The Canxchange Q4 report provides readers with an insight into how the cannabis industry could play a vital role in the development of the Green Economy as the globe moves toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Canxchange has released its Q4 2021 Benchmark Report exploring market prices along with an in-depth sector analysis to encourage a more transparent and efficient physical hemp market. In this report, the platform collaborated with Laura Herschlag, co-founder of TEQA Capital, to give readers an insight into the potential of the cannabis industry to contribute to the Green Economy revolution.
Read more: Canxchange benchmark report reveals outlook of European hemp market
There report highlights that providing a macro-economic approach to sustainable growth is a vital principle for the green economy – highlighting that the cannabis industry could be a centrepiece of this revolution, citing the plant’s environmental and economic benefits of hemp – including the plant’s diverse use as a sustainable material and its low carbon impact.
Herschlag, who is also a climate change and circular economy activist, stated in the report: “Hemp is considered a carbon negative crop which means that growing hemp pulls more CO2 out of the air than it releases.
“It also nourishes the soil returning important nutrients that have been stripped away by industrial agriculture. The use of biomaterials, such as hemp, kenaf, and bamboo, are becoming a staple in many industries including automotive, textiles, and construction.”
Read more: What makes hemp such a sustainable crop?
Despite hemp’s versatile use as an alternative to plastic and materials such as cotton, there are many barriers in the way to the implementation of its use. Herschlag suggests that one of the biggest obstacles is regulatory bodies, and suggests that to overcome this, new standards need to be developed across different industries to enable the material’s incorporation.
Herschlag cites supply chain uncertainty, such as the currently incomplete ecosystem, as contributing to the slow development of the hemp industry and says that philanthropy and government funding could help solve the problem.
“Investors don’t like this kind of uncertainty, and this is where governments and philanthropy steps in. The EU is investing billions in the new green economy. Elon Musk’s foundation established the XPrize, a competition that will award $100 million for carbon negative solutions. US President Biden’s $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill includes $150 billion for climate solutions,” stated Herschlag.
Government and philanthropic fundings will not be the only catalyst as the global economy treads the road to net zero, highlights Herschlag. Investors are taking note and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is becoming an emerging theme, with hemp and cannabis potentially making up a part of this picture.
Read more: How the carbon capture of hemp can help reduce emissions
“One trend that will be a catalyst for hemp is the transition of big corporations from CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance). ESG moves the environment and sustainability into the spotlight of corporate responsibility and provides a metric based framework to assess compliance,” adds Herschlag.
“Public companies are publishing their roadmaps to net zero production. Even without specifying the use of hemp in their processes it is clear that as companies increasingly commit to net zero, hemp will have an important role to play.”
To find out more about how the cannabis industry could play a vital role in the development of a Green Economy, visit Canxchange at www.canxchange.eu/.
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