News of heavy rain and extreme heat keeps coming. Can crypto and blockchains do anything useful about it? This article sorts out what public sources confirm.
It is for readers who are interested in crypto and want to know how it relates to climate problems from facts, not from promotion.
You will learn three things.
- What public bodies have recorded about extreme weather, and what a “weather index” means
- Four candidate roles for crypto, with real cases and their limits
- The other side (electricity use), and what an individual can and cannot do
We opened and checked the sources by 16:38 JST on 4 October 2026. Things may change after that.
Please read this first
This article is not investment advice. The companies, organisations, coins, insurance schemes and aid programmes named here are shown as cases. Naming them is not a recommendation.
We (Microfund) operate crypto-related services. We have received no request and no payment from the companies or organisations named. Each figure carries the date given in its source.
How public sources record extreme weather
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Japan’s mean temperature in summer 2026 (June to August) was +1.02°C against the baseline. It was the fifth highest since records began in 1898.
The summer mean temperature has been rising at a long-term rate of 1.41°C per 100 years (JMA).
Rain has changed as well. In Japan’s AMeDAS network (scaled to 1,300 stations), downpours of 50 mm or more in one hour occurred about 340 times a year on average over the latest ten years (2016 to 2025).
In the first ten years of the record (1976 to 1985) the average was about 226 times, so the JMA describes the increase as about 1.5 times.
On 23 March 2026 the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the global mean temperature in 2025 was about 1.43°C above the 1850 to 1900 average.
The IPCC report (2021) states that human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.
What a weather index is
A weather index is a figure calculated from observed weather values such as rainfall, temperature and wind speed. Which values are used and how it is calculated are set before the insurance period starts.
A paper by the IAIS, the international body of insurance supervisors (June 2018), gives rainfall levels, temperature and wind speeds as examples of the values an index is based on.
Concrete examples
- Rainfall level (the example of an index given by the GIIF, a World Bank Group programme)
- Temperature, wind, precipitation, snow depth and hours of sunshine (the weather conditions listed in a document of 16 December 2016 issued under the name Sompo Japan Nipponkoa)
- Rainy-season precipitation (a case in the same document, for rice farmers in north-eastern Thailand, covering drought)
What it is used for
When the index meets a condition set in advance, an amount set in advance is paid. Insurance of this kind is called index insurance or parametric insurance.
This is the difference from insurance that pays after assessing the actual loss. The 2016 document above explains that there is no need to prove the causal link to the loss or the actual amount of the loss.
Besides weather values, some indexes are calculated from actual results such as the crop yield of an area (the IAIS paper).
Limits
The actual loss and the amount paid can differ. This is called basis risk.
The IAIS paper describes the case where an adverse event occurs but the index does not reach the condition, so no payment is made.
An index depends on observation data. The same paper notes designers’ criticism that where weather stations are sparse, an index cannot reflect local conditions well.
About the words
“Weather index” (tenko no shisu) is the wording of this article. The 2016 document above, in Japanese, writes “weather index insurance” and “weather indicator”.
Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act lists “figures on the results of weather observation published by the Japan Meteorological Agency or others” as a “financial indicator” (Article 2(25); our translation).
The 2016 document above says that in Japan products with the same features are offered as weather derivatives. This article has not confirmed whether a given product is, in law, insurance or a derivative.
Candidate 1: insurance that pays automatically on a weather or other index
Parametric insurance does not assess the damage. It decides whether to pay by whether an index, such as rainfall or crop yield, has crossed a line set in advance.
The idea is that writing the condition and the payment into a program (a smart contract) removes the claim procedure.
A real case: 7,000 farmers in Kenya
One case is a group called the Lemonade Crypto Climate Coalition, funded by the foundation of Lemonade, an insurer.
A news item of 4 April 2023 from the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance says that Etherisc, a member, provided crop protection to 7,000 farmers in Kenya.
According to the same item, it used the Avalanche blockchain and Chainlink’s technology.
Lemonade’s blog explains that the coalition’s crop protection is built on an index of the crop yield of an area, not on rainfall or other weather data.
Limits
The total amount paid out, and whether the programme continues, could not be confirmed from the sources we opened.
The index and the actual damage can differ. If the index does not cross the line, nothing is paid even when there is damage.
In Japan, as a rule, only a party licensed by the Prime Minister may carry on insurance business (Insurance Business Act, Article 3; small-amount, short-term insurance requires registration under Article 272).
From the sources we opened, we could not confirm any blockchain-based insurance of this kind that an individual in Japan can join.
Candidate 2: sending money after a disaster
This use delivers aid as digital value, such as stablecoins, to places where bank counters and ATMs cannot be used after a disaster.
A real case: UnBlocked Cash in Vanuatu
Oxfam, an international NGO, ran aid of this kind in Vanuatu in response to Tropical Cyclone Harold in 2020 and COVID-19.
By Oxfam’s account, the project originated in 2019 in Vanuatu, and the first pilot had 198 recipients and 33 shops. It says the project was later extended to over 35,000 people.
Oxfam says delivery time fell by 96% and distribution costs fell by 75%. These are the organiser’s own figures, and we have not confirmed an independent review.
Limits
When electricity and networks are down, nothing can be sent or received. After receiving it, people also need shops that accept it, or a way to change it into cash.
Japanese law defines “electronic payment instruments”: broadly, currency-denominated digital value that can be used to pay, and be traded with, unspecified persons (Payment Services Act, Article 2(5)).
Trading them, or holding them for others, as a business requires registration with the Prime Minister (Article 62-3). We could not confirm a public case of crypto donations being accepted for a disaster in Japan.
Candidates 3 and 4: tokenised emissions trading, and recording data
Tokenised carbon credits, and the criticism
There are attempts to turn carbon credits, the units in which greenhouse gas reductions are bought and sold, into blockchain tokens so that the trading record is visible.
On 25 May 2022, Verra, a body that certifies credits, announced that it prohibits creating tokens based on retired credits.
In the same statement, Verra said it would explore “immobilizing” credits in its registry so that they can be tokenized.
On 7 April 2022, the research group CarbonPlan reported that about 28% of credits bridged by a system called Toucan (6.0 million tons) came from projects with, for example, no recorded use in the two preceding years.
Both date from 2022. This article has not confirmed Verra’s rules or Toucan’s situation after that.
A visible record and a genuine reduction are two different things.
Energy trading, and systems that record data
Energy Web says on its own site that it builds infrastructure that verifies claims for energy and environmental markets and records the results on a blockchain.
Powerledger states on its own site that it runs peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading on a blockchain called Solana.
Both are the operators’ own statements. We could not confirm an independent review showing that they reduced damage from extreme weather.
The other side: the electricity crypto itself uses
Crypto can also be on the cause side of the climate problem. The electricity used differs greatly with the method that confirms transactions.
- PoW (proof of work): confirmation by a race of computation. Mining uses electricity
- PoS (proof of stake): confirmation backed by deposited coins. There is no race of computation
The University of Cambridge index estimates Bitcoin’s yearly electricity use at 175.0 TWh as of 3 October 2026.
The estimate has a range: the lower bound is 81.0 TWh and the upper bound is 304.1 TWh.
Ethereum moved from PoW to PoS on 15 September 2022. Its official site describes its current use as about 0.0026 TWh per year.
The same site carries a CCRI estimate that the move cut its electricity use by more than 99.988%.
The two figures come from different bodies and different methods. They are not suited to being divided one by the other for comparison.
What an individual can and cannot do
✅ What you can do
Check the facts in public sources such as the JMA. Which method a coin uses is written in its issuer’s documents.
In a disaster, crypto cannot be moved without electricity and a network. It does not replace cash, food and other preparations.
⚠️ What you cannot do, and what to watch
Holding crypto does not by itself contribute to the climate problem being solved. Holding it changes neither temperature nor rain.
A claim of being “good for the environment” cannot be confirmed on the issuer’s word alone. Look for whether independent material exists.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can crypto reduce extreme weather?
We found no source confirming that it can. What we could confirm goes only as far as cases where it was used for moving money after damage, and for record-keeping.
Q. Can I join crypto-based weather index insurance in Japan?
We could not confirm that. The cases in this article are pilots abroad, not products for individuals in Japan.
Q. Is Bitcoin bad for the environment?
The estimates show that it uses a large amount of electricity. This article has not confirmed what that electricity is generated from.
Summary
- Extreme weather is recorded in numbers by the JMA, the WMO and the IPCC
- There are four candidate roles. Insurance and aid transfers have real cases, but review of their scale and effect is limited
- Tokenised carbon credits have met a ban by a certifying body and criticism of which credits flowed in
- Crypto itself uses electricity. It differs greatly by method, and holding crypto alone does not help the climate
To check the current yen value of a crypto asset
To see what the Bitcoin and Ethereum mentioned in this article are worth now in yen and US dollars, you can use our Crypto Rate Viewer.
Each coin’s page also shows a chart of past prices in yen (1 day to 365 days). No login is needed. The page opens in Japanese; the EN button at the top right switches it to English.
The prices shown are reference values and may differ from actual trading rates. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell, and it does not show future prices.
Sources for this article (opened on 4 October 2026)
- Japan Meteorological Agency, seasonal mean temperature in Japan, summer (June to August), in Japanese
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/cpdinfo/temp/sum_jpn.html - Japan Meteorological Agency, past changes in heavy rain and extremely hot days, in Japanese
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/cpdinfo/extreme/extreme_p.html - World Meteorological Organization (WMO), press release of 23 March 2026
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/earths-climate-swings-increasingly-out-of-balance - IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, Summary for Policymakers (2021)
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/ - Lemonade blog, “Introducing the Lemonade Crypto Climate Coalition”
https://www.lemonade.com/blog/crypto-climate-coalition/ - Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, news item of 4 April 2023
https://www.climatefinancelab.org/news/etherisc-protects-7000-kenyan-farmers-using-blockchain-technology/ - Oxfam, “UnBlocked Cash Project”
https://www.oxfam.org/en/unblocked-cash-project-using-blockchain-technology-revolutionize-humanitarian-aid - Verra, statement of 25 May 2022
https://verra.org/verra-addresses-crypto-instruments-and-tokens/ - CarbonPlan, “Zombies on the blockchain”, 7 April 2022
https://carbonplan.org/research/toucan-crypto-offsets - Energy Web, official site
https://energyweb.org/ - Powerledger, official site
https://powerledger.io/ - Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance)
https://ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci - ethereum.org, “Ethereum energy consumption”
https://ethereum.org/en/energy-consumption/ - ethereum.org, “The Merge”
https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/merge/ - Insurance Business Act of Japan, Articles 3 and 272 (e-Gov, in Japanese)
https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/407AC0000000105 - Payment Services Act of Japan, Articles 2 and 62-3 (e-Gov, in Japanese)
https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/421AC0000000059 - IAIS, “Issues Paper on Index-based Insurances”, June 2018
https://www.iais.org/uploads/2022/01/180618-Issues-Paper-on-Index-based-Insurances-particularly-in-Inclusive-Insurance-Markets.pdf - Global Inclusive Insurance Facility (World Bank Group), “What is index insurance?”
https://www.globalinclusiveinsuranceforum.org/faq/what-index-insurance - Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, material on weather index insurance for farmers in Southeast Asia, 16 December 2016 (on the site of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, in Japanese)
https://www.env.go.jp/content/900530188.pdf - Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan, Article 2(25) (e-Gov, in Japanese)
https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000025
This article is based on sources opened by 16:38 JST on 4 October 2026. Their content may change after that.
This article is not investment advice. The companies, organisations, coins, insurance schemes and aid programmes named are cases; naming them is not a recommendation.
Notes on law are summaries of Japanese law, not legal advice. Rules on insurance and money transfers differ by country.
Categories