- The Limited Partners (LPs) e.g. the folks putting money into the VC fund. E.g. would you consider money from Saudi Arabia be ethical?
- The portfolio strategy. E.g. would you find investing in some company in the carbon based fuel space be ethical?
For the first, the answer is "Can I do more good with the money than the bad that has been done to make it?" I don't have an answer for that, but I guess the cop-out is to say, "It depends on what good you're gonna do."
That said, I wouldn't get into business with those folks, but that's just my hard line stance on compassion vis a vis what they spend their money on.
For the second, if it is focused on more efficient means of utilizing carbon-based fuel, then it could be, but the problem is that increasing efficiency usually leads to more use, historically. That said, I'd vote "No" on that one, too.