Oka, Why We're Here - Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company

Oka, Why We’re Here

By Team Oka

Feb 3, 2023

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Oka, the Carbon Credit Insurance Company™!

Meet Our Founders

Chris Slater, Founder & CEO

Chris has spent over 25 years building insurance products that deliver solutions to risk problems in multiple jurisdictions and countries. His background in scaling businesses has created market-leading business models and solved the need for transparency and governance while delivering for all stakeholders. Chris is ready to address the challenges of an evolving carbon credit market. The market is at an inflection point: collapse under the weight of scrutiny as it attempts to scale or push forward to become a foundational pillar of meeting net-zero carbon emission targets. With the voluntary carbon market (VCM) estimated to hit $1 trillion by 2037, companies and organizations are buying carbon credits in the millions. But in an unregulated and opaque market, honoring climate commitments comes with reputational and financial risks. Chris established Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company, to deliver insurance solutions to mitigate the risks that compound across a carbon credit’s lifecycle, ensuring no company is left bearing the risk.

Every carbon credit should be insured.

Laura Fritsch, Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, MPhil, MSc, BA

Laura was born and raised on the edge of a Mata Atlântica reserve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she saw the consequences of species decline first-hand. During her years as an academic researcher and policymaker in the corporate fraud space, Laura became increasingly concerned about the lack of standardization, transparency, and governance in the carbon market.

She recognizes that more than carbon offsetting alone will be needed to solve climate change, and many carbon credits fail to deliver on their sequestration promises. The market simply needs better governance.

Companies and organizations need to trust that their carbon credits will remove the associated volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the atmosphere. Investors also need to trust that capital directed to project development will produce the projected carbon credits. Insurance protects both parties’ investments from both parties by providing a quality guarantee.

When insured carbon credits become the default solution, the market will become more reliable, transparent, and scalable.

Climate transition is the most important problem of our generation and the Oka team is excited to help solve a piece of the puzzle.

The Future

Chris and Laura are encouraged by the collective ambition of the carbon credit ecosystem as new partnerships begin, and teams come together to secure net-zero outcomes. And they are building insurance solutions together to solve many of the VCM’s challenges.