Klarna has announced the launch of CO2 insights for all shopping purchases as part of its 1% pledge, "involving the donation of US$10 million to initiatives supporting planet health.”

The Swedish fintech company says the new feature aims to “democratise access to unbiased climate impact information for consumers at no cost or judgement as “a first step to help drive awareness around climate change.”

The feature introduces “a seamless experience for users to access carbon footprint insights” and brings to life “awareness-raising efforts on carbon footprints, based on consumer reach.”

Klarna has partnered with Doconomy, which labels itself as a “world leader in providing innovative calculation tools”, that enables banks and brands to display the carbon footprint of transactions, to provide shoppers with an average kgCO2 value for each purchase.

The partnership introduces CO2 data at global scale and is made available free of charge in the Klarna app.

Every purchase made through Klarna’s payment methods will include a carbon footprint estimate powered by Doconomy’s Åland Index, which enables financial institutions “to offer all customers transactions-based impact calculations.”

According to Klarna, it has “90 million customers, including its growing user base of 18 million monthly active app users.”

With many partner retailers working hard to improve in this area through numerous ways, the solution marks a first step in Klarna’s journey to play its part. In the long run, Klarna aims to “further enable consumers to understand the true cost of consumption and provide them with the opportunity to take action.”

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, says: “With fat, sugar, and salt levels labelled on the food we buy, shouldn’t our CO2 emissions be also visible?

“This type of information shouldn’t be a premium or luxury that consumers pay for, but rather an essential part of every shopping journey”, Siemiatkowski notes.

“This is why we’re upgrading Klarna to give all our consumers globally transparent access to their shopping carbon footprint,” he points out.

He says, “consumers 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.”

With its “global network of more than 90 million consumers and 250,000 retailers”, Klarna’s reach represents a unique opportunity “to make unbiased climate impact information available globally and help everyday shoppers become informed decision makers.”

Mathias Wikström, CEO of Doconomy, says: “With Klarna as a fintech 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. Now that same force can address the alarming planetary health. Adding a unique data stream to the customer is a brilliant step to educate the public,” Wikström concludes.

Rolling out Klarna’s 1% pledge

On Earth Day, Klarna will also launch its global Giveone.com platform, bringing to life a 1% pledge for the planet. As part of the pledge, Klarna will allocate 1% of its latest $1 billion funding round—a total of $10 million—to initiatives supporting the planet.

According to Klarna, the donation will focus on backing initiatives “tackling the most pressing challenges around climate change and loss of biodiversity.”

Klarna has hired a committee of experts who will facilitate the process of selecting impactful solutions globally to be funded through the pledge. The framework will be made available to the public to inspire other growth and pre-IPO companies to follow suit and support solving today's planetary crisis.

To allow consumers to participate in the action, Klarna will offer them the opportunity to donate to the same projects and through a donation integration in Klarna’s products powered by Milkywire, a tech platform for impact.

Klarna’s own carbon footprint will be addressed through an ambitious new approach. By 2030, the company “aims to reduce company emissions by 50% 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.”

The annual sum will be “established through an internal carbon tax set at $100/tonne for all scope 1, 2 and travel emissions (remaining scope 3 emissions set at $10/tonne).”