Ripple has added its voice to the ongoing cryptocurrency sustainability pool with the announcement that it aims to hit carbon net zero by 2030. And it has partnered with various sustainability leaders to achieve that aim.

In a tweet shared on May 15, Ripple (XRP) linked to a post on its website. The page detailed a number of aspects of their environmental strategy. This included a list of their partners, which already counts the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mercy Corps, Mojaloop Foundation, and the Institute for Business and Social Impact among them.

Overall, Ripple has non-government organization (NGO) partners in more than 80 countries.

Now, sustainability leaders like the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), the Energy Web Foundation, and Watershed have joined their ranks. The page also states:

“Our current global financial system does not meet the needs of 1.7 billion unbanked people. “Digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) have the potential to transform how unbanked and underbanked populations access basic financial services and send and receive money across borders, making it more accessible, affordable and secure.”

The report on the website also referred to how green XRP is, compared to leading cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). More specifically, XRP uses only 63,000 gallons per 100 million transactions. Meanwhile, BTC uses nearly 4 billion gallons per 100 million transactions. And ETH uses another 239 million gallons.

Sustainability and crypto

Cryptocurrency’s environmental implications have been the subject of much debate in recent weeks. Not least in light of Elon Musk raising the issue of fossil fuel emissions incurred by bitcoin mining.

The businessman took such a strong stance on this issue that he suspended BTC as a currency option for purchases at Tesla. This decision prompted a swift decline in BTC’s price, falling below the $50,000 threshold.

Even so, Musk’s decision was not met without criticism. Tim Draper, for one, made the point that the present banking system caused its share of environmental issues. The global investor suggested that, by Musk’s philosophy, he should stop accepting purchases in fiat currency as well.

Meanwhile, other nations are putting other measures in place to protect the environment against BTC mining. On May 15, reports stated that the Iranian authorities would enforce fines to anyone caught mining off household electricity.

Other updates on XRP

It’s an eventful time for Ripple at the moment. As a pending lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues. The next major event in the case is due to take place on May 17, primarily surrounding John E. Deaton’s Motion to Intervene. Deaton is scheduled to reply to Ripple and the SEC’s respective positions on his motion. The SEC will also respond to Ripple’s position on that Motion to Intervene.

But it’s not all bad, as on May 16, data indicated that XRP was up over 12% in a 24-hour period. XRP are currently ranked the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization.