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How to Retire Life Credits

Abstract

At this moment, humanity still faces one of its most significant challenges in the fight against COVID-19. All studies point to devastating economic scenarios for a post-COVID-19 planet. This paper aims to bring a new perspective where, through the treatment of COVID-19 as a negative emission, it is possible to attribute market value to the processes and foster initiatives that aim to remove it. The crisis can become an excellent opportunity.

 

Rationale

The Epiconomy begins with the marriage of ideas conceived by Adam Smith and Richard Dawkins. In the economics bible "The Wealth of Nations," Smith presents us with a deep study of human nature, almost as if our justification for existence was the act of negotiation.

It is interesting to observe the coherence of Smith's approach: if the generation of wealth is based on a production cycle, then it also has a natural cost. Already, in the 18th century, Smith treated the environmental impact caused by a production cycle as a diseconomy. Specifically, it addresses the scarcity of hunting and fishing as a consequence of unbridled exploitation. Much of Smith's monumental work is about the balance between demand and supply, price and cost, needs and wants.

Thanks to Aristotle, we Westerners think in terms of lines, with the logic being the tool of this linear thinking. And, logically, Smith can assign a cost to each stage of a production cycle. However, he humbly recognizes his inability to do the same concerning the impact on nature caused by this cycle, as there are so many variables, factors, and cofactors that there is no possibility of establishing lines of action, and if there are no lines, logic does not can serve us and without logics, there is no useful thought. In other words, the "Wealth of Nations" establishes the Economy but is powerless against the Diseconomy.

In our proposal, this is where Richard Dawkins comes in. "The Selfish Gene" is a delightful book. It was published exactly 200 years after "The Wealth of Nations," in 1976. Fundamentally, it's a young man's book and, as such, offers refreshing crispness and freshness. The surprising delight in Dawkin's first book is its bluntness: we are animals. We're not superior primates, not special because we have opposable thumbs, not great because we think. After all, some animals fly, shine in the depths of the sea, and others produce glass and polymers at room temperature. There are even animals that produce glue that sticks underwater.

It's astounding to be human. However, it's not uncommon. We cannot say about the totality, but most animal species live in neutral productive cycles since the waste of one cycle is food for the next. In other words, we think it is possible to say that the human being is the only animal that produces garbage and this gives us the certainty that, in the chain of evolution, we are more or less halfway there.

Within quantum mechanics, we work with colossal amounts of data, and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is an unorthodox method for dealing with these data and uncertainties. That method is contextualization.

To establish a common ground of action: analysis is a direct descendant of Aristotle, defined as the process of decomposing a complex topic into its most elementary parts in a specialized way, while contextualization is the assessment of the interrelationship of patterns in a generalized way.

Revisiting Adam Smith, it is easy to understand the depth of his analytical work that originates economics as the basis of human association; but only from the context can we substantiate Deeconomy.

Let's take COVID-19 as an example.

According to preliminary data provided by the WHO, the virus's incubation period varies between 5 and 6 days, with the asymptomatic phase differing between 1 and 2 days. Estimates suggest that about 80% of people with COVID19 have a mild or asymptomatic illness, 14% have a severe illness, and 6% may die. In a top-down approach, there would be 4.68 billion carriers of the virus, with 3.74 billion with few or no symptoms; 655.20 million with serious illness, and 280.80 million with possible deaths.

And what would be the value of the diseconomies caused by compromising the health of almost 1 billion people?

Based on what has been described above, we continue with the anguish of Adam Smith: into how many age groups can these 1 billion people fall? How do we infer the impact on the world economy caused by the absence of these people? How do we relate the profession of these people to the impact caused on the economy? How to attribute value to the impact caused by the absence of such a professional concerning the economy? What is the time to be adopted for evaluation? There are so many approaches to determining the impact of COVID-19 that it is not analytically possible to assign a specific value to the resulting diseconomies.

However, if we adopt contextualization rather than analysis, a whole new structure opens up for our understanding.

When dealing with measurements related to global warming, it is conventional to use CO2 as a reference factor, with its global warming potential (GWP) equal to I. From there, the GWP is calculated for all other greenhouse gases.

The same principle is used when dealing with the negative environmental impact caused by humans. In doing so, we adopt the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the compost in question and calculate its corresponding Environmental Impact Potential (EIP). Through the fantastic work carried out by the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, we found the LCAs of over 2000 compounds and their impact according to 141 possible scenarios. With some adjustments, we can incorporate into this perspective the impact caused by COVID-19 on the world economy.

Based on human capital, a concept widely developed by economist and Nobel laureate Gary Becker and his colleagues Jacob Mincer, Theodor Schultz, as well as Nobel laureate Paul Romer; we can see a direct relationship between the Human Capital Index (HCI) of the 10 best-performing countries and the numbers related to COVID-19:

 

Country	HCI	Active Patients 25.March.2020	Recovered Patients 25.March.2020	Fatalities 25.March.2020	Total
Singapore	.88	469	160	2	631
South Korea	.84	5281	3730	126	9137
Japan	.84	785	301	42	1128
Hong Kong	.82	300	106	4	410
Finland	.81	781	10	1	792
Ireland	.81	1489	5	7	1501
Australia	.80	2304	118	9	2431
Sweeden	.80	2466	16	44	2526
Netherlands	.80	6080	0	357	6437
Canada	.80	2679	185	28	2892
China	.67	4287	73650	3281	81218
Italy	.77	57521	9362	7503	74386
USA	.76	59439	387	827	60653

 

According to the latest List of World Countries on Wealth per Adult (2019), published annually in Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Databook, the average relative wealth of a professionally qualified adult at an intermediate level would be on the order of US$20,660, 00.

In a very conservative and, we repeat, top-down approach, we can infer that, of the 936 million people rigorously affected by COVID-19, 80% would be non-economically active (elderly and children). The remaining 187.2 million adults seriously affected by COVID19 would have a direct and immediate impact on the world economy of the order of US$4 trillion.

As stated earlier, when we approach a complex issue contextually rather than analytically, we can reach different conclusions, but the constant use of a single reference is essential. The contextual view, although challenging to apply initially, allows the organization of complex systems and the apprehension of totalities that reveal the interrelationship of patterns.

Continuing from the moment when we put the human being more or less in the middle of its evolutionary cycle, in terms of presence on the planet, we would say that the Economy is -at the same time- the propelling axis of this civilization and the end point of all related possibilities to this first half of the anthropic evolutionary cycle.

We are living on a planet with 7.9 billion people. Today alone, 160 billion e-mails will be sent among the 5.4 billion Internet users. The world's armed forces spend around US$2.5billion a day, while 863 million people are malnourished, and from these, 16,338 die of hunger every day.

Every year, we lose 3.3 million hectares of forest; 4.4 million hectares of land are eroded; 7.6 million hectares of land become deserted; 2.8 quadrillion liters of water will be consumed this year, while 780 million people do not have access to clean water. Also, with current technology, we have oil for another 28 years and natural gas for another 120 years. By the end of 2025, at least 8.1% of the world's workforce will be unemployed, corresponding to 640 million people. The employment vulnerability rate by the end of 2025 will be 75%, and 85% of children entering primary school will have jobs that do not yet exist today.

All these numbers refer to the Economy. Halfway through our production cycle.

It is essential to highlight the mirror condition of the Diseconomy. If in the Economy we have a GDP of US$ 103.9 trillion in 2022 (estimated) and which -despite the finite resources of the planet- we treat as tending to infinity, in the Deeconomy we have -what we will call- a Gross Environmental Impact (GEI) of $80 trillion (2022), which tends to zero. In the Economy, the cost is always lower than the price, while in the Diseconomy, the cost (to the environment) is always higher than the price paid to remove the negative impact. In other words, instead of seeking to maximize economic results -which can only occur through increased exploitation of natural resources- in the Epiconomy, we seek the balance offered by the management of these same resources, the reason for being of the Diseconomy.

Thus, we come to the interrelationship of patterns. Considering the Economy as the first stage of the human production cycle and the Diseconomy as the second stage, leading us to the completion of the process of ideal elimination of all environmental liabilities, equating us to the majority of organisms that inhabit the Earth, there is a new market to explore.

DTU – The evolutionary leap

The big problem with compiling diseconomies under a common denominator has always been its complexity. For example, how could we measure the environmental impact of a pair of jeans discarded in a landfill? Or by extracting a kilo of gold from a mine? Or from spraying a crop with glyphosate?

The answer to all these questions starts with a question: In what setting?

That is, if there are x number of parameters determining the scenario where the environmental impact will be measured, we can agree on both the establishment of the unit of measurement and the adoption of a reference for that scenario.

Therefore, the impact caused by the disposal of jeans can be measured in a scenario that includes the natural time of its absorption and the occupation of the soil, where the reference is US$/m2; the impact caused by the withdrawal of a kilo of gold can be measured in a scenario of ore depletion, which normally takes antimony as a reference, and the spraying of glyphosate in a plantation can be evaluated, among others, within the scenario of human toxicity, where the reference is 1-4 dichlorobenzene.

So, if we can establish a system that involves both possible scenarios and reference substances, the next step is to demonstrate the monetary value of these diseconomies.

And how could we neutralize these diseconomies?

Instead of throwing the jeans in the trash, discover a new cycle that starts with their deposition; The environmental cost of mining gold can be offset by not mining, and concerning glyphosate, offsetting measures can be taken to neutralize the resulting environmental impact.

Let's say that these newly destined cycles for the old jeans and the unexplored gold mines generate Tradable Units of Diseconomies. Since we propose human toxicity as the adopted scenario for measuring the environmental impact caused by glyphosate, let us also say that the preservation and/or removal of negative emissions from biodiversity also generates such tradable units.

As we live in a single biosphere, improving something improves the whole. Due to the problem of different scenarios and reference substances, DTUs are comprised of the following types: B-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomy arising from the preservation/removal of negative emissions from biodiversity; C-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomies arising from the preservation/removal of hydrocarbon-related emissions; F-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomies arising from the preservation/removal of emissions from forests; H-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomies arising from the preservation/removal of negative emissions from bodies of water; M-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomies resulting from the preservation/removal of negative emissions related to ores and N-DTU, a tradable unit of diseconomies resulting from the optimization of anthropic production cycles.

Finally, each type of DTU has a conversion factor related to the generation of the DTUcoin (DTX) cryptocurrency; what happens when the DTU is retired?

In terms of a virtual currency, the DTX was created in 2015 as an evolution of Bitcoin (BTC or XBT): DTX is physically based on ZerO2Nature project activities that remove measured amounts of negative emissions.

So let's get back to approaching COVID-19 as a negative issue, or rather, a diseconomy. Through the application of the PREBIO–ZNP0005 methodology (http://www.zero2nature.org/development/files/Methodology_ZNP0005_10.4.20.pdf) and its tools, related to COVID-19, any investment made in dealing with the pandemic can be submitted to the ZerO2Nature process. Once registered, the project starts to generate B-DTUs that, retired on the 02N-Blockchain, allow the generation of the cryptocurrency DTUcoin (DTX).

Additionality

For a Project to be eligible as ZerO2Nature, it necessarily has to be additional, and the determination of additionality implies the specification of a baseline.

In terms of public health, of course, the baseline related to the COVID-19 pandemic is its non-existence. As most studies point to the permanence among us of SARS-COV-2, the most important thing is not only to preserve life but to guarantee its quality. Thus, with the application of the ZNP-0005 methodology, which came into force in April 2020, and new methodologies aimed at the current situation of living with the disease, the ZerO2Nature system allows the transformation of the river of money that flows from the perspective of the Economy, spent in the fight against COVID-19, in an ocean of opportunities, from the perspective of the Epiconomy.

The scope of the ZNP-0005 methodology is its application to ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project activities that seek to reduce negative emissions related to COVID-19, through the addition of equipment and/or hospital materials that allow better care for patients with the virus.

Its applicability says that, when using the methodology, the baseline scenario to be adopted must be the one resulting from the application of the “Tool to identify the baseline scenario and demonstrate additionality in the activities of the COVID19-ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project.”

All COVID-19-ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project activities to remove negative emissions related to COVID-19 will be based on the “Procedure to substantiate COVID19-ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project activities”.

1. Project activities may include one or a combination of activities eligible as a ZERO2NATURE project. The activities of the COVID-19-ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project can include different types of entities, such as individuals, legal entities, federal, state, municipal agencies, etc.
2. In the case of the COVID-19-ZERO2NATURE-PREBIO project activity, the area eligible for the project activity must be qualified as an intensive care unit, following the legislation in force at the site of the proposed project activity.
3. The methodology does not apply to mobile intensive care units.
4. The ZERO2NATURE project activity that adopts the ZNP-0005 methodology must also adapt to the conditions imposed by the tools, procedures, guidelines, etc. linked to it, available at zero2nature.org.

As the technical part of the ZNP-0005 methodology and its tools are relatively complex, we put here that, through the application of these, it is possible to prepare a Project Conception Document-DCP that allows the generation of ecological credits of the B-DTU type.

More information about the Ajuricaba Project is available at: http://www.igeacert.com/PDD/PDD_Ajuricaba_29052020_v1.pdf.

Retirement

B-DTU type credits, generated from the removal (or non-generation) of negative emissions that imply the compromise of biodiversity, can be retired by entities that cause negative impacts on the environment.

For example, manufacturers of chemical products that cause the depletion of the ozone layer or products that are toxic to humans, water reserves, soil, and air; products that cause photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication.

Take, for example, the production of 2,4-dichlorophenol, a raw material produced on a large scale for the manufacture of herbicides. 1 ton of this product has an Environmental Impact Potential-EIP on human health equal to 9.5. That is, the neutralization of 1 ton of 2,4-dichlorophenol occurs with the retirement of 9.5 B-DTU.

Another example would be related to hydrogen sulfide, a result of the hydrodesulfurization of petroleum, which has an EIP equal to 1.9, in the acidification of freshwater bodies. Thus, 1 ton of hydrogen sulfide can be neutralized with 2 B-DTU.

The epiconomy provides us with the opportunity to exclude the environmental liabilities we cause on Earth. The generation of a cryptocurrency that starts from the retirement of ecological credits brings a new and unexpected perspective. Instead of imposing fines, punishment, and burdens on the agents of the productive cycles, opportunities are created, where the neutralization of negative emissions produces money.

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