Salesforce Launch Net Zero Marketplace
Exciting news from Dreamforce last week as Salesforce announced the imminent launch of Net Zero Marketplace. The platform, designed to enable carbon credit purchases, will allow organisations to accelerate climate-positive impact at scale.
What are Carbon Credits?
Carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits that allow companies to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. One credit permits the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases. Proponents of the system say that it leads to measurable, verifiable emission reductions from certified climate action projects, and that these projects reduce, remove or avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, offsetting, also has its detractors.
Voluntary Carbon Credit Market continues to grow – but scepticism remains.
According to a recent report by McKinsey, the voluntary carbon credit marketplace could be worth upward of $50bn by 2030 as more and more organisations seek solutions to help them achieve their net zero commitments. But, despite this growth, there is some deeply embedded scepticism about the value of carbon offsetting. Critics claim it is unregulated and all too often allows firms to engage in ‘greenwashing’ – with unscrupulous companies ignoring the need to reduce carbon emissions at source by ‘buying their way out of the problem’.
Some firms have announced a strategic withdrawal from the offset marketplace in its entirety, choosing instead to focus on other carbon reduction and sustainability goals. Easyjet recently announced they will no longer offset their Co2 emissions from December 22. Instead, they have unveiled a “roadmap to net zero emissions” by 2050, including introducing hydrogen-powered jet engines. Other elements of their new strategy include using sustainable aviation fuel, more fuel-efficient planes and carbon capture to reach the target. .
Carbon Credits help firms to make an immediate impact.
But, despite the reputational issues surrounding carbon credits, there is an urgent need to tackle climate change in any way we can. Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change Convention recently stated “We’re at a moment in the climate emergency in which we need to put everything on the table. Carbon credits are a way to incentivise further emissions reductions by placing a price on carbon and making an impact now, while other climate efforts are also underway”.
Salesforce’s Sustainability Pedigree
Salesforce have a long track record in positive climate change activism. Salesforce themselves are Net Zero emissions – and have been voluntarily reporting GHG emissions since 2012. They are also a supporter and advocate of the WEF’s 1 trillion trees program, contributing technology in the form of WEF’s UpLink, that brings together stakeholders of all sizes to solve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They have also set a company goal to support and mobilise the conservation and restoration of 100 million trees over the next decade.
Emission reduction plans must consider the entire value chain.
In a recent interview for Venturebeat, Patrick Flynn, SVP, global head of sustainability at Salesforce, said “We must start with emission reduction plans that consider not only our own operations but also the entire value chain consequences, including initiatives to catalyse systemic emission reduction effects beyond the value chain. Empowering such efforts was one of our main reasons for creating the Net Zero Marketplace, which also greatly complements our Net Zero cloud.”
Net Zero Marketplace – part of an overall climate strategy
Flynn said that the Net Zero Marketplace will enable individuals and organisations to collaborate on building better carbon credit portfolios and using carbon credits as a part of their overall climate action strategy. A key feature of the Net Zero Marketplace is that it will eliminate the time-consuming process of finding and verifying a carbon credit’s quality by aggregating and publishing third-party ratings for projects to help companies determine which carbon credits are best for them.
“The unique part in this experience is that when anyone comes and learns about a project and learns about an ecopreneur, they will also be able to see a transparent pricing and third-party ratings, a key differentiator in our offering,” Nina Schoen, director of product management, Net Zero Cloud Salesforce told VentureBeat.
Net Zero will be launched in the US in October 2022 with further rollouts planned into 2023. You can sign up for information on it’s launch at: https://www.salesforce.com/products/net-zero-cloud/marketplace/