Energy and Mines Digital Trust (EMDT) is enabling and accelerating the B.C. government’s entry into a digital trust ecosystem by creating a simple and secure way to share sustainability data, certifications and credentials.
- Energy and Mines Digital Trust pilot
- Data security: Why use digital credentials?
- Building a digital trust ecosystem
- EMDT enhancing sustainability reporting
- EMDT pilot projects
- Greenhouse gas mining pilot demonstration
- Towards Sustainable Mining demonstration
- Traction
- EMDT at COP27
- EMDT and Spherity at COP27
- Program contacts
Energy and Mines Digital Trust pilot
As a global movement builds towards low-carbon and net-zero environmental strategies, more emphasis is placed on responsibly sourced natural resource products. B.C. companies have the opportunity to prove they are globally competitive, environmentally-leading, and socially responsible.
The EMDT pilot project was initiated in November 2020 by the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation to facilitate the transition to a resilient, clean economy. This pilot coordinates a collaborative digital trust ecosystem between the B.C. government, natural resource companies, and global organizations that improves current processes, making it simple and secure to share sustainability data in the form of digital credentials.
Data security: Why use digital credentials?
Digital credentials are the digital equivalent to a physical credential, like a driver’s license or a business registration document. Digital credentials are cryptographically protected to prevent the data from being altered and are exchanged with just a few clicks using digital wallets.
Natural resource companies can bypass the need for physical documentation and instead use digital credentials to share sustainability data, certifications, and credentials safely and easily with investors, purchasers, regulators, and anyone else interested in their data. Since digital credentials are secure and checked in real-time, anyone viewing the credential can trust that the data has not been tampered with during the exchange.
Building a digital trust ecosystem
A digital trust ecosystem builds confidence between organizations, businesses, and individuals when interacting online. When information is shared using digital credentials, everyone can trust that the information is current and hasn’t been tampered with, even without pre-existing business relationships. For natural resource companies, this means it is possible to easily share trustworthy data to prove their sustainability efforts.
This improved method for exchanging data allows governments and organizations to:
- Prove they are aligning with provincial, national, and international sustainability goals
- Streamline business processes to improve efficiency and increase data security
- Provide trustworthy and transparent information to all interested parties
EMDT enhancing sustainability reporting
Reporting environmental impact data can be complicated and laborious process. Data is difficult to exchange internationally, and consumers cannot always access, or trust, reported data.
As B.C. works towards a cleaner, more resilient economy, it is important to make it easier and more efficient for the natural resource sector to share sustainability data.
Improved sustainability reporting benefits everyone in B.C.
Efficient reporting
A digital trust ecosystem makes it quick and easy to share data that proves natural resource products were responsibly sourced.
Increased accuracy
Digital credentials are checked in real-time and there is no risk of data manipulation when shared.
Improved trust
Digital credentials are tamper-proof so data cannot be manipulated during transmission. Information can be trusted.
Privacy preserving
Organizations share only the information they choose. Digital credentials make it easy to customize specific data requests.
Maximized markets
Natural resource companies that verify responsibly-sourced products can compete in a global market that values sustainability.
Innovative technology
This cutting edge technology positions B.C. as a global leader and enables a digital trust framework with many business applications.
Reporting environmental impact data can be complicated and laborious process. Data is difficult to exchange internationally, and consumers cannot always access, or trust reported data.
As B.C. works towards a cleaner, more resilient economy, it is important to make it easier and more efficient for the natural resource sector to share sustainability data.
Improved sustainability reporting benefits everyone in B.C.
EMDT pilot projects
EMDT is coordinating several pilots to demonstrate how sustainability reporting can be made more efficient and trustworthy in a digital trust ecosystem.
Two pilot projects explore greenhouse gas emissions reporting in the mining sector and the natural gas sector. These pilots allow participants to test sharing and receiving digital credentials that include verified GHG emissions data for a specific mine site or natural gas facility.
Greenhouse gas mining pilot
3rd party validation
Having verified Copper Mountain’s self-reported Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) data, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers issues a digital credential containing GHG data
Regulatory reporting*
Copper Mountain uses a verification statement as part of their GHG emissions report to the Climate Action Secretariat.
*Because this is a pilot, the process depicted in this diagram does not satisfy or replace existing regulatory reporting obligations.
Voluntary reporting
Open Earth Foundation requests GHG emissions data from Copper Mountain for inclusion on the Open Climate portal, a global carbon accounting platform. Copper Mountain voluntarily supplies a subset of data using their GHG Emissions Report Verification Credential.
Greenhouse gas mining pilot demonstration
EMDT is coordinating several pilots to demonstrate how sustainability reporting can be made more efficient and trustworthy in a digital trust ecosystem.
Two pilot projects explore greenhouse gas emissions reporting in the mining sector and the natural gas sector. These pilots allow participants to test sharing and receiving digital credentials that include verified GHG emissions data for a specific mine site or natural gas facility.
Towards Sustainable Mining demonstration
Copper Mountain Mining Corporation uses a digital credential issued by Envirochem to share their Towards Sustainable Mining scores with the Mining Association of Canada.
Towards Sustainable Mining is a voluntary benchmarking standard that recognizes ESG performance, enabling B.C. mining companies to differentiate themselves in global markets.
Traction
EMDT’s technology, Traction, is open-source software built on open-source components from Hyperledger.
Open-source software maximizes Traction’s potential and accelerates participation in a digital trust ecosystem.
- Broader compatibility. Open-source software makes it possible for the B.C. government to connect to the technologies that companies and organizations are already using
- Safer data exchange. Traction uses blockchain technology to protect data and information. Credentials exchanged using Traction are not vulnerable to fraud or phishing
- Accelerated adoption. Open-source software enables Traction to be released and adopted more quickly
Visit Traction on the BC Digital Trust website to learn more about Traction.
EMDT at COP27
EMDT shared their work with climate leaders at the UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub and the Digital Innovation and DigitalArt4Climate Pavilion at COP27.
The recordings of these sessions are available to watch on the United Nations Climate Change Events YouTube channel.
- UGIH City-focused Innovation and Implementation Sessions – Focusing on Goyang City Demonstration Pilot and Extension of Methodology Toward Global Cities: Representatives from Goyang City, South Korea, and Assistant Deputy Minister Amann-Blake outlines the collaborative work being facilitated by EMLI and undertaken by the University of British Columbia and the Seoul National University to conduct Life Cycle Analysis and consumption-based greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting
- Collectively Building the OpenClimate Network: Integrating Non-State Actor Climate Actions from UGIH (eg. cities and corporations) into NDC Progress via Nested Climate Accounting: In this session, Nancy Norris joins representatives from the Open Earth Foundation, the University of North Carolina, and OS-Climate to discuss how EMDT’s digital trust work alongside the Open Earth Foundation has the capacity to improve access to transparent climate data and address challenges in city-level carbon accounting and climate action
- The Power of Open Source and Digital Public Goods for Climate Action: Transparent development of global assets for climate action is key for decision making. In this discussion Nancy Norris joins representatives from the Open Earth Foundation, OS-Climate, the Hyperledger Foundation, and the Green Digital Finance Alliance to showcase EMDT as an example of a project using open source technology to make sustainability reporting more secure and efficient for private and public sector organizations worldwide
EMDT and Spherity at COP27
Program contacts
Nancy Norris
Senior Director – ESG and Digital Trust
Nancy.Norris@gov.bc.ca
Kyle Robinson
Senior Strategic Advisor – Digital Trust Ecosystems
kyle.robinson@briartech.ca