A Shariah compliant digital green portfolio, underpinned by natural assets such as trees, is being spearheaded by Dublin-based IBF Net in collaboration with the Foundation for Islamic Endowment Funds Indonesia, also known as Green Waqf Indonesia.
Green Waqf Indonesia is planting approximately 10,000 tamanu trees in 100 hectares of Waqf land in Bogor, half of which is managed by Islamic non-governmental organization Muhammadiyah. The plan is to convert the carbon savings from these trees into green cryptos, which will subsequently be traded on the Impact Exchange, a blockchain platform developed by IBF Net. Proceeds from the sale of the green cryptos will be channeled into fresh plantations.
The financial equivalent of such benefits in the form of savings in social costs is estimable according to well-accepted methods, according to Muhaimin Iqbal, the founder of Green Waqf Indonesia. “Based on years of research into various plantation alternatives, we have identified tamanu as one that can provide maximum social benefits in addition to financial benefits in various forms through sale of by-products for the Waqf.”
The endowment entity is targeting around 14 million hectares of land for tamanu.
Each tree will be assigned a unique digital identity, and the green cryptos will be issued based on measurable social benefits from each tree. The cryptos may be purchased by existing or future projects with low ‘impact scores’, scores which are being produced by Islamic Value Analytics, IBF Net’s latest joint venture with Ethis Global, to aid investment decision-making.
“We are also working on another type of green security token with a huge potential for raising long-term resources directly from the impact-investor community for tamanu plantation projects. While the economics of such projects works out great, we need regulatory approval for such issuance. Indeed, the success of this maiden project can open the floodgates of such green initiatives, especially on large tracts of Waqf lands across the globe, undeveloped and devoid of any recurrent earnings, shared Mohammed
Alim, CEO of IBF Net.