and efficient transport systems, we must learn the nitty-gritty from the global counterparts wherever possible. But one thing stands very clear. The country has arrived late, but has arrived for sure. And India is here to stay in the global race when it comes to growth and progress.

India’s Metro Rail: Are We On Par With
Global Systems?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://monzo.com/press/">Monzo</a>App-only bank Monzo.</div></div></div>LONDON - The founder and chairman of <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> challenger bank Metro Bank has dismissed the boom in digital-only banks in Britain as "all hype."Vernon Hill <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/metro-bank-chairman-vernon-hill-on-brexit-and-growth-plans-2016-12">told Business Insider in an interview:</a> "That's all hype. There has never been an online-only bank that has succeeded in America or Britain. Maybe there's one coming, but we haven't seen one yet."Look at it this way, we passed 6 years, we just started making money, and our market cap is £2.6 billion. We've created a total growth machine. These people are selling you 'solutions', not banking."Britain has seen a surge in new banks since the financial crisis, including Metro Bank which started in 2010. The last 18-months has seen a boom in digital, app-only lenders. They include <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/atom-bank-ceo-mark-mullen-on-digital-mortgages-and-plans-for-2017-2016-12">Atom</a>, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/app-only-starling-bank-gets-fca-licence-and-plans-january-2017-launch-2016-7">Starling</a>, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/monzo-interim-48-million-funding-round-2016-10">Monzo</a>, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/tandem-raise-valuation-ebay-pierre-omidyar-2016-5">Tandem</a>, and <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/tide-bank-launch-funding-brexit-perfect-scenario-2016-7">Tide</a>. These startups, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/neobank-banking-app-make-money-fintech-monzo-revolut-loot-atom-tandem-2016-11">collectively dubbed "neobanks,"</a> have attracted hundreds of millions of pounds in investment between them.Investors and entrepreneurs believe that they can tap into a generation shift to mobile and a more long-term shift in the entire population towards online services.But Hill says: "I agree [there's a shift to mobile] but you have to remember, what's our number one job in life? To acquire new customers. We've got to get you to switch banks. The store is the way we do that and the store is the public face."No mobile-only bank can deliver anything I can't deliver in the next minute and a half. What they're offering you is a tool, not a solution. The customer wants the best of every channel and my job is to deliver them the best of every channel."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">Metro BankMetro Bank founder and chairman Vernon Hill with his dog Duffy.</div></div></div>Hill <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/metro-bank-chairman-vernon-hill-on-brexit-and-growth-plans-2016-12">told Business Insider in an interview this week</a> that expanding Metro's branch network across the UK is crucial to growth plans at the business, targeting 100 stores by 2020.But he added: "We want to have the best of every delivery channel, we want to have the channels united together with the stores and deliver a unified experience."Metro Bank has partnered with peer-to-peer lending platform Zopa to offer loans and recently <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/deloitte-setl-blockchain-card-metro-bank-2016-11">announced a project with Deloitte and startup SETL to develop a contactless card that uses blockchain technology.</a> Hill says the bank is open to more partnerships like these to extend its digital capabilities."We have a big advantage in banking in Britain," he says. "British banks have IT systems that are one step above a quill. We have the only modern IT bank system in Britain. Whatever new fintech idea comes along, it's relatively easy for us to get it up and running."<div id="categorypromo"><h2>Learn more:</h2><ul><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay1">Credit Card Industry and Market</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay2">Mobile Payment Technologies</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay3">Mobile Payments Industry</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay4">Mobile Payment Market, Trends and Adoption</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay5">Credit Card Processing Industry</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay6">List of Credit Card Processing Companies</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay7">List of Credit Card Processing Networks</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay8">List of Payment Gateway Providers</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay9">M-Commerce: Mobile Shopping Trends</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay10">E-Commerce Payment Technologies and Trends</a></li></ul></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/martin-shkreli-twitter-students-recreate-daraprim-drug-2016-12">Martin Shkreli goes on a raging tweetstorm in response to high school students recreating his $750 drug for $2</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dxcWMwODE6FE8iQECd1zMjLLo9Zq2px_" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The founder of Metro Bank thinks app-only banks are 'all hype'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Salesforce has a new marketplace for carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets.</li><li>Companies can use their carbon credits on projects designed to help alleviate the climate crisis.</li></ul>More companies are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/carbon-offsets-radio-davos/">embracing carbon credits</a> to offset their greenhouse-gas emissions and fulfill their commitments to fight climate change.Carbon credits are certificates representing amounts of greenhouse gases removed from or kept out of the air, but it's often difficult for organizations to find them and verify their quality. Salesforce is attempting to solve these problems with its new <a href="https://netzero.salesforce.com/s/">Net Zero Marketplace</a>.The marketplace, which launched in October and is built on the <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/products/commerce-cloud/overview/">Salesforce Commerce Cloud</a>, connects organizations and eco-conscious entrepreneurs and offers a catalog of carbon credits and an e-commerce platform for purchasing them. The company says the credits <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2022/09/20/salesforce-announces-carbon-credit-marketplace/">undergo independent verification</a> against global standards.Patrick Flynn, a senior vice president and global head of sustainability at Salesforce, told Insider that the goal is to streamline carbon-credit purchases and help grow the carbon-credit market. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/a-blueprint-for-scaling-voluntary-carbon-markets-to-meet-the-climate-challenge">McKinsey has estimated</a> that the carbon-credit market could be worth $50 billion by 2030."The planet needs more organizations to look at the role carbon credits can play as a means for adding another tool to their climate-action strategy," Flynn said.Insider spoke with Flynn about how Salesforce used its existing products to launch the marketplace.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.Why is Salesforce's Commerce Cloud a natural fit for the Net Zero Marketplace?The world urgently needs bold climate action and smart solutions to address the climate crisis. That's why we leveraged our own Commerce Cloud — including its standard features like catalog, order management, and inventory management — to bring Net Zero Marketplace to the market faster.The flexible platform is a starting point and by no means the end. We assembled a cross-functional team of engineers, marketing, sustainability, product development, and communications in our ecosystem with the expertise to drive this vision forward. We've also included our partners to help build this product.What new workflows or adjustments were added to Commerce Cloud to create the marketplace?Carbon credits as product stock-keeping units require a set of unique attributes that weren't available in the out-of-the-box product. We did customizations to capture carbon registries, third-party ratings, and project timelines to support the carbon-project catalog.To ensure we only serve trusted carbon-credit buyers, we've added a corporate buyer registration flow as part of Salesforce's <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_fsc_streamline_party_profile_assessment.htm&amp;type=5&amp;release=240">Know Your Customer</a> process. Buyers on Net Zero Marketplace must commit to buy carbon credits as part of a comprehensive climate-action strategy — not as a substitute for absolute reductions. Buyers must also acknowledge that they will not trade their credits with other third parties.The marketplace also integrates Stripe's software for easy online payments for buyers and seamless payout experiences for sellers. Elements of Salesforce's <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/products/service-cloud/overview/">Service Cloud</a> are also integrated into the marketplace to enable better customer service.We leveraged <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/products/commerce-cloud/ecommerce/order-management/">Salesforce Order Management</a> to make order flows more efficient. This allowed us to heavily customize a solution that fits well with the unique requirements of the carbon-credit marketplace with complex global buyer and seller engagement.How will the marketplace inspire growth opportunities for Salesforce?We are in an "and" era where we need multiple innovations to make climate-action strategies impactful. Reducing emissions is the most important thing everyone can do today. Salesforce has set a bold target to halve our emissions by 2030 and sequester carbon through nature and carbon-removal technologies. We need every solution and innovation to get us to the shared goal of a 1.5-degree world, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/05/1117842">the Paris agreement target</a>.The path to purchasing carbon credits can be complex, and buyers want to trust that the carbon-credit projects they are purchasing from have a positive impact. Providers of carbon credits don't always have the traditional sales and marketing tool kits needed to successfully bring credits to the market.

Salesforce's new marketplace wants to make it easier for companies to integrate carbon credits into their climate-action strategies

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ex-WeWork CEO <keyword id="12360987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="adam-neumann" source="Orion">Adam Neumann</keyword> and his wife are launching a new startup called <keyword id="14115450" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="flowcarbon" source="Orion">Flowcarbon</keyword>.</li><li>The project aims to use the blockchain to let businesses trade carbon credits using <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> tokens.</li></ul>Carbon trading is getting the crypto treatment, and its latest orchestrator is none other than <keyword id="12085544" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wework" source="Orion">WeWork</keyword>'s eccentric cofounder.Three years after being ousted as CEO, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-ceo-adam-neumann-bio-life-career-2019-8">Adam Neumann</a> is launching a new startup called <a href="https://www.flowcarbon.com/">Flowcarbon</a> that wants to put carbon credits on blockchain technology.His idea — powered in part by a $32 million round of funding from famed Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz — is to make these carbon credits more accessible and easier to trade with the help of the company's flagship product: the Goddess Nature Token (GNT.)Businesses and individuals will be able to use these tokens — each backed by a real-life carbon credit — to buy and sell the permits on the blockchain in a decentralized manner, making the opaque and controversial process more transparent. The new endeavor marks not only a turning point for Neumann following his fall from grace but also another high-profile tech founder leaping headfirst into the booming Web3 sphere.<h2>So what's carbon trading? And where does crypto come in?</h2><div type="image" title="richard sandor" height="856" width="1142" msid="92006636" hostid="261"></div>Carbon trading, otherwise known as the voluntary carbon market, is when businesses buy and sell a limited amount of government-issued permits that they can "cash in" when they emit carbon.The idea was to create scarcity in how much carbon the business world can emit. There are economic incentives in doing so — if a corporation doesn't use all of its carbon credits, it can sell them to peers. Depending on the country, if it emits too much carbon, it may have to buy more credits. Neumann, per the <a href="https://www.flowcarbon.com/">website</a>, believes this process is flawed, built on an "opaque and fractured market infrastructure" with credits that have little accessibility and brokers charging sky-high fees. That's where Flowcarbon and GNTs come in. Flowcarbon did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but a spokesperson told <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23142106/adam-neumann-crypto-carbon-credit-offset-flowcarbon">Vox</a> that the credits represented by the company's tokens are issued from one of four major carbon credit registries. According to Flowcarbon and it <a href="https://twitter.com/AriannaSimpson/status/1529072554639511554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1529072555667116032%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fwework-founder-reinvents-himself-with-70m-crypto-carbon-credit-platform">and its backers</a>, the blockchain is the perfect environment for trading carbon credits, given the technology's innate transparency. <h2>Separating the project from its leaders' past?</h2><div type="image" title="NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 24: WeWork Co-Founder and CEO Adam Neumann and Rebekah Paltrow Neumann attend the 2018 Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2018 in New York City." height="1497" width="1997" msid="92006637" hostid="261"></div>Critics have long said the carbon trading market is <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-to-repair-the-worlds-broken-carbon-offset-markets">inherently broken</a>, which calls to question Neumann's goal of simply putting them more in reach in the business sector.And some people in the carbon trading space aren't huge fans of integrating with the crypto world — <a href="https://verra.org/verra-addresses-crypto-instruments-and-tokens/">Verra</a>, one of the world's largest carbon crediting programs, said last week that it wouldn't permit its credits to back crypto tokens. It doesn't help that climate advocates have condemned fundamental aspects of crypto as environmentally harmful thanks to the huge amount of energy the transactions require. Others, however, have noted how Web3 is the perfect space for the startup, allowing it to more easily fund projects that could reduce carbon from the atmosphere.But on top of all of that is the fact that Neumann oversaw <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-nightmare-ipo">one of the tech world's most infamous implosions in 2019</a>, when WeWork was gearing up for an IPO. Regulatory filings for that offering gave an inside look at potential financial problems and turmoil at the coworking company. Eventually, the deal was yanked, and Neumann was ousted as CEO. A show recounting the debacle, aptly called "WeCrashed," began airing on Hulu in March.

Ousted WeWork founder Adam Neumann wants to put carbon credits on the blockchain with 'goddess nature tokens' to combat climate change

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> Photos/Getty Images</div>NOT many global cities of nearly 9m people lack an underground line, but until the end of last year the eastern city of Hangzhou was one of them.
Now city slickers and rural migrants squeeze together inside shiny new carriages, checking their smartphones and reading free newspapers like commuters the world over.
There is standing-room only in the rush hour and, with tickets at less than a dollar, the metro is revolutionising the way people travel across town.
Two other Chinese cities—Suzhou and Kunming—have also opened their first underground lines in the past year, and the north-eastern city of Harbin is preparing to open one too. Four more cities have just added a new line to their existing systems. At least seven others have begun building their first lines.
If all the metros approved by central officials are built, 38 cities will have at least one line by the end of the decade, with more than 6,200km (3,850 miles) of track (London has nearly 400km.) As with many infrastructure projects in China, including the high-speed rail network above ground, questions abound about the wisdom and potential wastefulness of such ambitions. Many of the underground systems are needed, but some are being built in cities that are too small to justify the exorbitant expense. By some estimates the total bill could approach $1 trillion, not including the cost of operation.
Zhao Jian of <keyword id="1333" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beijing">Beijing</keyword> Jiaotong University reckons that metros in fewer than 20 of the 38 designated cities make sense. He says that perhaps ten of those could be replaced with cheaper light rail, which runs above ground. The minimum core urban population that can qualify a city for an underground system is 3m people, but even a place that big may find the operating costs crippling. Mr Zhao says the systems in Harbin and Kunming are unnecessary.
Shi Nan of the Academy of Urban Planning and Design in Beijing says it is obvious that “we cannot count on private cars” to get around the big cities. But the metro projects mostly rely on government subsidies, and operating them will be a “bottomless pit”, says Mr Zhao. He says city officials tend to pursue grand projects that may not even make money because they will not be around to bear the burden. The performance of local officials is evaluated on how much they increase local GDP, not on whether projects they build are needed. Today’s leaders get credit for spending money. Tomorrow’s must foot the bill.
Even megacities long overdue for more underground tracks—like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou—are building and operating them at a cost that worries planners. Operating the metro lines of Beijing, now up to 442km of track, has cost about $1.6 billion over the past two years, but passengers pay just 30 cents a ride. The metro has helped to alleviate traffic and pollution, yet Beijing remains one of the world’s most jammed and polluted cities; it needs more investment in <keyword id="85028" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="public-transport">public transport</keyword> of all sorts.
In Hangzhou the underground is just one way to get to work; above ground, fleets of red buses, often in designated lanes, form a Bus Rapid Transit network to beat the gridlock. Critics say cities like Hangzhou should be investing more in these cheaper options above ground. But the metro remains an important part of the city’s future. It plans at least another eight lines.

Most Chinese Cities Don't Need And Can't Afford The Subway Systems They're Building

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Millions of credits for greenhouse-gas emissions are connected to new <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> tokens, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fcryptocurrency-traders-move-into-carbon-markets-11641826402%3Fmod%3Dmarkets_lead_pos11">The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. </a></li><li>The credits are traded on unregulated <keyword id="11893875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets" source="Orion">markets</keyword>, with prices dependent upon activity in <keyword id="12346217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="carbon" source="Orion">carbon</keyword> removal. </li><li>But more than 17 million carbon credits are now tied to tokens called BCT and are worth about $95 million. </li></ul>Millions of credits for greenhouse-gas emissions are now connected to new <keyword id="11895317" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrencies" source="Orion">cryptocurrencies</keyword>, according to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fcryptocurrency-traders-move-into-carbon-markets-11641826402%3Fmod%3Dmarkets_lead_pos11">a report by The Wall Street Journal</a>, with the fast-growing market attracting DeFi projects and investors like billionaire <keyword id="11930436" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mark-cuban" source="Orion">Mark Cuban</keyword>. Proponents say crypto can bring more transparency to carbon credits, which stem from projects such as establishing renewable-energy farms. Many companies buy them to compensate for their emissions. But while the projects receive third-party certification, the credits are traded on unregulated markets. Among market participants, WSJ highlighted Toucan, a decentralized finance project that lets users who own carbon credits link them to digital tokens called BCT, which went live in October. BCT stands for Base Carbon Tonne and the tokens can be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. More than 17 million carbon credits have been tied to BCT tokens, the WSJ said. And the tokens traded for as much as $5.59 on Monday, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/toucan-protocol-base-carbon-tonne">according to CoinGecko,</a> representing a value of roughly $95 million on crypto exchanges. Toucan told WSJ it's working to overhaul the voluntary carbon market in part by providing real-time pricing information and a public record of trades to track who can take credit for funding projects to improve the climate. The report noted that trading in BCT has been driven by Klima, a separate crypto asset run by KlimaDAO. The decentralized autonomous organization allows people to buy Klima tokens, which are traded on cryptocurrency exchanges, with BCT tokens. The DAO then keeps the BCT tokens in its treasury, removing them from circulation. More than 14 million BCT tokens have followed this route and can't be used for <keyword id="12300360" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="carbon-offsets" source="Orion">carbon offsets</keyword>.The WSJ reported that the mostly anonymous developers of Klima say their tokens also help the climate by reducing the availability of carbon credits and pushing up their prices. In turn, that should make carbon-offsetting projects more profitable and spur further creation of initiatives that benefit the climate. But skeptics told the WSJ that Klima could actually reduce transparency in carbon markets.For its part, the Toucan non-profit told the newspaper while the creators of KlimaDAO are anonymous, "their actions are fully transparent," and said Klima has put millions of dollars into projects to improve the climate. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he owns Klima tokens, but declined to say how many or whether he has profited, the report said. "While the anonymity wasn't optimal and it's a bit of a learning experience, if it works, the environmental impact could be consequential," Cuban told WSJ.The credits have been virtually tied to newly created cryptocurrency tokens and , with some market participants saying the technology creates incentives for projects aimed at aiding the climate, according to WSJ's report published Monday. The massive amount of energy used in mining <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">bitcoin</a> has cast a poor environmental reputation upon cryptocurrencies.

You Searched For "carbon credits metro system" and got 12 results

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New York is finally catching up to the rest of the world and moving away from its iconic MetroCard. But there's one glaring problem with the replacement.

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Most Chinese Cities Don't Need And Can't Afford The Subway Systems They're Building

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