Blockchain technology and the sustainable development goals

Abstract

Blockchain is an emerging technology from the Fourth Industrial Revolution that has the potential to be applied to different sectors and address issues related to sustainability. However, research on Blockchain has tended to focus on its technical characteristics, with no studies analysing its positive and negative impact on sustainability. This article presents an analysis of how this technology can help to achieve each one of the different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with a series of case examples that can serve as a model; as well as an identification of the negative impacts that the Blockchain has for sustainability. The findings of this study are useful for engineers, since they identify the technological aspects of BC that need to be improved; for company managers, since they can appreciate the positive impact that this new technology could have on sustainability if it is applied correctly; and for politicians, to whom it poses a series of challenges and the need to carry out regulatory reforms.