Embracing sustainability isn’t just an ethical choice—it’s a strategic move. Companies that prioritize sustainability gain resilience, customer trust, and long-term viability.
Biosphere and ClimateTrade forge a strategic alliance to promote and facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices in organizations globally.
Thanksgiving celebrations differ nationwide, yet the classic turkey feast remains a common theme. Unfortunately, it carries a significant carbon footprint.
The private sector holds a unique opportunity to channel vital funds towards climate change.
Consumer behavior is changing. Driven by climate awareness, Millennials and Gen Z are prioritizing sustainability and urging brands to integrate climate action into their business.
The significance of COP 28 cannot be overstated, as it brings together the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
New standards and public procurement requirements forcing companies to turn their net zero targets into ambitious, yet achievable decarbonisation plans. Today, more than 74 countries, representing over 80% of the world’s GDP and almost 70% of global CO2 emissions, have announced net zero carbon commitments. Moreover, more than 3,000 companies have set their own targets as part of the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign, in recognition of the fact that the rules of corporate competition are changing, and that the level of global collaboration between companies and governments needs to increase. Most of the commitments share a 2050 deadline. This may seem very far away, but 30 years isn’t much when it comes to decarbonizing a company’s entire operations, and regulators know that. For this reason, governments are starting to align their own net zero targets with their purchasing strategy. A major public tender milestone in the United Kingdom In September 2021, the UK added environmental criteria to its public tender selection process for contracts of more than 5 million pounds. The measure applies to all departments in the central government, as well as executive agencies and public organizations. Among the selection requirements is the delivery of a carbon reduction plan, which must include a detailed breakdown of where the bidding company’s CO2 emissions come from, and what environmental and carbon reduction measures it plans to implement. Several large corporations are already reporting their Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (own indirect) emissions as part of their energy and carbon reports, particularly since 2018. But the new rules go beyond that, requiring not only a commitment to achieve net zero by 2050, but also the reporting of parts of Scope 2 (value chain) emissions. These must be calculated according to the GHG Protocol recommendations, and include business trips, employee commute, transportation, distribution and waste, for the first time. Scope 3 emissions are a significant proportion of an organization’s carbon footprint, yet they are often the hardest to calculate and reduce. For the UK government, understanding, reporting on and reducing these three scopes of CO2 emissions will play a major role in the decarbonization of the government’s supply chain, and of the overall country’s economy. Related articles: EU ETS: What is it and why is it changing? Everything you need to know about the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism First international standards around companies’ net zero strategies At the same time, the recent launch of the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) corporate standard aims to put an end to ambiguous “net zero” targets that don’t put words into action. With this methodology, SBTI is giving companies the tools and guidance they need to build a credible and independently verifiable strategy. The goal is also to align short and long-term climate action with the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. In practice, the standard aims toward a 50% reduction of corporate emissions by 2030, and 90-95% by 2050. To achieve net zero, the emissions that can’t be eliminated (the remaining 5-10%) will have to be offset through the purchase of carbon credits. The standard requires companies to focus on rapid and thorough emissions reductions, to establish short and long-term targets, and to stay away from large-scale communication on their net zero goal until long-term objectives involving their entire supply and value chains have been achieved. The standard will help large companies elaborate concrete GHG reduction plans that can be verified by third parties, which is very likely to become a requirement from investors as well. Related articles: How to offer carbon-neutral products and services Carbon offsetting for SMEs Institutional investors demand greater ESG transparency Pressure is also growing to comply environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements from institutional investors (such as BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street or sovereign pension funds), particularly for large, listed corporations. In 2020, 85% of investors implemented ESG criteria in their portfolios. These investors have noticed a correlation between ESG performance and value creation for shareholders. Additionally, ESG criteria are a tool to identify and mitigate environmental, social and governance risks. It has become apparent that companies with a strong ESG performance tend to be more efficient and productive, spend less money, create less waste and enjoy a stronger commitment from employees, which makes them more attractive to both capital and talent. Capital markets and increasingly considering emissions risks in the price of assets, and venture capital in transition technologies is at its highest point. ClimateTrade’s digital solutions to help companies achieve net zero commitments As seen above, investors’ and governments’ requirements around decarbonisation are becoming more stringent, and at the same time, consumers’ sustainability expectations are also growing. In the coming years, products will be compared according to their CO2 footprint, and this will influence purchasing decisions. Carbon-neutral products and services are a necessity, but achieving them is no easy task. It requires the automatic calculation of carbon footprint, and a reliable platform that can give clients complete visibility over where and how carbon credits are generated. ClimateTrade helps companies achieve their sustainability and carbon offsetting goals, strengthening their corporate social responsibility strategies through innovative digital solutions. Having noticed the demand for carbon-neutral products and services, we have developed the ClimateTrade API, the first API REST that can be integrated easily and safely into companies’ systems, so they can allow their own customers to acquire carbon-neutral products and services at check-out. In November 2021, we also launched the ClimateTrade Widget, a solution which presents similar functionalities, but with an even simpler integration process, which makes it perfect for SMEs and organizations with limited IT resources. The ClimateTrade API and Widget give clients information about the carbon footprint of their purchases, and allows them to invest in sustainable projects to offset it. We have already integrated these solutions into the systems of various international corporations. Check out our case studies. ……………… Want to find out more? Contact our experts. Article written by Miguel López, Carbon Credits Manager, and Francisco Martín, Head of Engineering, both at ClimateTrade.
Carbon-neutral urban mobility is fast becoming an expectation for consumers. What strategies can ridesharing apps use to achieve it? Most popular ridesharing apps have begun offering carbon-neutral rides, but what are the differences between them? And how can the operators that lag behind catch up as carbon offsetting becomes a basic expectation for users? Assessing the carbon impact of ridesharing On the surface, it would appear that the rise of ride-hailing apps would lower the carbon footprint of urban mobility, since people don’t need to use their own car (or even own one at all) to move around anymore. But the reality is not so clear-cut: because of their low price and practicality, these services often end up being the preferred alternative to public transportation, therefore raising the emissions associated with single trips. This trend accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, as more people avoided crowded public transport. Additionally, a recent study found that on a per-trip basis, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a ride from Uber, Lyft or other such apps are actually about 20% higher than if the user drove their own car. That’s the result of what the authors call “deadheading”: the driving around that drivers do while waiting for requests, as well as going to pick up passengers. More on this topic: Corporations are demanding carbon-neutral transportation From carbon offsetting to electric rides For this reason, it is crucial that ridesharing operators take steps towards reducing their carbon footprint. Luckily, most of them seem aware of it. Most of their fleets were hybrid almost from the start, but in recent years, they started going further in their commitment to cut emissions. Lyft began offsetting the CO2 of its rides in 2018, and in the first year of this program, purchased 2,062,500 metric tons of carbon offsets. But in 2020, the company decided to give up this strategy and focus instead on switching to 100% electric vehicles by 2030. While this is good news for the climate in the long term, it may mean an increase in the company’s carbon footprint in the short term, which Lyft has chosen not to offset. In the midst of the pandemic, Uber announced a target to become a zero-emission car service by 2040 by switching to zero-emission vehicles, public transportation or micro-mobility options like bikes or scooters for all of its rides. Rather than paying drivers to make the switch, the company will apply an extra fee to rides in electric vehicles, making it more lucrative for them. In Europe, FREE NOW committed to carbon neutrality in 2020, and targets at least 50% fully electric vehicle rides by 2025 and 100% zero emission rides by 2030 in all key European markets. Meanwhile, Estonian ride-hailing app Bolt announced in 2019 that all its rides were carbon-neutral, with a plan to invest €10 million in five years in carbon reduction measures and carbon offsetting projects. In the UK, Canada and Russia, cab-hailer app Gett allows customers to request an electric ride. It also committed to offsetting 7,500 tons of CO2 over the course of 2019 to make its rides carbon neutral. To go further in its commitment, it gives customers an option to pay a little more for their ride as a voluntary contribution to a climate-positive project. CO2 in micro-mobility Shared electric scooters and bike operators generally start from a better position than car operators, since they do not need to use fossil fuels. And yet, apps like TIER in Europe and Bird in the US have also made carbon neutrality pledges. For them, carbon neutrality involves offsetting the carbon footprint of the electricity needed to charge vehicles, as well as the transportation footprint of delivering them. Some even go as far as promising to be carbon-negative: That’s the case of Bolt, which promised to make its e-scooter operations climate-positive by the end of 2020, meaning that it would remove more carbon from the environment than what is produced by the maintenance of its scooters. What carbon neutrality entails for ridesharing While switching to electric vehicles is a long-term solution to the carbon problem of ridesharing apps, the transition is likely to take time. Additionally, as seen in the above paragraph on micro-mobility, electric vehicles don’t mean zero emissions, since they still have to be charged. For these reasons, carbon offsetting is and will remain necessary to achieve carbon neutrality. But what does carbon neutrality entail for urban mobility? First, it requires calculating the carbon footprint of every ride by assessing distance and fuel usage. ClimateTrade offers a carbon footprint calculator for the mobility sector that does that automatically. Get in touch to try it out. Once a ride’s carbon footprint has been calculated, it can be offset by contributing to climate mitigation projects around the world. The ClimateTrade Marketplace is a great place to find certified carbon offsets for this purpose. It uses blockchain technology for all transactions, making them fully traceable and giving our customers the confidence of knowing that their carbon offsetting activities are generating real impact. Additionally, the ClimateTrade API can be integrated into ridesharing apps, automatically calculating and offsetting the CO2 of every ride, and informing customers in real time about their carbon footprint and the projects used to offset it. Best practice: Cabify Spain-headquartered multi-mobility company Cabify has been carbon neutral in Europe and Latin America since 2018, offsetting 100% of the emissions generated by its corporate activity and resulting from user and company journeys through the app. In three years, Cabify had already offset more than 310,000 tons of CO2 through environmental protection projects, equivalent to the protection of 12 million trees in the Amazon rainforest. In 2020, Cabify announced its alliance with ClimateTrade to leverage blockchain technology for carbon offset traceability. This was a step further in the company’s sustainability commitment, digitizing and tracing footprint calculation and offsetting, and demonstrating a clear commitment to transparency. Read the Cabify case study
Understand how this technology brings innovation and transparency to the carbon market. In the Kyoto protocol (1997) signing countries agreed to limit the emissions of six greenhouse gases, here is where carbon credits were born. This meant that polluting companies, instead of paying taxes to the governments, could pay directly to the companies which generate those credits. Likewise any traditional market, brokers started to speculate and get most of the profit, preventing money from reaching the green projects and hence hindering their development. This not only left unprotected carbon credit sellers but also buyers who could be sold the same credit several times (due to the lack of transparency and traceability of the carbon credits cancellation mechanism). The problem as it usually happens was that the market was centralized in the hands of traditional brokers, who used to manage their own databases which can be manipulated at their own discretion, being able to write, change, delete and restrict access or other actions. The process also becomes more expensive, lengthy and tedious, discouraging many companies from buying / selling carbon credits. ClimateTrade brings this situation to an end, allowing companies and project developers to benefit from blockchain technology. Blockchains are distributed ledgers which replicate the data across the different nodes involved in the network.That is, instead of being centralized on a single server, the information is decentralized on different computers, each saving its own copy. This prevents any record from being changed or deleted, since it only allows adding new data, thus preventing data from being altered or manipulated. The information on a public blockchain is accessible to everyone and visible on any block explorer, facilitating the traceability and transparency of canceled carbon credits. Neither ClimateTrade, nor the creators of the blockchain itself could alter the information since all nodes have replicas of the data and are required to follow the consensus algorithm, which ensures the immutability of the data stored in them. The consensus algorithm used in the blockchains we work with is Proof of Stake. The first blockchains are Proof of Work (Bitcoin and Ethereum 1.0) which involves spending huge amounts of energy to produce new blocks and concentrate the power in the hands of a few miner pools. On the contrary, the Proof of Stake allows to process a greater number of transactions per second, decentralizing the rewards per block to anyone who operates the blockchain token together with a laptop or mobile connected to validate the blocks, thus saving on fees and reducing the environmental impact in more than 99%. To go further in the process of automation, ClimateTrade created a REST API available to company developers who wish to integrate this innovative system. This allows the incorporation of already existing projects called from this API into its code, thus offsetting the carbon footprint generated in their business processes.