My background involves working in venture capital at Crane VC, where I invested in early-stage B2B software companies in Europe. Before that, I gained experience through a few years at Boston Consulting Group and BCG Digital Ventures. While developing my expertise to build Lune, which includes knowledge of carbon markets, emissions measurement, and scaling climate action, I have primarily been self-taught. This has been driven by my passion for tackling the climate crisis, as well as by learning from countless people who are much smarter and more knowledgeable than me.
We are currently facing a crucial point in the climate crisis. A couple of years back, I found myself thinking about how I could make the most significant positive contribution to the planet. This led me to shape the vision for Lune, which is to embed climate impact into literally everything we do and maximising the positive impact we can have. Together with my co-founder, Roberto, we have delineated how this would work in reality.
We are addressing multiple issues, depending on the lens through which we view them.
Firstly, the climate crisis: we have released hundreds of billions of tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere, leading to a continuous rise in global temperatures. Additionally, deforestation is occurring at an unprecedented pace, threatening not only the most vital habitats on earth but also causing widespread repercussions. Therefore, we must expand solutions that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere by 100-1,000 times and simultaneously protect and preserve nature globally.
Secondly, the carbon offset market: carbon offsetting is one of the best methods available to fund projects that eliminate CO₂ and safeguard nature. However, the Voluntary Carbon Market is overloaded with projects of dubious quality, and there is a lack of transparency about their actual impact in the real world. Moreover, the market is plagued by outdated and manual procedures. To address these challenges, we must identify, promote, and expand high-quality carbon projects transparently.
Finally, businesses tend to view sustainability as a cost centre: every company desires to be more sustainable today, but most prioritise other initiatives because revenue and profit are deemed more important. Traditionally, companies must spend a significant amount of time and money on sustainability initiatives and then create a sustainability report that is hidden on their website and goes unread. Sustainability is regarded as a cost centre. To quickly prioritise sustainability, we must convert it into a revenue generator for companies.
As an example, a payments company can integrate Lune's API to make online checkout experiences carbon neutral. They can offer a ‘green payments solution’ where the merchant or consumer automatically contributes to a climate project of their choice during checkout. By providing a distinct green payment method, the payments company can differentiate itself from the competition, attract more climate-conscious customers, and boost customer acquisition, conversion, and revenue growth. It's worth noting that more than 70% of consumers prefer a green payment method. All while using their network to enable thousands or millions of merchants/consumers to contribute to vetted climate projects – scaling carbon removal and nature protection in a way that no other business can. This leads to positive impacts that are orders of magnitude larger than what they could achieve by focusing only on their company's emissions.
Lune's curated list of high-quality carbon projects, which range from reforestation to direct air capture, enables this approach. We prioritise quality over quantity when selecting carbon projects, and this focus on quality is a key reason why our clients choose Lune.
Lune provides services to a diverse range of customers, including large enterprises like Salesforce, mid-sized companies such as SaltPay, GoCardless, and TrueLayer, and promising startups like Tred.
Salesforce launched a carbon offset marketplace that enables all its customers to support climate action directly through the Salesforce platform. It is powered by Lune’s selection of vetted carbon projects.
Tred, a neobank, offers automated emissions calculations and optional carbon offsetting to their users through their banking app. Using Lune’s API, they are able to offer trusted carbon offsetting to their user base.
We're excited to announce the launch of our new carbon project profile pages on the Lune platform. This update gives our customers unparalleled transparency into the projects they're supporting, including detailed information on their impact, regular updates from the project developers, and insight into Lune's rigorous quality assessment process.
For instance, if you're supporting a forest conservation project, you'll not only help to reduce CO₂ emissions but might also protect dozens of critically endangered animal species, fund education for thousands of children, and support women's empowerment initiatives, among other benefits.
At Lune, our mission is to empower every product and service to have a positive impact on the climate. We're committed to taking concrete steps towards achieving this goal in everything we do.
To that end, we'll continue to enhance our product, making it even more accessible and user-friendly for companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. We're also dedicated to improving our emissions calculations, forging partnerships with top-tier carbon project developers worldwide, and pursuing other strategies to advance climate action.
Our ultimate vision is to create a world where every action, from traveling to shopping, automatically supports positive climate outcomes. With Lune powering these efforts, we're confident that together we can make this vision a reality.
Erik is the Co-Founder & CEO of Lune, on the mission to make every product and service climate positive by default. His goal is to maximise the positive impact he can contribute to with the goal of embedding automated climate action into everything we do. Erik lives in London today but is from Finland and enjoys a good sauna combined with a dip in the frozen sea.
Lune is a climate tech company helping businesses create impact they can feel proud of. Brand-conscious companies use Lune’s API and platform to contribute to climate action through vetted, high-quality carbon projects as well as embed climate impact into their own customer experience. Lune is trusted by companies such as Salesforce, SaltPay, Payhawk, GoCardless, TrueLayer and more.
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