MetaVerse Green Exchange (MVGX) has launched in Singapore its Net Zero Card, a pre-paid, customizable, white-label solution that is designed for different situations in which a business or its clients may want to offset their carbon footprint on a short-term basis.

The card, comparable to an EZ-link travel card, marks MVGX’s first offering that applies to retail through their institutional customers. For its initial launch, the card will solely support travel-related applications within Singapore, such as commuting to work or to events with public or private transportation.

This is especially timely, the company notes, as domestic restrictions surrounding in-person events and enforced remote working lift. And, with nearly a million vehicles travelling on Singapore’s roads releasing 6.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, domestic travel equates to over a 10th of the city-state's total emissions.

Each card is equipped with a near-field communication (NFC) tag that can be scanned with a smartphone. If the NFC reader has been switched off by the user for privacy reasons, a quick response code printed on the gift card can also be used to access a landing page that will allow the user to calculate their emissions based on the duration of travel and the mode of transportation.

Accompanying the card is the soon-to-be-launched mobile app that will leverage the geo-tracking capability of users’ smartphones to measure their carbon footprint throughout their journey.

Once the emissions savings have been calculated, the company will retire the corresponding amount of carbon neutrality tokens based on the prepaid amount on the card, with traceable and immutable records on the blockchain.

The card is backed by MVGX’s asset-backed carbon neutrality tokens CNTsTM, which are tied to voluntary emission reductions and designed to combine the immutability of non-fungible tokens with real-time data updates on carbon performance.

The tokens address one of the most challenging aspects of the Paris agreement (set at COP21) – namely, the “nationality problem” of carbon credits – by enabling carbon neutrality at scale and facilitating the global goal of net-zero emissions without triggering nationally determined contributions.

“If the past year is any indication, the climate crisis has fully transitioned into a climate emergency, and we, as a collective business community, need to take action in any way that we can,” says Bo Bai, MVGX’s co-founder and executive chairman. “Reduction is a crucial piece of the puzzle, however, there needs to be a simpler and more streamlined way to offset the emissions that remain. We created the card to make it easier for businesses across the globe – no matter the industry or their size – to offset their carbon footprint, across all their activities in an accessible, affordable way.”