Klarna, the AI powered global payments network and shopping assistant, has announced a further $2M worth of funding as part of its Climate Transformation Fund in collaboration with Milkywire. The charitable fund, which enables companies to invest in impactful climate solutions, was launched in 2021. To date Klarna has contributed $7m to climate projects and by the end of 2024 will support over 45 organizations tackling the climate crisis. 

Klarna calculates the amount to be contributed each year by applying a ‘carbon tax’ to its annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Instead of purchasing carbon offsets to make carbon neutrality claims, Klarna puts this money into impact-focused climate solutions to help mitigate the negative impacts of the climate crisis. As Klarna continues to pursue best practice with its climate action approach, it is doubling the rate of its carbon tax to $200 per ton of CO2e for scope 1 & 2 emissions starting in 2024.

Alexander Farsan, Head of Climate and Environment at Klarna, said, “We continue to innovate in our funding models and have doubled the topline rate of our internal carbon tax. Since 2021, Klarna has committed $7 million in impact-focussed projects that otherwise may have fallen through the cracks of the voluntary carbon market. We’re super excited to support 13 new carbon removal innovators from across the globe with funding in the year ahead”.

Unveiled today at the Innovation Zero Conference in London are the 13 start-ups deploying a diverse range of promising approaches to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Among the organizations are: 

• Aquarry, a US-based start-up repurposing flooded mining facilities for carbon capture by adjusting their alkalinity.
• Ucaneo, a Germany-based company capturing carbon from the air by combining solvents with biocatalytic properties and electrochemistry.
• BIOSORRA, a Kenya-based organization enabling sustainable agriculture in the Global South by taking a community-led approach to transforming crop waste into biochar and permanently storing CO2 in the soil. 

Klarna is one of the first companies in the world to implement a climate strategy that is aligned with the ’Beyond Value Chain Mitigation’ guidance from the Science Based Targets initiative, which provides a framework for companies to credibly finance climate solutions in addition to reducing their own GHG emissions. Klarna’s funding for climate solutions comes on the back of reducing its own absolute emissions by 25% in 2023.