About the project
The overall objective of COOLCROWD is to assess the potential for a locally crowdfunded system that enables Norwegian farmers to install climate-friendly technologies on their land and the Norwegian public to invest in local climate mitigation measures. A well designed crowdfunding program will increase the transparency, trust and thus overall delivery potential of GHG reduction schemes as part of a mosaic of different approaches.
The project will undertake a study on relevant legal aspects for the design of a locally successful crowdfunded climate program in Norway. The legal analysis will include questions related to, among others: the applicable legislation, the legal status of the different actors under the program (crowdfunders, intermediaries, platform, farmers etc.), the legal status of the platform including its obligations, due diligence processes for farmers' projects , the traceability of the money flow.
A separate legal issue to be addressed by the project is how to account for and reward the emission reductions achieved through the measures. This is important for integrating crowdfunding as a financial mechanism into Norwegian climate legislation, both current and forthcoming. The legal assessment will primarily consist of an analysis of the Norwegian legislation. It will be supported by a review of experiences from the regulatory regime in other countries, which have established crowdfunding programs in the agriculture and transport sectors. The research will apply the general legal doctrine methodology based on domestic legal sources, EEA/EU law when applicable, and comparative law to reflect experiences from foreign legislations.
Financing
The project is financed by the Norwegian Research Council under the KLIMAFORSK programme.
Participants
The project is lead by the Institute for Rural and Regional Research (RURALIS) in Norway. Other participants are the University of Oslo, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norwegian Business School (BI), Norsøk, Eindhoven University of Technology, University of Western Australia (UWA), and the University of Otago, New Zealand.
The project has strong stakeholder engagement. There is extensive involvement of industry partners and other stakeholders: SAS, Trønder Taxi, Nord Trøndelag Farmers' Union, Norwegian Farmer's Union, Bidra.no (Nordic Crowdfunding alliance), Cultura Bank, University of Agder (Rotem Shneor), and the Norwegian Environment Agency. This will ensure that the outcome will be effective and practical, while two innovation partners (Innovation Norway and Ducky) have suggested they could take the idea forward following the project’s completion.
Results
Results from the project will be published online and in relevant journals.
