Earth Day celebration: Climate Neutral certifies record number of brands
The nonprofit announced Thursday that more than 230 brands, whose combined revenue totals $2.3 billion, have completed their Climate Neutral certification.
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Every day is Earth Day, as the saying goes, and the hundreds of brands that recently became certified through the nonprofit Climate Neutral have lived that ideal since the beginning of 2020.
On Thursday, the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, Climate Neutral announced that a record 230-plus brands have completed their certification process and achieved net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
That means the San Francisco-based organization, which helps companies measure, offset, and reduce their carbon emissions through a three-step process, has more than doubled the number of certified brands in the past year.
The benefits of Climate Neutral certification
Launched in 2019, Climate Neutral provides consumers with “trusted third-party verification that a company has taken full responsibility for its collective carbon emissions from the previous year.”
The latest brands to complete that verification process have a combined $2.3 billion in revenue, employ more than 15,000 people, and span 12 industries.
“Two years into building our community, we’re thrilled to be welcoming a huge new collection of certified brands from a dozen product categories,” said Austin Whitman, CEO of Climate Neutral. “For years, companies have quietly known that they contribute to climate change, and now our certified brands are investing time to quantify and rectify that impact. We are eager to continue helping these companies and hundreds of others as they invest in eliminating their carbon emissions, and engaging consumers in this critical drive toward a net-zero world.”
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All told, the new class of Climate Neutral brands will offset and reduce about 700,000 metric tons of carbon per year—the equivalent of 11.5 million trees planted and grown for 10 years, 150,000 cars off the road for one year, or the annual energy use of 84,000 homes.
Outdoor Climate Neutral brands include 22 Degrees, 686, BioLite, Cotopaxi, Hibear, Ibex, Icelantic Skis, Klean Kanteen, MiiR, North x North, Nuun, Peak Design, REI, Rumpl, Stio, Surefoot, and Vuori, among others.
Companies that want to become certified through Climate Neutral can begin by measuring their carbon footprint through the nonprofit’s carbon calculator, “built specifically to help measure corporate emissions.” The Brand Emissions Estimator, or BEE, “takes high-level business data and computes a carbon footprint.”
The nonprofit said more than 125 additional brands have committed to becoming certified later in 2021.
