How to reduce ocean pollution with DAO and ReFi

Climate change is one of the biggest conversations happening in the world right now. Among these conversations it is often brought up how important securing the ocean is to help combat this ongoing environmental crisis. However, a big complaint from the general public is that they often feel confused and overwhelmed with their options on how to help, too many charities, too many names, and not enough trust. The overarching question is how can you help combat this climate crisis and in this article, we are going to provide you with a possible solution,  DAOs (decentralised autonomous organisations) and ReFi ( regenerative finance), and how they can be utilised to reduce ocean pollution.

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^{A DAO helps provide a user-friendly experience that gives the general public a voice through tokenisation allowing them to invest their money with an insight into how that money is used within the application that is designed to solve the underlying problem, instead of reliance on the government powers to do what is right the DAO will provide a community-led solution solely created through members own interest and ideals.}

I know all of that might be hard to picture so we are going to try and paint an image for you to grasp a general understanding of how these newfound systems can operate in a process founded around the central idea of helping clean the oceans. At the center of a vibrant ocean, a large black mound built of plastic and debris cast a shadow on the beautiful coral, poisoning the water and killing the fish. However, with the help of the public voice using the power of their token, they use money from the fund to help fund the collection breakdown and removal of the huge trash pile from the sea. This represents the power of DAO and ReFi and how people can use their collective power for the greater good.

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One question you might have by now is how a DAO works and it goes a little something like this:

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DAOs are controlled by smart contracts, these are contracts where terms and conditions are written directly into the code meaning that they are automatically enforced. These contracts establish the rules of the DAO, including how decisions are made, how funds are managed, and how members earn rewards. This is possible because DAOs operate on blockchain, a decentralised and secure system with unbiased voting. Blockchain ensures that all system members have transparency, immutability, and decentralised control for every action. Examples like Ethereum are good as it is a popular blockchain hosting DAOs due to its smart contract capabilities. DAOs often have a token that represents ownership or voting rights within the organization. By owning these tokens, individuals become members or a more fancy definition of stakeholder alongside others who share a particular vision.

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There are already blockchain systems out there that combat this issue of cleaning the oceans using blockchain, these examples include; the Earth Fund, a fund that's a climate-conscious DAO focusing on climate conservation, adopting web3 and blockchain technology to achieve their goal. To join the earth fund you must purchase 1 earth token and have an input in how the money is invested to solve the problem. Another example would be the Diatom which is a decentralised currency whose value fluctuates based on the measure of the ocean restored. Members of this DAO vote on projects that restore ocean health, expanding their buying power. 

Let's create a hypothetical Ocean DAO (OD) to show how an alternative mechanism could be used to achieve the ocean cleanup goal. Let’s assume you want to participate in a fund to help clean up the oceans, luckily you have come across the “Ocean DAO”. To join the OD you must have a valid KYC verification and hold its governance token which we will call the SeaToken, to gain a SeaToken you must invest in the OD fund, this allows you to join in with fellow token holders and have overall governance of the fund. The fund will have a fund manager which is a member-appointed role, what I mean by this is the token holders will vote on a member within the fund to become a fund coordinator which gives that specific member the role of overlooking the petitions and passing the motion to forward a petition once it gains enough traction, having a fund coordinator means that the OD will be completely run by the token holders. Members of the OD can submit a petition on what they believe the funds should be used for, if the petition gains traction and support from other members it can go forth to the contributory committee which will decide if they want to approve it to be submitted to the OD wide binding vote. This helps manage the quality and quantity of the proposals submitted by members. The OD follows a protocol of one member equals one vote ensuring a state of democracy amongst the members of the OD, this structure also gives you as the investor the option but not obligation to participate in the vote of the funds. Allowing those who are passionate about the fund to not only invest in it but to run/manage it as well. What we mean by this is that the OD will have a charter of sorts, and proposals submitted must meet the expectations of what the OD was set up to accomplish (cleaning the oceans) it would be up to the members of the OD to make sure that every proposal forwarded fits in with the purpose and to ensure that funds are going to a legitimate company/organisation and to make sure the whole process is legal.

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Let's say the community wants to invest in a specific company, one of the members can pass a motion to donate funds to a specific organisation, in this instance we are using the real-world example of the Ocean Cleanup. A member of the OD will research the Ocean Cleanup project and write a proposal on the benefits of using the fund money for the organisation and why it fits in with the primary promise of the Ocean Fund. If the majority of the membership votes for that specific proposal the fund coordinator will then move the funds across allowing the money to be used in the way deemed in the proposal, this could be anything from donations to funding for research or even just paying wages. We have used the example of the ocean cleanup because it is a non-profit organization that states that its funding comes from individuals, foundations, and corporations. However, a big issue for non-profit organisations is that the business model is based on the dependence of donations with many non-profit companies needing a recurring annual income each year. However, the ocean cleanup partnering with the OD may change this, with the use of blockchain technology allowing the fund to be transparent,, nonprofit organisations can get a clear reading on the amount of money that will be donated and can also read about the exact issues that investors in the fund are passionate about. It also helps nonprofits and funds like OD, as transparency in messaging and funding can give ocean cleanup teams a new perspective on what investors want to do with their money. I believe it also paves the way for unique partnerships between the two. 

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However, why should the fund just stop there? Members can also vote and pass other proposals to use the fund for different projects, this will create an OD sub-fund, which will use money from the original fund (gDAO) to help fund other projects that also fit in with the original fund ideals. Imagine it like a snowball effect, the idea that the money can be spread across multiple different projects and sub-funds all decided on by the token holders, an open and democratic process that gives the investors a clear insight into exactly how their money is being used and has the possibility of allow them to participate in a wide range of funds all based around original OD, giving them the ability to use their own money for good. What this could mean for funds like the OD is instead of one investment into one company the token holders can build a network of multiple sub-funds that pour money into different projects and organisations that clean up oceans all over the world, one fund connecting them all. Think of it like a spider web, we create the foundations with the OD and the ocean cleanup project, the ocean cleanup project mainly focuses on the Pacific Ocean with the Pacific Ocean garbage patch and also focuses on rivers in Indonesia (southeast Asia) Guatemala (central America)  and the United States (north America). The ocean cleanup crew only focuses on those four areas which means that the majority of asia, all of europe and south america are not covered, however there is a way to insure that the OD can cover projects in these areas. A member  does some research and discovers a company like Bracenet that collects used fishing nets and recycles them into bracelets which is based in Germany. The member starts a petition to use capital from the fund to help provide money for the Bracenet company, that's now another organisation in a completely different part of the world gaining funding from the same pot, another link in the web if you will. This process of setting up sub-funds for different organisations can be repeated spanning the entire globe, with many organisations all linked to the same fund. That is a prime example of the OD's capabilities and how the sub-fund process within the DAO can be utilised by the members of the OD to create entire networks centered around the Ocean Cleanup.

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Now, after reading all that and coming to understand the process and potential DAOs have within the web3 space you may think it's too good to be true, and it is. The OD is not real and it does not exist… yet. The OD is just one of many possibilities that could be provided to you on the new PIPE gDAO. What is the PIPE gDAO you ask? well if you would like to find out more you can register your interest HERE.

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