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
Klarna is a founding partner of the
, the ‘beyond-offsetting’ charitable fund curated by planet health platform Milkywire that selects and supports a wide range of projects addressing the climate crisis within the durable carbon removal, nature restoration & protection, and decarbonization sectors.To help mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis and reach global net-zero emissions, Klarna has implemented an internal carbon tax to generate funds for the Climate Transformation Fund. We’ve set a $200 per ton fee for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, i.e. emissions directly linked to our operations, a $100 per ton fee for business travel emissions and $10 per ton fee for all other scope 3 emissions. This has resulted in a total of $7 million to support climate projects since 2021.
In 2023 Klarna contributed over USD 2m to the Climate Transformation Fund that are expected to support 15 projects. By the end of 2024, Klarna’s internal carbon tax will be supporting over 45 organizations tackling the climate crisis, funding initiatives from carbon removal to nature protection and decarbonization. Going forward, we will continue to support and select additional projects to work towards our 2040 net-zero target.
With this approach, we seek to achieve as much impact per dollar as possible, rather than buying a set amount of carbon credits. It also opens up the opportunity to support solutions that aim for policy change and innovate existing technology. For many projects, especially nature-based solutions like reforestation, the impact is rarely limited to reducing carbon emissions. We also focus on projects that prevent other negative environmental and social impacts related to human rights. In this way, we aim to support those most affected by the impacts of the climate crisis. We believe this approach can inspire others to also set ambitious targets, put a price on their emissions, and contribute to the vital climate solutions the planet needs.
For organizations active in the carbon removal, the pre-purchase agreements Klarna enters help to catalyze the emerging carbon removal market to help bring about the growth of new solutions.
See
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.
BIOSORRA
BIOSORRA aims to revolutionize sustainable agriculture in the Global South by transforming crop waste into biochar, enhancing soil health and crop yields. Partnering with over 2,036 farmers to date, BIOSORRA's patented pyrolysis technology creates a durable carbon sink and improves farming efficiency. Emphasizing community and climate justice, BIOSORRA supports women-led businesses and empowers local farmers with affordable biochar, boosting food security and environmental resilience.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from BIOSORRA in 2024.
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Carbon capture
Fermentation sources are a relatively unexplored carbon removal source. Carbon Capture Scotland is a UK-based capture asset specialist focusing on capturing waste biogenic CO2 from whisky distilleries in Scotland and stores it via geological storage. Their bespoke technology that reduces the cost and energy footprint of capturing and processing high purity CO2 from fermentation sources.
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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
. 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
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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.
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PyroCCS
PyroCCS pioneers sustainable industrial biochar carbon removal in the Global South, deploying its own low-cost, robust, pyrolysis systems powered by renewable energy and backed by a digital measurement and reporting solution. These plants efficiently convert invasive acacia bushes in Namibia, a significant threat to the savanna ecosystem, into high-quality biochar, while providing critical employment in regions with high youth unemployment rates. PyroCCS's scalable technology, which they are also offering as a solution to other project developers, not only captures carbon but also supports local agricultural and environmental recovery as well as food security.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from PyroCCS in 2024.
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Solidaridad & Planboo
Solidaridad and Planboo are teaming up to transform agricultural practices and combat climate change by utilizing biochar in a decentralized way. By collaborating, Solidaridad’s extensive experience in sustainable agriculture and Planboo’s innovative digital MRV system which includes an internet-connected (IoT) device, verification at scale can be achieved. Their partnership hopes to empower over 100,000 smallholder farmers in Zambia converting cotton stalks into biochar, increasing their incomes, improving soil health and permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Solidaridad & Planboo in 2024.
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Takachar
Worldwide, $120 billion worth of crop and forest residues are burned in the open each year. India-based Takachar aims to remove CO2 and achieve net avoidance of carbon emissions by using crop residues to produce carbon-based bioproducts such as fertilizer blends, which intercepts carbon captured by growing plants and renders it stable in the soil. Takachar works together with local farmers, using patented and mobile technology to make economic use of this biomass, while reducing air pollution.
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.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.
Alkali Earth
Alkali Earth is a unique project utilizing steel slag, a byproduct of the steel industry, to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. The process involves crushing the slag to increase its surface area and using it in various applications such as on gravel roads. This process converts atmospheric CO₂ into stable carbonate minerals, effectively removing it from the environment. Alkali Earth is currently the only company using steel slag aggregates for carbon removal, providing a low-cost pathway to scale CDR through an industry that already moves gigatons of materials each year.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Alkali Earth in 2024.
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Aquarry
Aquarry proposes a new approach to carbon removal called pit lake alkalinity enhancement. This involves adding alkaline materials to flooded surface mines, transforming them into carbon removal and storage assets while also improving water quality. The technology is similar to ocean alkalinity enhancement, but with less environmental risk and more measurable results. The technology has the potential to store millions of tonnes permanently at a low cost. This innovative approach is in its early stages, with laboratory work to confirm measurement and verification methods underway and larger-scale demonstrations planned.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Aquarry in 2024.
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Flux
Flux is the first company to start doing Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) in Africa where the potential co-benefits of the method are the highest. They spread crushed silicate rocks on farmlands in Africa to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and to improve soil quality, improving farmers' yields and climate resilience. Flux is currently conducting a pilot project with smallholder farmers in Kenya and partnering with large-scale commercial farms and existing rock quarries across the continent for rapid scaling. Their gathering of data on how ERW works in African soils will help develop the method and be a catalyst for ERW across the continent.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Flux in 2024.
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Inplanet
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Mati Carbon
Mati Carbon is pioneering a unique approach to carbon removal by enhancing rock weathering in paddy rice fields. The project is particularly noteworthy for its focus on smallholder farmers in the global south, and its ongoing research into reducing methane emissions from paddy farms. Mati Carbon is committed to maximizing the carbon dioxide removal value transfer to these farmers showing a potential for very high social and environmental co-benefits. The company also has a strong focus on measurement, reporting and verification, using methods developed in collaboration with the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Mati Carbon in 2024.
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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.
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Vycarb
Vycarb's innovative approach to carbon removal focuses on converting biogenic CO₂ in water into stable bicarbonate and carbonate. The system targets high-CO₂ waters and uses a continuous flow alkaline reactor where direct measurements of the removal are made by their real-time sensing technology. A modular, solar-powered design allows for scalability and autonomy, making it adaptable to various settings. The system also utilizes multiple alkalinity sources, requiring minimal upkeep. This unique solution addresses the challenges of water-based CDR, offering a promising avenue for reducing atmospheric CO2 emissions.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Vycarb in 2024.
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.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.
Carbon Atlantis
Carbon Atlantis is pioneering a novel Direct air capture approach utilizing an innovative electrochemical technology. This process captures CO₂ from the atmosphere with a basified solvent, transforming it into bicarbonates, and then releasing it as gaseous CO₂. The technology is uniquely capable of matching renewable electricity generation curves and is designed to be cost-effective, energy-efficient, and scalable, with the potential for rapid upscaling due to its modularity and reliance on existing supply chains. The project is currently at a promising stage of development, with a clear path to commercialization.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Carbon Atlantis in 2024.
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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.
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Gaia Refinery
Gaia Refinery is pioneering a unique carbon dioxide removal technology that merges Direct Air Capture with Biomass Carbon Removal. This innovative approach utilizes liquid DAC capture technology and biogenic sources of acetic acid to capture three streams of CO2, offering a potentially more cost-effective solution than current DAC technologies. The hybrid technology requires less electricity, captures more CO2 per ton of biomass, and can achieve efficient scale at a smaller plant size.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Gaia Refinery in 2024.
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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.
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Holocene
Holocene has developed a continuous, low-temperature, thermochemical direct air capture technology, which combines the best of both traditional DAC approaches. The continuous, liquid absorption system coupled with a solid, low-temperature desorption, brings the benefits of affordability, scale, and flexibility inherent in such an approach. Holocene's proprietary combination of organic sorbents unlocks this whitespace, which can be more scalable and affordable than alternatives.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Holocene in 2024.
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Mission Zero Technologies
Based in the United Kingdom, Mission Zero Technologies, a Direct Air Capture (DAC) startup, have developed a breakthrough technology that combines CO2 capture and mineralization in one process. The 'Medusa' Process is simple and energy efficient compared to other CDR methods, and is projected to be much cheaper. Mission Zero's Direct Air Mineralisation (DAM) process captures atmospheric CO2 and turns it into rock in a matter of days. The captured carbon is stored in the form of durable carbonates that can be used in building materials or land-filled in a responsible manner.
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Octavia Carbon
Kenya-based Octavia Carbon – the Global South’s first Direct Air Capture (DAC) company – designs, builds and deploys DAC technology that uniquely leverages Kenya’s geothermal energy, geology & talent to radically accelerate DAC down the cost curve. Their vision is to make Kenya the leading hub to filter CO2 from air and store it permanently underground in Kenya's basaltic geology.
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Parallel Carbon
Parallel Carbon is a UK company developing among the world's most affordable process for DAC and hydrogen production. They combine ancient geochemistry with modern electrochemistry to remove carbon and eliminate fossil fuels in parallel. By utilizing an electrolyzer that runs exclusively on renewable power, they are creating a capital-efficient process to unlock multiple climate change mitigation pathways.
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TerraFixing
Canadian TerraFixing captures CO2 from the air via a novel Direct Air Capture (DAC) process that employs adsorption technology. It was designed to operate in cold remote locations where extracting CO2 from the air is easier and cheaper, and where there is almost endless scalability of renewable wind power.
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Ucaneo
Ucaneo is pioneering a biomimetic Direct Air Capture technology. Their innovative approach combines solvents with (bio)catalytic properties and electrochemistry, resulting in a process that can be more energy and cost-efficient than traditional methods. Ucaneo's prototype has demonstrated the capacity to remove roughly 1 ton of CO2 per year, with scalable modular units designed to remove ~500-1000 tons of CO2 annually. Their unique use of electrochemistry and (bio)catalysts, along with an interchangeable modular and scalable design, sets them apart.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Ucaneo in 2024.
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Yama
Yama is a pioneering Direct Air Capture company with innovative technology that integrates a scalable, low-grade heat source with electrochemistry. Yama's solution addresses key limitations in existing approaches by enhancing energy efficiency, large scale carbon capture, combined with strategic partnerships, indicates a strong potential for scalability.
Klarna intends to make a pre-purchase from Yama in 2024.
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.Ocean
The ocean already takes up a large part of the CO₂ emitted to the atmosphere, and it can help in removing more. There is a broad range of methods that can be used for ocean carbon removal such as removing CO₂ from it directly, or using it to grow macroalgae to capture carbon. It is a developing area with need for more research and development. By funding early companies we can help accelerate the knowledge.
SeaO₂
Based in the Netherlands, SeaO₂ provides cost-efficient atmospheric carbon removal by leveraging our biggest ally in battling climate change – the ocean, which has 150 times more carbon (as dissolved) compared to the atmosphere. SeaO2’s electrochemical oceanic carbon capture technology treats water to capture and store its CO2 content, returning the treated water to the ocean’s surface layer where it can continue to absorb more CO2.
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