Climate Fund Working Group Proposal

Governance Proposals
1

Summary

The aim of this proposal is to help the Orca Climate Fund reach its goals and maximize its impact by allowing a working group to steward funds and invest in climate-tech entrepreneurs.

TL;DR

  • Let us move ownership of the climate fund assets to a multisig controlled by the Climate Fund working group members (Cameron Ogden-Fung, Elijah Johnston, Aaron Gillett, Julian Wahl, Dee Zheng, Kyle Riggenbach).
  • Give us an operating budget of $180k ($90k USDC and $90k ORCA).
  • We will provide quarterly updates on the operations of the Climate Fund to the community.

What is the working group proposing?

Given the groundwork established together as part of the working group, the Climate Fund would like to propose the following to the ORCA tokenholder community and the Orca Governance Council:

  • Transfer ownership of the Climate Fund (DrhE
xh9X) to a multisig managed by the voting working group members, and any applicable members of Orca’s initial development team only in the case that a tiebreak is required
  • Operating budget of $180,000 (90,000 USDC from the Climate Fund and $90,000 worth of ORCA from the ORCA token treasury) to fund general and administrative costs, marketing efforts (e.g., sponsoring Solana ReFi hackathons, external communications, etc.), and annual compensation for the voting working group members through May 2024.
  • Any applicable logistical support from the Orca Governance Council, individual contributors, and development teams to facilitate grants and investments if necessary.

What happens if the vote passes?

If the vote passes, the voting working group will:

  • Work with the admin controls to transfer the Climate Fund to a multisig wallet controlled by the voting working group members and any applicable members of Orca’s initial development team.
  • Consider recruiting a 7th working group member. The group is eager to get support from volunteers, and other advisors/board members as well (link for engagement).
  • Launch a campaign to solicit opportunities for collaboration and funding for mission-aligned projects and organizations.
  • Report any funding decisions. Current expectation is to allocate 200k USDC (~17.5% of current fund amount) of funding and collaboration opportunities for the first year.
  • Work on treasury management of the funds not allocated for this first cycle of grants, with a conservative, low-risk strategy with the primary aim of principal preservation (e.g. purchasing treasury bills).
  • Present quarterly updates to the council and community, along with a cycle-end review for next May.
  • Recruit a new group of voting working group members in Q2 2024 to ensure a smooth transition.

What happens if everything goes right?

Our vision of the future is one where innovative organizations play a vital role in promoting a healthy and abundant Earth. We believe that “unicorns” should be measured not just by their market cap, but also by their contribution to planetary regeneration. The Orca Climate Fund—with the contribution and alignment of its working group members—seeks to invest in organizations and individuals who are working toward this vision.

The reason we’ve chosen to interface with organizations at the earliest stage of their efforts is that this the single avenue which leverages the catalytic capital of the Orca Climate Fund to create the greatest planet-positive impact. Alternatives include: Donations to charitable organizations which provide a one-time feel-good story and low implementation hurdles, but lack transparency, individual accountability, and sustainable impact; Investing in public market ESG funds/ETFs, which again have low implementation hurdles, but given the size of the fund, lack the sheer volume necessary to move the needle on impact; investing in existing funds/syndicates - medium hurdles to implementation, but extremely difficult to attribute the impact of “successes” to Orca, and extremely unlikely to find something that is a complete fit for the Orca Climate Fund’s own mission and values.

Background

What is the Climate Fund working group?

The Climate Fund working group is an independent community team formed in Q4 2022, which consists of volunteers who responded to Orca’s call to the community. Over the last ~8 months, the working group has:

Current Community Working Group Members

Cameron Ogden-Fung is the co-founder of Groove with Gaia, a creative studio that produces mission-driven content that inspires action and creates positive impact for humanity and the environment. She holds an M.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Over the years, she has conducted research in biological oceanography and social-ecological coral reef management at several leading institutions across the globe. LinkedIn.

Elijah Johnston is a multidimensional product strategist, experience designer, and energy medicine practitioner on a path of sacred service. His greatest inspiration comes from witnessing the beauty, intelligence, and interconnectedness that permeates all life forms on Earth. Throughout over a decade of digital venture building, he has led all aspects of design, product management, and engineering. This experience has allowed him to facilitate creative, effective, and innovative solutions across a range of geographies and scales. LinkedIn.

Aaron Gillett is a Product Designer working on decentralized applications, protocols and REFI (Regenerative Finance). He is part of the founding team of Coral, working on open source public goods and Backpack; a multichain wallet. Aaron contributed to product design at KlimaDAO, which helped to kickstart the REFI movement, and now stores over 17m tonnes of carbon and nature based credits in its treasury. Portfolio, Twitter.

Julian Wahl is a graduate from UC Berkeley where he studied social entrepreneurship and specifically examined the relationship between profit and purpose. After graduation Julian spent time serving as a design consultant for early stage products and teams in the Techstars ecosystem. Currently, he serves as the DAO coordinator for the OnChainMonkey DAO. LinkedIn.

Dee Zheng is a former founder and an angel investor. His investments include Lumen Energy, Gradient, Photon Marine, Leap Photovoltaics, Open Forest Protocol, and Digital Gaia. He is also a mentor and advisor to startups in Gener8tor and For ClimateTech, as well as a venture scout for funds that include Aera Force, a DAO that invests at the intersection of web3 and climate. He has over two decades of experience in financial markets, utilities, petrochemicals, and the carbon markets. LinkedIn.

Kyle Riggenbach is a business owner for a home health care and restaurant. Strengths include finance and leadership. Currently working towards a computer science degree. GitHub.

Mission

The Orca Climate Fund exists to provide climate-tech entrepreneurs with funding to build, innovate, and iterate towards restoring and preserving earth health from ocean to ozone.

Values

  1. Transparency: the working group strives to be transparent in the Climate Fund’s investments, decision-making, and reporting of impact.
  2. Financial sustainability: the working group manages finances for long-term effectiveness and finds sustainable solutions that are financially and ecologically sound.
  3. Holistic Web3: the working group strives to bridge the gap between on-chain and off-chain, between science and technology, between sustainability and Web3.
  4. Measurable Impact: the working group aims to achieve measurable impact to ensure environmental outcomes.
  5. Access: the working group aims to democratize access to funding and resources to catalyze action in areas with the greatest need.

Areas of Interest

  1. Ecosystem Health Monitoring (monitoring): This includes the regular monitoring of the health of ecosystems, such as forests, oceans, and wetlands, to ensure that they are not being negatively impacted by human activities. It also involves developing and implementing strategies to mitigate any negative impacts that are identified.
  2. Habitat and Biodiversity Preservation and Regeneration: It is important to preserve natural habitats and the biodiversity that they support, as they are essential for the health of ecosystems and the survival of many species. This involves identifying areas that are at risk of degradation or destruction and taking steps to protect them, as well as restoring areas that have already been impacted by human activities.
  3. Supply Chain and Materials Management: Ensuring that the materials used in production are sustainable and responsibly sourced is critical to reducing the environmental impact of business operations. This involves developing and implementing supply chain management strategies that prioritize sustainability and responsible sourcing. It also includes the responsible management of materials, such as reducing waste and recycling materials whenever possible.
  4. De-Carbonization: The importance of removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere and moving towards renewable, less polluting norms for industry cannot be overstated. Greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributor to climate change and the resulting damage to our planet’s ecosystems, which has profound implications for our health, our economies, and our way of life. Investing in and supporting companies that prioritize the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to mitigating the worst effects of climate change and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.
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