"The increased need for virtual validations may have been born during the pandemic, but they are now, and will continue to be, critical to optimize resources. What once needed an army of auditors traveling all over the world, can now be achieved through trust technologies, including images and videos. This not only reduces carbon footprints, but also broadens the geographic scope of validations for a more comprehensive understanding of global operations. It is a win-win."

- Andrew Farrelly, CEO & Co-Founder, CT Strategies

"We are at a watershed moment in the fashion industry. Consumers around the world are demanding more transparency into the creation and production of their garments. It is widely known that fashion is the second most water polluting industry and speculative manufacturing leads to 30-40% overproduction each season. This is no longer acceptable. At KATLA, transparency is one of our core tenets. We introduced secure media verification across our supply chain to enable full transparency into the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of our products. We believe in empowering consumers to make the right choices. It is our belief that visual evidence will become a key part of global supply chains and we are proud to introduce it to the fashion industry."

- Áslaug Magnúsdóttir, Founder & CEO, Katla

"The wine industry is about as opaque as they come, with little transparency in the supply chain. At Chufly, we aim to break this mold by building a platform for marginalized winegrowers. Our model sustainably empowers the local producers and their communities. As a result of our mission-first approach to wine, we are incentivized to put a spotlight on our supply chain -- not conceal it; trust in the images and media from our partners is essential to that transparency. Our supply chain is made up of inspiring, talented people making remarkable wines and building vibrant economic ecosystems in their communities. Chufly's best marketing strategy is transparency in our supply chain and simply sharing the stories of the people who make our wine."

- Ramon Escobar, Founder, Chufly Imports

Shouvik Banerjee is the Founder and CEO of AverPoint, a news product that promotes media literacy to counter disinformation. He spent 10 years in clean energy, including the Obama Administration, SolarCity, and McKinsey.

The world’s efforts to tackle climate change require trust among consumers, producers, investors, and regulators. If they trust the carbon footprint of products, they will make individual choices that catalyze innovations and reduce emissions.

The good news is consumers increasingly want sustainable products. Simon-Kucher and Partners studied over 10,000 people across 17 countries and found that 86% have shifted purchasing towards more sustainability in the past 5 years. The Economist Intelligence Unit and WWF found a 71% increase in online searches for  sustainable goods between 2015 and 2020. Edelman Trust barometer found 86% of customers expect brands to take actions beyond their business. Importantly, these studies found trends in both developing and developed countries.

The world’s big companies from tech to apparel have noticed, some aiming to be net-zero within 20 years. All this positive action, sadly, is still open to fraud. Most companies self-report their numbers and self-audit their practices. When regulated, some companies find creative ways to cheat. Volkswagen famously designed engines to reduce emissions, only during an EPA test. Some even bribe regulators to pass inspections, as in high-profile coal mining cases.

Even when a company acts in good faith, the bigger issue is the global supply chain. The US EPA estimates that for many products, 90% of emissions...

Over the past year, the world has become increasingly aware of the possibilities and opportunities associated with authenticated media, also known as secure media provenance.  An authenticated piece of digital content helps increase trust in what we see and hear online, which will be significant in countering deceptive media, disinformation, and will assist in strengthening consumer protection. Further, an authentic piece of digital content has operational benefits, such as reducing risks, costs, and saving time for businesses leveraging such technologies. 

A lesser-known, but potentially more important result, is the environmental benefits of the technology.  An authentic image with trustworthy pixels, time, date, location, and other information eliminates the need to travel to a location and inspect the very same details.  This has proven to have tremendous environmental benefits. According to the EPA, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and industries and businesses rely on human-centric inspections, oversight, or diligence to maintain trust in operations/transactions.  What if that could be replaced - even partially - by a trusted piece of media?  What would the carbon savings look like? 

EXL Service, a leading data analytics and digital operations and solutions company, leveraged authenticated media to digitize in-person insurance inspections around the country.  In 2021, EXL successfully prevented an estimated 1.5 million pounds of Co2 from being emitted on over 50,000 inspections in all 50 states.  EXL estimates that in 2022, the Co2 prevention will rise to 2.5 Million pounds based on an increased volume of digitized inspections.  These savings are profound and scalable, giving private industry a new tool to leverage in cutting carbon emissions by replacing transportation on - at least a portion of - inspections, oversight, and diligence.  This tool may prove to be necessary as new regulations and public demand for reduced carbon footprints continues to grow.  Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted on new rules requiring companies to disclose climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions which would be the first mandatory standardized disclosure on such issues.  In Europe, the European Union recently adopted ambitious greenhouse gas targets in which private industry will also have to consider too. The European Union has a set target of a 55% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

As private industry continues to examine ways to cut carbon footprints - authenticated imagery could represent a significant opportunity, especially as its adoption and open standard continue to grow.  While this will not unilaterally change all private companies’ carbon footprints, it represents a promising new approach.