Tide, the leading digital business financial platform, has raised the bar in terms of climate action by becoming the first fintech in the world to remove 100% of its emissions with durable carbon removal as of last year. The business has also committed to becoming fully Net Zero by 2030 and to support its UK members (around 9% of UK SMEs), and growing network of Indian SMEs on their Net Zero journeys.
Tide has made three pledges to ensure it’s part of the global solution to deal with the devastating impacts of climate change:
● Pledge 1: Tide Removal Net Zero – Tide commits to removing 100% of our emissions with durable carbon removal from 2022 onwards.
● Pledge 2: Tide Reduction Net Zero – Tide will reduce 90% of our 2021 emissions per employee by 2030. In doing so, we will reduce emissions by 97% on a revenue basis. Pledges 1 and 2 will make Tide fully Net Zero by 2030.
● Pledge 3: Tide Member Net Zero – Tide commits to making Net Zero simpler for our Members by developing support for them to get to Net Zero.
By delivering the first pledge, Tide has become the first fintech in the world to remove 100% of emissions through durable carbon removal. Tide has achieved this by purchasing 3,711 tonnes of durable biochar removal. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that biochar is one of the safest, fastest and most durable ways to draw down and store carbon. Tide’s purchases can be viewed on CDR.fyi, the largest open registry on high-permanence carbon removal, ensuring transparency. According to the CDR.fyi registry, Tide’s biochar purchase makes it one of the top 20 carbon removal buyers in the world and the first fintech globally to do this. Tide is committed to purchasing durable removals for its global carbon emissions every year going forward.
Delivering the first and second pledge will make Tide fully Net Zero by 2030, and ultimately meet the standards of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), an international coalition that includes the United Nations and the WWF. Tide will reduce 90% of its Scope 1 – 3 carbon emissions per employee by 2030 and in doing so will also reduce emissions by 97% on a revenue basis as the business scales.Tide has worked with carbon removal marketplace and Net Zero platform Supercritical to monitor and track its global carbon emissions, as well as to review and suggest changes to Tide’s business practices. Tide bought the 3,711 tonnes of durable carbon removal through Supercritical’s vetted marketplace.
Tide has already implemented policies to reduce the carbon footprint of its 1,250 employees worldwide. These include a travel policy that limits long-haul business travel to two weeks.
Finally, its third pledge means that Tide plans to roll out an initiative later in 2023 to help its over 500,000 Members worldwide kickstart their own journey to Net Zero by introducing products, features and content to help them. Tide believes it can achieve a further one million tonnes of durable carbon removal (CO2e) from the atmosphere by 2030 by activating its powerful network of member businesses in the UK and growing numbers of SMEs that use Tide in India.
To ensure transparency, Tide will regularly update its progress on its website Tide.co. In determining these pledges, Tide engaged Carbon Footprint Ltd to verify Tide’s carbon footprint assessment and supporting evidence for 2021, and for the period 1st January 2022 to 31 December 2022. Carbon Footprint Ltd completed the review in accordance with the ‘ISO 14064 Part 3 (2019): Greenhouse Gases: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements’.
Ian Sutherland, CFO and Head of Net Zero, Tide said: “Businesses need to take action now, not tomorrow on climate change. At Tide, we are taking decisive action to curtail the spiralling effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth’s atmosphere. With this, Tide commits today to balance the books on CO2 for good.
“While we at Tide may not make much of a difference on our own, by also supporting our growing international network of SME members, we will. We’re proud to be the first fintech in the world to remove 100% of our emissions, and will become a fully Net Zero business by 2030 through a major and ongoing investment in decarbonisation and durable carbon removal.
“We’re also excited about working with our members to deliver meaningful change. Especially in the UK, where faced with cost-of-doing business challenges and the need for greater energy security, we believe there’s a huge opportunity for smaller companies to transition to renewables and achieve greater energy and resource efficiency.”
Kevin Niparko, Co-Founder, CDR.fyi, added: “Durable carbon removal – alongside deep decarbonization efforts – is key to counteracting climate change. But the carbon removal market is still in its infancy. We need more companies to commit to purchasing durable carbon removal to help our planet avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. That’s why we’re so excited about Tide’s announcement today. The delivery of 3,711 tonnes of removed CO2 is one of the largest deliveries of carbon removal in history. Tide is leading the way for other financial technologies to take responsibility for 100% of their emissions and invest in CDR.”
Michelle You, CEO and co-founder of carbon removal platform, Supercritical, said: “We’re delighted to have worked with Tide in shaping its strategy to remove 100% of its emissions with durable carbon removal from today onward, and are proud they recognize how important it is to kickstart the early carbon removal market and help suppliers scale. With this huge and important milestone, they set a leading example for all businesses on their journey to Net Zero.”
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