Leading Tech Companies Unite Against Climate Change

Milkywire is a tech platform enabling companies to address their environmental footprint and comply with new standards for taking action to solve the global climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. 

Founder Nina Siemiatkowski created the environmental platform in 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, with the aim of bringing people together who want to improve our planet by getting involved in grassroot projects.

Milkywire has created an employee engagement programme where employees of a company that donates to charity can decide where their portion of donation will go directly on the Milkywire app. They have also partnered with a fashion brand where a piece of every sale will go to charity. With different forms of collaboration so that we as consumers, no matter what we do in our daily lives, we do not have to make a huge change to contribute and make an impact.

The company has announced recently that leading tech companies including Spotify, Klarna, Avanza, Northzone, and Mentimeter have committed to donate to the initiative. Other companies supporting the fund so far in 2023 are BioGaia, PANGAIA, Wastebox, Steamery and Unbound Summits. 

The Climate Transformation Fund is expertly curated by Milkywire, offering companies an alternative to traditional carbon offsetting through financing impactful and sustainable solutions needed to reach global climate targets, supporting organisations within three pillars: durable carbon removal, nature restoration, protection, and decarbonisation.

The fund’s overall impact goal is to achieve the maximum long-term CO₂ reduction or removal per dollar spent. Most of the companies donating to the fund have, or are in the process of implementing an internal carbon fee to generate funds for climate projects. 

According to Milkywire’s recently-published white paper, companies are advised to set internal carbon fees by implementing a fee that covers the full cost of their emissions. Klarna, for example, has set a $100 fee for Scope 1 (direct emissions), 2 (indirect emissions), and travel emissions plus $10 for the rest of scope 3.

This resulted in $2.35 a million to support climate projects in 2022 and a total of $5.07 million since 2020.

Nina Siemiatkowski, CEO and Founder of Milkywire, comments, “as the urgency for climate action grows, we have seen many companies invest in climate offsetting schemes that do not provide a meaningful impact on our planet. The Climate Transformation Fund was created to offer a pioneering solution for companies seeking to maximise their impact towards decarbonization. Internal carbon fees are a powerful way for companies to take responsibility for their emissions. By focusing on the climate impact of contributions rather than on making claims of carbon neutrality, we can support the solutions most needed to reach global net zero. These include methods ranging from nascent technologies for carbon removal to effective advocacy projects pushing for emission reductions.”

Milkywire is also setting up new ways for companies to collaborate that want to implement internal carbon fees and support high-impact climate solutions. While also creating knowledge-sharing spaces within which companies can recommend best practices on external impact, as well as how companies can contribute beyond financing, such as by engaging customers, partners and employees.

Sources: Milkywire, Corporate Unplugged