Klarna publishes Climate report 2020/2021 and commits over 1 million USD to climate transformation projects

Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service, has announced its investment of over 1 million USD into innovators such as Heirloom and Climeworks selected from the climate transformation portfolio (CTP), using donations platform Milkywire. The company has also disclosed its Greenhouse Gas emissions for the 2020 period in its Climate report 2020/2021 released today.

The funds are invested in eleven high impact projects, including permanent carbon removal, reforestation and forest protection, and decarbonization projects among others. The portfolio focuses on selecting effective and transformative projects in all these areas, reflecting the needs for climate finance. This is in addition to Klarna’s announcement from earlier this year to pledge 1% of all future funding rounds to planet health initiatives via Give One.

Salah Said, Head of Sustainability at Klarna, says: “During the last year, our focus has been to look beyond our own operations at how we can create real, lasting change. In 2020, Klarna achieved carbon neutrality across all operations. We have since realized that this is not enough, and have shifted our focus to supporting projects which actively remove carbon emissions. We believe that this strategy will contribute to driving positive change for people and the planet.”

Unlike previous climate reports, it will not just offer a retroactive disclosure but provides the most comprehensive overview of Klarna’s approach to climate change to date. Highlights include:

• Commitment to a target to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and an aim to operate at net zero by 2040.
• $16m pledged to planet health action initiatives through Give One (1% Pledge).
• Commitment to using 100% renewable energy sources in all locations by 2025 (latest).
• Launch of theCO2 tracker feature in the Klarna app (Finalist in Fast Company’s 2021 Innovation by Design Awards).

A core element of the company’s climate strategy is the ways in which Klarna can enable its 4,000+ employees, 90 million+ customers across 17 markets, and 250,000+ retail partners serviced across 13 different product categories and industries to drive lasting change. 
 
David Sandström, Chief Marketing Officer, says: “The existing and planned pledges and initiatives documented in this report are just the beginning. We are fully committed to transparency at every step of the way, and to keeping our customers informed as we move forward to positively impact the climate crisis together”.