Climate financing for companies

How does climate financing work?

When you finance climate projects, you pay money for the amount of greenhouse gases your company has emitted. The funds are invested in global projects that reduce an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide caused by the company. The main purpose of a climate project is to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere are reduced. There are various ways to do this, and the market is continuously evolving with new projects and ever-improving solutions to measure emission reductions.

Transition to renewable energy

One way that is easy to measure and simple to understand is projects that produce renewable energy. This is also extremely important, as 82 % of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels. By generating this type of energy, which does not cause emissions, we give people the opportunity to stop using fossil fuels. For example, when we build wind power in India and connect more people to the power grid, they no longer need to use diesel generators or burn coal, which is often the case before the project is implemented. This is considered an avoidance climate project, which ensures that fewer greenhouse gases are emitted in the future.

Why global projects instead of Swedish ones?

Reasons to support projects in countries such as India and Indonesia rather than Sweden include the fact that wind power can still be too expensive in certain parts of the world to be built without assistance. Or that the necessary infrastructure and knowledge are not in place, or that investments in fossil energy continue due to corporate interests and lobbying. These are conditions under which a climate project would not happen without help, which is referred to as additionality. Wind power can produce the same energy in Sweden, but the marginal benefit in a more fossil-dependent country is greater because we avoid the combustion of coal and diesel and contribute to increasing the local standard of living. Until we succeed in a society-transforming transition away from a fossil-dependent economy, we have a moral obligation to take responsibility for all our emissions that still contribute to climate change and, to some extent, for the historical climate impact we have had. Contributing financially to effective climate projects – provided that they are executed in good and certified projects – is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to do so under the current conditions, regulations, and frameworks in place right now.

How does GoClimate choose climate projects?

For us at GoClimate, it is important to maximize the climate benefit of the funds contributed by our members and corporate clients to climate projects. We prioritize both quality and efficiency when selecting which climate projects to support. We have chosen to work exclusively with projects that are certified by Gold Standard. This is because we believe that Gold Standard has the strictest and highest requirements for climate projects and that through them we can make the most significant difference for the climate. We also look at how long a project has been running, the year from which the climate credits originate, whether there have been local protests regarding the project and if so, why, whether the financial conditions for that type of project have changed, and what the latest research shows. We simply focus on contributing to the climate projects that we see deliver the most climate benefit. Our conclusion is that supporting Gold Standard certified projects is the best way to make a difference right now. However, we are open to changing our focus if we find other ways to achieve even greater climate benefit in the future.

Contribute with climate financing

Do you already know your climate footprint? We offer climate financing in carefully selected, certified climate projects. If you do not already have a handle on your emissions but wish to change that, we have services that can help you with it. Together we make a difference!