Speedinvest

Solution approach

Phase 1: Analyzing Speedinvest’s carbon footprint

To calculate the carbon footprint, OneTrust took a closer look at all relevant activities across Speedinvest’s operations. This included direct and energy-related emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and indirect emissions caused by purchased goods and services and other emissions that occur outside the organization (Scope 3). Speedinvest’s investment portfolio is not yet included in this analysis.

Building emissions make up the largest share of Speedinvest’s carbon footprint, followed by employee emissions such as business travel, employee commuting, and home offices. The company did see some reduction in travel emissions in 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns and intends to keep this momentum going with new travel policies aimed at reducing travel emissions moving forward. The third largest share of emissions comes from purchased goods and services.

In 2020, Speedinvest’s total carbon footprint was:

280 t CO2e total emissions

• 123 t C02e in building emissions
• 113 t C02e business travel, employee commute, and home office
• 44 t C02e in purchased goods and services

Phase 2: Speedinvest reduces and avoids greenhouse gas emissions

Speedinvest is committed to eliminating unnecessary emissions and reducing/offsetting unavoidable emissions. The company has started to implement concrete steps toward more sustainable business operations, such as deploying refurbished instead of new electronics, introducing a “train-first” travel policy, and minimizing business travel.

Speedinvest has also started working on a sustainability audit of its partners and vendors, including banks, internet services, energy utilities, office suppliers, food providers, and more. Further, the company made it part of its DNA to support founders in its portfolio who are working on lowering their own carbon footprint.

Phase 3: Speedinvest offsets remaining emissions

While reduction and avoidance are key for Speedinvest, emissions cannot be fully avoided in some areas. For that reason, Speedinvest supports certified climate projects in Indonesia, Kenya and Ethiopia. These include:

• (Indonesia)This rainforest protection project protects 64,500 hectares of carbon-rich peat swamp forests and supports local communities with sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat training. Estimated annual reduction of 3.5 million tons of C02 emissions.
• (Ethiopia) A community project focused on distributing 12,000 efficient cookstoves reduces deforestation by minimizing wood consumption. Estimated annual reduction of 40,000 tons of C02 emissions.
• (Kenya) An efficient cookstove project has reduced household wood consumption by almost half and weekly wood collection by two-thirds.

All projects are certified to the highest standards, including Gold Standard, the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and the Fairtrade Climate Standard.