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Orca ( http://orca.so), a Solana-based liquidity platform, has announced the launch of the Orca Climate Fund. The fund is reflective of its mission to combat climate change and promote sustainable practices in crypto. The Orca Climate Fund evolved from Orca’s Impact Fund which was born in August 2021. Since 2021, Orca has allocated a portion of fees on every trade to the fund.
The Orca Climate Fund will focus on promoting change at the intersection of climate and web3. Along with making charitable contributions, the Orca Climate Fund will explore ways that DAOs can take a leadership role in combating climate change and encourage traders, validators, and builders to adopt climate-friendly practices. It aligns with Orca’s own goals of driving energy efficiency. Orca itself is built on Solana, which is staggeringly energy efficient. In 2021 the Solana Foundation managed to make the entire chain carbon neutral by offsetting the carbon produced by the validator network.
As part of Orca’s movement to fully decentralize its protocol, management of the fund will begin transitioning to a community-led working group in Q4. The fund’s initiatives will ultimately be shaped by the Orca community and its working group, but could include:
- Evaluating and taking accountability for Orca’s own climate footprint
- Sponsoring climate-related fellowships, e.g. funding aspiring individuals who want to deliver impact on climate change from a web3 lens
- Supporting other DAOs’ climate initiatives
- Hosting NFT fundraisers for carbon removal or avoidance projects with partner
“Orca is dedicated to driving sustainable practices industry-wide,” said Orca co-founders Ori Kwan and Yutaro Mori. “The Climate Fund is reflective of Orca’s mission to promote sustainable practices in crypto and combat climate change. We look forward to inspiring others within the broader crypto community to take action and use their influence to promote philanthropy and purposeful giving to initiatives that show how as an industry we’re taking action to address climate change .”
The fund was established as an initiative to raise money for organizations dedicated to environmental protection and combating climate change. To date, $1.2m has been converted to USDC from the fund and $550k has now been donated to Ocean Conservancy, one of the world’s largest environmental protection non-profit organizations. The $550K will go towards Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas’ Small Grants program, which empowers local communities working to tackle plastic pollution through advocacy, research, education and large-scale debris removal. This includes Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative® (GGGI)’s Small Grants program. The GGGI is the world’s largest and only alliance solely dedicated to advancing durable and locally relevant solutions to prevent, mitigate and remove lost and abandoned fishing gear from our ocean.
“Plastic pollution is one of the most visible and prolific threats facing our ocean today,” said Nicholas Mallos, Vice President of Conservation, Ocean Plastics, at Ocean Conservancy. “The problem is global, but the solutions must be local. Ocean Conservancy’s Small Grants Program supports community-based, community-led projects that are having a tangible impact combating ghost gear and plastic pollution more broadly. We are thrilled to have the Orca community’s support on this important work.”
The decision of Ocean Conservancy as the recipient was voted on by members of the Orca community. The fund currently has a remaining balance of approximately $677k (click here for the wallet address).
Orca’s donation to Ocean Conservancy is its second major donation, with $967K being donated to Aflatoun, a non-profit focused on education in developing countries for the development of a crypto education curriculum.
“The support to Ocean Conservancy is an excellent development,” said Roeland Monasch, CEO of Aflatoun. “Climate action and empowering youth with green skills, digital skills and understanding finance are all essential parts of responsible resource management which urgently need to be scaled around the planet”.
Both the Ocean Conservancy and the Alfatoun donations are made possible through Every.org, a nonprofit which facilitates cryptocurrency donations to charitable organizations.
Individuals and Orca community members interested in the Orca Climate Fund are encouraged to fill out this form to make suggestions for partner organizations, different initiatives, or to volunteer for the Climate Fund working group.
More information about the Orca Climate Fund can be found by clicking here.
