Toucan is a blockchain infrastructure project built on the Polygon network. The goal of the project is to bring environmental assets on-chain, specifically carbon credits. ^{[1] [2][3]}

History
The Toucan Protocol launched in October 2021, as the infrastructure component of the cryptocurrency Base Carbon Tonne (BCT). In the first month after launching, BCT achieved $2 Billion USD in trading volume.

How It Works
"Bridging": Carbon-credits must be brought on-chain from a verified credit-issuer (e.g. Verra Registry). Bridging creates a ERC20 token (compatible with Ethereum and Polygon).

"Utility": Once the credits are "tokenized" they can be pooled, traded, and used in various carbon-credit projects or markets.

"Burning": To compensate for emissions, the tokens can be permanently removed from circulation.

Carbon Intensity
Toucan is built on the Polygon Network. Polygon is an energy-efficient proof-of-stake blockchain. Proof-of-stake is vastly less resource intensive than proof-of-work blockchains (such as Bitcoin).