The Liverpool City Council has signed an agreement with the Poseidon Foundation to integrate its blockchain technology into the city’s day to day operations.

The ultimate goal is to make Liverpool the world’s first climate positive city by the end of 2020.

Founded in 2017, Poseidon is a nonprofit that uses blockchain technology to access the carbon market. Its technology offsets the carbon impact of any product or service by transparently supporting essential forest conservation projects, allowing individuals, organisations and governments to reverse the impact of climate change every day through their activities.

“Poseidon’s technology is the first of its kind to truly deliver a solution to governments, businesses and individuals around the world to help reverse the causes of climate change and I am thrilled this agreement will bring this cutting-edge technology to our city,” Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said.

Under the agreement with the city council, Poseidon will work with local schools, universities, and businesses to develop educational programmes around climate impact in line with the council’s commitment to cut its overall carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. This is the equivalent of protecting 136 million trees or 338,000 football fields, which could create over 3,500 jobs in the Peruvian Amazon, according to the official release.

The foundation will be moving its operations to Liverpool in order to play a key role in the city’s new climate positive strategy, which will be trialed over the next 12 months.

“For the first time, a city will use blockchain technology to go beyond rebalancing its carbon footprint – leading the way in the fight against climate change. Liverpool is a trail blazer and a shining example to other cities in the UK and across the world on what can be achieved through harnessing the power of technology to meet one of humanity’s greatest challenges. And now that it is clear that our platform is fully scalable, it is time for other cities to take action,” Laszlo Giricz, founder and CEO of Poseidon, said.

In September, Joe Anderson will host a Strategic Business Summit with businesses, social enterprises and not-for-profits from across the city region, where they will explore how Poseidon can help individual companies become climate positive.