Klarna Offers Users Carbon-Tracking Tool
Klarna has partnered with Doconomy to roll out a feature on its app that tracks the carbon footprint of purchases. The announcement is part of the payments solution provider’s 1 percent pledge, which earmarks $10 million toward initiatives tackling climate change, the company said.
The carbon tracking feature will be available to up to 90 million consumers in 16 markets.
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“The new feature aims to democratize access to unbiased climate impact information for consumers at no cost or judgment as a first step to help drive awareness around climate change,” Klarna said in a statement, adding that the feature introduces “a seamless experience for users to access carbon footprint insights and brings to life one of the largest-ever awareness-raising efforts on carbon footprints, based on consumer reach.”
The Doconomy technology provides consumers with an average kgCO2 value for purchases. Klarna said the partnership “introduces CO2 data at a global scale and is made available free of charge in the Klarna app.”
The long-term goal is for consumers to understand “the true cost of consumption and provide them with the opportunity to take action,” the company said.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, chief executive officer of Klarna, described the tool as a way to measure consumers’ impact on the earth. “With fat, sugar and salt levels labeled on the food we buy, why shouldn’t our CO2 emissions be just as visible?” he said. “This type of information shouldn’t be a premium or luxury that consumers pay for, but rather an essential part of every shopping journey. That’s why we’re upgrading our app to give all our consumers globally transparent access to their shopping carbon footprint.”
“We all make decisions that affect the health of the planet and it’s essential that everyone has access to sound information to make smart climate choices in a simple and straightforward way,” Siemiatkowski added.
Klarna said its global network of 90 million consumers and 250,000 retailers offers a “unique opportunity to make unbiased climate impact information available globally and help everyday shoppers become informed decision-makers.”
Mathias Wikström, CEO of Doconomy, said Klarna as a tech frontrunner “enabling all users to track, measure and understand their impact by presenting their carbon footprint on every purchase, there is great potential for positive impact.”
“The financial sector has developed tremendous efficiencies to create, aggregate and protect wealth,” Wikström said. “Now that same force can address the alarming planetary health. Adding a unique data stream to the customer offering is a brilliant step to educate the many.”
The carbon tracking tool dovetails with this week’s launch of Klarna’s global Giveone.com platform, “bringing to life a 1 percent pledge for the planet.” Klarna said the $10 million donations “will focus on backing initiatives tackling the most pressing challenges around climate change and loss of biodiversity.”
“A curated committee of experts will facilitate the process of selecting impactful solutions globally to be funded through the pledge,” the company said, adding that the framework will be “made available to the public, in the hope to inspire other growth and pre-IPO companies to follow suit and support solving today’s planetary crisis.”
Consumers can also donate to the same projects via integration with Klarna payment solutions.
In regard to Klarna’s own carbon use, the company vowed that by 2030 it aims to reduce company emissions by 50 percent, “and from 2021, Klarna will make annual financial contributions to high-impact climate projects, including carbon removal, blue carbon initiatives, reforestation and forest protection, and high-impact emission reduction projects.”
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