Supporting high-impact projects.
Klarna’s unique sustainability approach is designed to create maximum long-term climate impact. Instead of purchasing carbon offset credits and making carbon neutrality claims, we are putting our money in carbon removal solutions to help mitigate the negative impacts of the climate crisis.
With funds generated by our internal carbon tax, Klarna is supporting a wide range of climate projects selected by the Climate Transformation Fund, among them carbon removal projects that aim to create as much impact per dollar as possible by 2030.
The Climate Transformation Fund.
To help mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis and reach global net-zero emissions, Klarna partnered up with the impact platform Milkywire to set up the Climate Transformation Fund that selects and supports a wide range of projects.
In 2022, Klarna contributed USD 1.7 million to projects selected for the Climate Transformation Fund, of which USD 715k was allocated to the WRLD foundation earmarked for projects within reforestation, nature protection, and decarbonization, and USD 955k was used to purchase permanent carbon removal credits. This was spread among 4 initiatives that are leading the way in various high-impact carbon removal technologies such as biochar, enhanced weathering, Woody Biomass Burial, and Direct Air Capture, specifically USD 100k to Heirloom, USD 250k to Husk, USD 355k to Inter Earth and USD 250k to Silicate. By committing to these pre-purchase agreements, Klarna is helping to catalyze the emerging carbon removal market to help bring about the growth of new solutions.
This is on top of Klarna’s 2021 contribution which amounted to over USD 1.05m in projects selected for the CTF.
See The Climate Report 20/21 for more information.
Biomass.
Biomass removes CO₂ from the atmosphere and stores it underground or in long-lived products. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes in a controlled process called pyrolysis. The technology shows promise in mitigating climate change and improving soil quality, as well as reducing waste and producing energy as a byproduct. Aside from biochar, the technology of woody biomass burial offers a unique opportunity for large-scale, affordable, and fully additional carbon removal
InterEarth.
InterEarth grows a multi-species selection of highly adapted coppicing woody plants on low rainfall, and previously cleared farmland in Australia. Periodically, the plants are trimmed of their above-ground biomass and the harvested biomass is buried and encapsulated in dedicated subterranean chambers, engineered to close all pathways for decomposition providing safe long-term storage. The aim is to permanently store the carbon captured within the biomass.
The pre-purchase agreement from Klarna supports the first field trials of the project and will potentially remove over 8130 tonnes of CO2e, furthering the commercialization of this new climate technology. InterEarth is a project certified by the Puro Standard. The certification includes verification of the carbon net negativity of the project, assessment of permanence of 100 years, financial additionality, and environmental and social safeguards.
Read more here.
Husk.
Husk Ventures in Cambodia creates biochar from the rice husk waste streams. Instead of the leftover husks getting burnt or decomposed, releasing the carbon stored in the plant, their technology stabilizes the carbon. Together with nutrients, this biochar is then used as fertilizer by organic farmers, restoring soil health and increasing yields. Our support helped Husk build their second biochar facility in 2021 and going forward, further scaling their business. Potentially this leads to remove 3500 tonnes of Carbon Emissions until the end of 2026.
Read more here.
Rocks.
The process of Enhanced weathering aims to remove CO2 from the atmosphere during the burial of weathered minerals. The natural process of erosion is accelerated by maximizing the surface area of CO₂ reacting minerals to the air. The products formed in the process potentially help lessen the ocean acidification in the oceans or improve soil health and yields on land.
Silicate.
Silicate is a climate solutions company harnessing the power of mineral weathering to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The company is the first in the world to capitalise on the sizeable carbon-removal potential of waste concrete as an enhanced weathering material. With the support of Klarna, Silicate will showcase its ability to permanently and safely remove triple-digit tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere when it launches its first commercial-scale pilot in south county Wexford this September.
Klarna pre-purchased 900 research tonnes of removed carbon emissions.
Read more here.
Direct Air Capture.
One new technology that has been developed to scalably capture CO₂ directly from the atmosphere is direct air capture. This technology captures CO₂ is concentrated, and safely stores underground. Klarna agreed to pre-purchase this service of direct removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere from two different vendors to help make it more affordable in the future.
Heirloom.
Heirloom is a new company developing promising, novel direct air capture technology to extract CO₂ directly from the ambient air using common minerals. The process starts by maximizing the mineral surface area exposed to the ambient air. After absorbing CO₂ like a sponge, the minerals are heated, releasing the CO₂ from the mineral so it can be captured and stored underground permanently. Their goal is to be able to do this at a cost of less than 100 USD per ton. We are one of their earliest customers, helping them remove their first tonnes and get started on their journey to remove and store CO₂, cheaply and at scale.
Klarna pre-purchased carbon removal credits in 2021 and 2022.
Read more here.
Climeworks.
Climeworks empowers people to reverse climate change by permanently removing carbon dioxide from the air with its direct air capture technology. The air-captured CO2 is returned to earth, stored safely and permanently away for millions of years. By becoming a customer to Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal service, we contribute to the scale-up of their solution.
Klarna pre-purchased carbon removal credits in 2021.
Read more here.