Climate DAOs — How the web3 revolution can help us fight climate change
How deep down the rabbit hole are you?
Never have I heard or used this question as much as in these last few months. Going down rabbit holes is part of our Impact Shakers manifesto, but we didn’t imagine it becoming slang for a very specific hole on all things web3.
We decided to start a new series, not trying to explain what web3 is (here’s a great curated list of resources by Crypto, Culture & Society), but offering use cases within the impact space to try and understand the potential for new and existing impact businesses. New business models and funding mechanisms are emerging at the speed of light. We kick it off with what we labelled as ‘Climate DAO’s’.
The emergence of DAOs opens a promising new frontier in the fight to mitigate the hazards caused by climate change. These member-owned groups operate on a contract that defines the rules based on which the group operates. Group members vote, and decisions are automatically implemented according to the terms of the contract.
We collected 6 pioneering tech for good projects that could help us restore the planet. In general, a best practice to learn more about these organisations is to join their Discord channel and explore all available resources posted there.
Earth Fund
The Earth Fund is a climate-conscious (DAO) that champions the inclusion of everyone in climate conservations and has adopted Web3 and blockchain technology to achieve that.
How it works
- Earth Fund helps you to support causes by pooling resources. You can join a community dedicated to helping a cause you’re passionate about and use that cause’s budget to fund the kind of projects you want to see become a reality.
- To start, you have to buy a 1Earth token, choose a cause to join and have a real say in how your treasury is used to make the world a better place.
- Earth Fund currently supports the following causes: Carbon removal, Green tech, Society and inequality, Ecosystems and conservation, Disease and public health.
KlimaDAO
KlimaDAO’s goal is to accelerate the price appreciation of carbon assets. A high price for carbon forces companies and economies to adapt more quickly to the realities of climate change and makes low-carbon technologies and carbon-removal projects more profitable.
How it works
- Through the KLIMA token, KlimaDAO will maximise value creation for the community and create a virtuous cycle of growth.
- Every KLIMA token is backed by 1 tonne of verified, tokenized carbon reduction or removal. These can remain locked in the treasury indefinitely, or be sold to balance the price of KLIMA.
- The treasury only accepts certified, third-party verified emissions reductions from reputable carbon markets (sometimes called ‘carbon offsets’ or ‘carbon credits’). Each is tokenized in a transparent and traceable way to prevent double-spending or double-offsetting.
Diatom
Diatom is a decentralised currency that grows more valuable as the ocean is measurably restored and protected established for the purpose of demonstrating and mapping the real value of the ocean into a token, funding practical, proven and measurable projects that protect and regenerate that ocean, and to expand its own treasury to perpetuate the above.
How it works
- The DAO’s mission is to protect the ocean. It is using treasury funds to invest in highly-vetted ocean protection & cleanup projects. Some will be donations, and others will be high-yield investments that also serve to build up our treasury value.
- Members of the DAO vote on projects that restore ocean health and expand their buying power to do so.
- The currency of this DAO is Diatoms (DIAT).
Spark Eco
Spark Eco aspires to give this public good back to the people with a decentralised approach to the problem. They will invest in solar energy projects, fund non-profits working on solar projects in developing communities, and support land preservation efforts.
How it works
- Instead of large centralized entities burning coal and other fossil fuels, SparkEco will build localized small solar microgrids worldwide. These microgrids can supply power to small communities as close to the end-user as possible.
- Spark Eco then partners with communities of artists, entrepreneurs and others in the crypto/NFTs/web3 space who want to build and own solar projects as well as solar developers working on solar microgrid projects.
- Using existing pay-as-you-go (PAYG) technology, the communities will purchase the power from the solar microgrids as they use it.
SavePlanetEarth
Founded in early 2021, SavePlanetEarth is a global environmental initiative registered in the U.K. with established government and organization partnerships. SPE is developing the first-ever Gold Standard certified carbon credit NFTs, a green blockchain entirely powered by renewable energy, and a carbon credit exchange that will use $SPE as the exclusive currency.
How it works
- SavePlanetEarth’s carbon credits will be consumable by organisations and individuals that require or desire to offset their carbon footprint.
- The profit generated from exchanging the carbon credits will generate more funds towards environmental initiatives, making it a self-sustaining business model that will help tackle and cancel out pollution and climate change with no end
The Open Forest Protocol
The Open Forest Protocol (OFP) is an open-source digital platform for the communal measurement, reporting, and verification of forests all around the world. OFP connects forestation project developers with validation organisations, funding partners, and entrepreneurs in a decentralised community.
How it works
- Forest project operators create an account and provide basic details about their forest. Then, these project operators take annual measurements and photos in their forests using OFP’s mobile app.
- This data is then sent to a decentralised community of validators (universities, satellite companies, or environmental organisations) who vote on the validity of that data.
- Once project data is verified, all of the data about the forest, as well as the validation decision, is recorded on an immutable blockchain for everyone to see. This means forestation projects gain unprecedented transparency in reporting data about their forests.
ECORISE
ECORISE is a DAO for verified, transparent and scalable ecosystem solutions investing in Earth’s ecosystems.
How it works
- The purpose of ECORISE is to aggregate all organisations and businesses together who are focused on planetary conservation through protection, sustainability and regeneration.
- These groups become members of the DAO, a decentralised hub for global ecological governance.
- Together, the community will purchase biodiversity hotspots and intact land around the world for the purpose of conversation, preservation and regeneration.
Did we miss some interesting new projects? Send them in the comments below!
This is not investment advice. The content of this article is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or recommendation to purchase or participate in any investment solutions.
