Cardano Foundation, CEMS Study Blockchain for Sustainability

How suitable are major blockchain networks for reporting sustainability compliance data? In collaboration with the former Community of European Management Schools (CEMS), now the Global Alliance in Management Education, and SGH Warsaw School of Economics, the Cardano Foundation conducted new research to answer this and other regulatory questions currently occupying the minds of leaders around the globe.

The results of the three-month project titled “Blockchain for Global Sustainability Compliance in the Face of Increasing Regulation” include an analysis of the current global landscape of sustainability regulation, a matrix scorecard for assessing the compliance reporting-fit of public blockchain networks, and a scoped pilot business case to demonstrate measurable return on investment (ROI) for businesses when implementing blockchain as part of sustainability reporting solutions.

CEMS is a leading network of business schools, uniting 33 top-tier universities, such as HEC Paris, Cornell University, London School of Economics, and University of St. Gallen. Students are paired with enterprise professionals from over 70 multinational corporations, ranging from ABB to BCG, Coca-Cola, Airbus, Visa, H&M, and Mercedes-Benz. Over 22,000 alumni have completed its one-year, parallel “Master in International Management” program, which includes a mandatory business project.

At 120 years old and decorated with the rare “Triple Crown” accreditation, SGH Warsaw School of Economics is Poland’s most storied and preeminent business school. Particularly strong in finance, accounting, and international representation, it consistently tops the local university landscape in graduate employability and average starting salaries.

Following a rigorous selection and matching process of both students and business challenges, the Cardano Foundation’s Venture Hub and Academy team worked together with participating students Mikołaj Boruc, Karolina Nowak, Joshua Picard, and Marta Romańczuk, guiding the student team in weekly sessions over the course of 12 weeks in delivering four key milestones for the business project.

First, the team performed an in-depth analysis of global sustainability regulations. Grouped by regions, North America, Latin America (LATAM), and China showed moderate pressure to comply as of 2026, whereas India and Europe have already built up extensive frameworks affecting thousands of businesses. This kind of regulatory pressure is already playing out in practice: Palmyra, an ecosystem partner, uses Cardano to help commodity producers meet traceability requirements under the EU Deforestation Regulation. Europe was chosen as a focus area due to its mandatory disclosure requirements for over 50,000 enterprises, which are already partially in effect.

Second, the team developed a weighted matrix scorecard to facilitate the assessment of public permissionless blockchains with regards to meeting such sustainability reporting requirements. The matrix builds on 14 different metrics grouped into four categories: business, sustainability, architecture, and strategy. Data points include carbon intensity per transaction, dollar secured, and node, as well as e-waste, profitability, validator concentration, block space utilization, and more.

In a third step, the team used the matrix scorecard to generate weighted scores for five major blockchain networks: Solana, Ethereum, Cardano, Tezos, and Hedera. From the final ranking, which saw Cardano as runner-up behind Ethereum, the team derived recommendations. For Cardano, these revolved around increasing fee-based monetization, energy efficiency, and scalability, while highlighting the network’s structural soundness, cost efficiency, simple hardware requirements, degree of decentralization, and low technical risk.

Lastly, with the support of the Cardano Foundation’s Business Development team, particularly David Clark, Senior Solutions Manager, Enterprise, the CEMS team completed a fully specified, 12-month pilot project roadmap and implementation plan for a global enterprise. Targeting global fashion retailer H&M’s ambitious sustainability targets, the group mapped out an end-to-end tracking and reporting use case on a per-item basis, including technical, regulatory, and commercial pilot success criteria. Quantified profitability calculations with multiple scenarios rounded out the milestone, with realistic assumptions indicating a potential ROI of nearly 118% within 12 months of implementation.

Thanks to their international and multidisciplinary background, excellent communication, and exemplary dedication, the team delivered outstanding results for all demanding milestones. The team then presented findings to the Cardano Foundation as well as to the wider SGH audience and other CEMS participants in the cohort. Academic advisor Anna Grudecka lauded the collaboration for its effectiveness, efficient project management, and meaningful results.

The matrix scorecard and results of the project completed by the CEMS student team can be viewed as a PDF or spreadsheet. The findings add to a growing body of practical work in this space, including Plastiks' use of Cardano to convert plastic recovery data into verifiable, audit-ready records for regulators and enterprises. The Cardano Foundation is thankful to CEMS, SGH, and the student team for the collaboration and encourages everyone to review the materials and use them in their own research.