The Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched a publication titled “The Future is Decentralised: Block Chains, Distributed Ledgers and the Future of Sustainable Development” on 2 March 2018. 

This white paper explores the potential of blockchain technology for SDGs and the use of block chain in promoting supply chain management, development aid, renewable energy and economic growth. This white paper is designed as the first volume in a series of primers to provide a non-technical introduction to blockchain technology for regulators, policymakers, and governments worldwide. 

 The Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development was established in September 2017, which aims to develop a multi-sectoral framework to support the UN system. It works along with Member States, intergovernmental organizations, businesses and civil society in using block chain technologies to develop local, national and international solutions to relevant challenges. This paper not only analyses the potential use of block chains for SDGs but also identifies risks posed by this technology as well as provides suggestion on managing block chains. 

This paper identifies several factors that is relevant to the adoption of block chain:

• Telecom Infrastructure: a certain quality level of ICT (e.g. SMS messages, smartphones and 4G internet) is necessary and important in each country to facilitate the access for operation of block chain technology; 
• Legislative barriers: it is necessary to consider block chain technology in national legislation and how block chain technology intertwines with the legislation;
• Data integrity: appropriate data security protocols and procedures need to be in place to reduce cyber-attacks threat;
• Project management: agile management, randomized control trails to measure progress and impact, and informed iterations of the actual product itself are necessary; 
• Barriers to communication and education: customers need to be educated about what the block chain technology does, what its advantages are and how to use it;
• Inadequate institutional capacity: relevant institutions need to have the appropriate operational capacity interns of staff, finance, procurement, and logistical resources, as well as the requisite technical ability. 

The white paper also identifies several key principles for designing future local chain-driven experiments: i) do no harm; (ii) design ‘with’ not ‘for’; (iii) power dynamics; (iv) policy implications.