Understanding the Concept of Regen Network

Regen network

Established in 2017 by Gregory Landua and Christian Shearer, Regen Network encompasses two primary entities: Regen Network Development, Inc., a for-profit corporation, and Regen Foundation, which is applying for non-profit status. This unique structure blends the innovative drive of a private corporation with the selfless commitment to the public good of a non-profit. Landua is a globally recognized permaculture designer, and Shearer is an expert in ecological project management.

The vision of Regen Network is to create a global community that regenerates the earth’s ecosystems. The mission of Regen Network is to facilitate verifiable ecological outcomes through a systemic multi-stakeholder, market-driven solution that leverages blockchain technology.

To register a climate project on the Regen Network, project proponents must follow the Program Guide and apply a Regen Registry approved credit class and methodology. The Regen Network accepts projects from locations worldwide, provided they conform to an approved credit class and its respective methodology. 

However, Regen Registry may permit modifications to an existing approved methodology where they do not negatively affect the conservativeness of the methodology’s approach to determining additionality and quantification of GHG removals and co-benefits. 

Its possible to develope new methodology and submit it to Regen Registry for review and approval. Also its possible to use methodologies from other carbon standards, if they are they are approved for use on the Regen Network in Regen Registry.

Regen Registry does not require an ex-ante GHG estimate in the Project Plan, and therefore, validation is not necessary. Instead, the verifier validates the project eligibility according to the rules defined in the Program Guide, Credit Class, and the Approved Methodology. In the context of the Regen Registry, verification is the systematic, independent, and documented assessment by a qualified, impartial third-party of the GHG and Co-Benefits assertion for a specific reporting period. The verification process involves several steps, including:

  • Project Proponent submits a Project Plan to Regen Registry for review and approval.
  • Project Proponent engages a third-party verifier to conduct a verification of the project.
  • Verifier conducts a site visit to the project location and reviews project documentation, including monitoring data, to assess the project’s eligibility and compliance with the approved methodology.
  • Verifier prepares a verification report that includes a summary of the verification process, findings, and conclusions.
  • Regen Registry reviews the verification report and issues credits to the Project Proponent if the project meets the eligibility and compliance requirements.

Once carbon credits are issued to a project proponent, they can be sold or traded on the Regen Registry marketplace or other secondary markets.

Credit buyers have access to the Project Proponent’s information, the project location, monitoring reports, and other pertinent data which is made publicly available on Regen Registry. Buyers must indicate the owner of the beneficial interest in the GHG mitigation claim for each credit they retire. 

Credit buyers will have the option to sell their credits so long as they have not yet been retired. Credits are treated as commodities, not as securities. Once a credit has been retired, it cannot be transferred or sold anymore.

The Regen Ledger is the public blockchain, where all the data and transactions of Regen Network are stored and managed. Its main mission is to act as the transparent balance sheet and to create a global ecological accounting system that can incentivize shifts in land use towards more regenerative practices 

Three core elements of Regen Ledger:

  1. Ecological State Protocols (ESPs) helps understand or verify the ecological condition or changes in condition on a piece of land. For example, it could be a measure of the amount of carbon stored in a certain area within a certain time frame.
  2. Ecological Contracts (ECs) are agreements that enable funding and incentivizing specific ecological results. 
  3. Supply Protocols (SPs) are a set of rules and algorithms that are used to track and assess the ecological supply chain data within the Regen Ledger. The SPs are built on top of the Ecological State Protocol framework. The SPs allow for more sophisticated assessment of verified ecological supply by taking into account not only land use data but also supply chain tracking data. This means that the SPs can help to ensure that the ecological supply chain is transparent and that the ecological outcomes are verified.

Data is crucial for this system. It allows us to verify claims and establish trust in the ecological state of the land. Regen Network uses a variety of data sources, such as satellite imagery, IoT sensor data, public GIS datasets, and user-submitted data like soil test results

The Regen Network’s operations are powered by a native network token known as the Regen Token ($REGEN). The token is native to the Regen Ledger and has multiple uses, such as staking on validators to secure the network, providing access to trusted data that powers protocols and applications, and rewarding ecological outcomes. The inflation of $REGEN tokens is 6.52%.

It`s possible to stake $REGEN tokens. More than 70% of all tokens were staked (135.82 million from 193.47 million). You can find a staking calculator using the link.

Conclusion

There are two ways to use the Regen Network: The first option is to purchase carbon credit tokens from the marketplace for storage and subsequent resale. The second option is to stake $REGEN tokens. However, it is important to keep in mind the tendency for price decline associated with the inflation built into the protocol.