33. The Beach Collective with Rob from $Beach

Pristine Ocean Podcast

Beach Token

The relationship between the economy and the environment is not an easy one.

Most modern economies are based around the profit principle.

But this doesn't work well for environmental projects.

You can put a price on environmental degradation.

But without the intensive international deal-making and haggling over environmental pricing, it is difficult to place a dollar value on a clean beach or an intact coral reef.

What is the value of a kilo of rubbish removed from a beach compared to a kilo removed from the river that empties near that beach?

What is the value of that kilo of waste plastic that put in a land fill compared to the kilo burnt in a cement kiln?

What is the difference whether that kilo is in India or is in Africa?

These values are difficult to agree on just for a particular location. And they can be completely different from one location to the next.

Maybe the problem is not the economic value but the currency itself.

Maybe we need a currency more suited to the demands of environmental projects which are typically international and highly local.

Sounds like a crypto-currency right?

This week we're talking to Rob from the crypto token Beach which is designed to fill the needs of groups of people such as digital nomads moving through different locations exchanging services. These services may be delivered over the internet or locally.

Currently the organization behind the Beach token has funding available for ocean preservation projects and I applaud that.

Script of conversation with Rob Cobbold.