🟦 1. MCREF — Maritime Climate & Resilience Endowment Fund

Institutional governance, financial transparency, and regulatory compliance

MCREF is the nonprofit institutional backbone of the Waterships Group. As a French endowment fund, it operates under a strict legal framework that ensures:

• transparent financial governance

• separation of nonprofit and operational activities

• compliance with national and international regulations

• traceability of funds allocated to humanitarian and climate missions

• long‑term financial sustainability of the Group’s programmes

MCREF provides strategic oversight and ensures that all resources mobilized for missions of general interest are used in accordance with legal, ethical, and institutional standards.

Its responsibilities include:

• supervising financial flows and ensuring audit readiness

• validating strategic orientations and institutional commitments

• ensuring compliance with donor requirements and regulatory frameworks

• supporting the development of multi‑country programmes

• guaranteeing the integrity of nonprofit governance

MCREF acts as the guarantor of the Group’s institutional credibility.

🟦 2. Waterships Association — Humanitarian & Climate Infrastructure

Operational leadership, institutional representation, and humanitarian governance

The Waterships Association is the operational and humanitarian core of the Group. It is responsible for:

• owning and operating the humanitarian factoryship

• deploying hydric and humanitarian interventions

• coordinating emergency response operations

• representing the Group before partner States and public authorities

• signing MoUs, framework agreements, and intergovernmental protocols

• ensuring institutional coherence across all entities and countries

The Association ensures that all humanitarian and hydric operations are conducted in accordance with:

• international humanitarian principles

• national regulatory frameworks

• scientific and MRV standards defined by WCF

• transparency and accountability requirements

It also plays a central role in coordinating with ministries, public agencies, and international organizations.

🟦 3. Waterships Climate & Forests (WCF)

Scientific governance, MRV standards, and climate‑impact integrity

WCF is the scientific and climate authority of the Waterships Group. It ensures that all environmental and climate‑related activities are:

• scientifically validated

• methodologically consistent

• aligned with international certification standards

• supported by robust MRV (Measurement, Reporting & Verification) systems

WCF is responsible for:

• defining climate‑impact methodologies

• supervising carbon‑certification processes

• ensuring multi‑country scientific coherence

• validating MRV+ protocols and data‑collection frameworks

• overseeing environmental, agronomic, and climate modelling

• ensuring compliance with DNV and other certification bodies

WCF guarantees the scientific integrity of all climate‑positive programmes implemented by the Group.

🟦 4. National Entities (SAS) — Field Operators

Implementation of reforestation, agroforestry, and ecosystem‑restoration programmes

National entities (e.g., Waterships Togo SAS) are responsible for implementing field operations. Their mandate includes:

• reforestation and regenerative agroforestry

• ecosystem restoration and watershed rehabilitation

• community engagement and local governance

• data collection for MRV+ and certification

• coordination with local authorities and communities

• operational management of field teams and logistics

These entities apply the scientific protocols defined by WCF and operate under the institutional supervision of the Waterships Association and MCREF.

They ensure that programmes are:

• locally adapted

• socially inclusive

• environmentally sustainable

• scientifically traceable

• aligned with national development strategies

🟦 5. Cross‑entity coordination and institutional coherence

The governance architecture is designed to ensure seamless coordination between:

• nonprofit governance (MCREF)

• humanitarian operations (Association)

• scientific oversight (WCF)

• field implementation (national SAS entities)

This coordination is supported by:

• shared MRV+ systems

• harmonized reporting frameworks

• inter‑entity agreements

• unified compliance and transparency standards

• cross‑entity legal supervision

This integrated model ensures that all activities — from water production to carbon certification — are aligned, traceable, and internationally compliant.

🟦 6. Legal oversight and institutional safeguards

The entire governance system is supported by Bracewell LLP, which provides:

• cross‑entity legal supervision

• regulatory compliance guidance

• drafting and harmonization of inter‑entity agreements

• institutional risk management

• legal support for international partnerships and MoUs

This legal oversight ensures that the Group’s governance architecture remains robust, compliant, and aligned with international best practices.

🟦 7. Principles guiding the governance model

The Waterships governance framework is built on the following principles:

• Transparency — clear reporting, traceability, and accountability

• Scientific integrity — adherence to WCF standards and MRV+ protocols

• Institutional coherence — alignment across all entities and countries

• Nonprofit governance — strict separation of missions of general interest

• Operational excellence — efficient, scalable, and certifiable interventions

• International compliance — conformity with global norms and certification frameworks

• Long‑term sustainability — programmes designed for durable impact