Klarna launches carbon footprint insights for shoppers

Swedish payments provider Klarna has launched a CO2 tracker to allow its 90 million users to see how much carbon is linked to their purchases.

The new feature aims to “democratize access to unbiased climate impact information for consumers” and “help drive awareness around climate change”.

Klarna has partnered with Swedish fintech startup Doconomy for the tracker, which will provide shoppers with an average kgCO2 value for each purchase.

“With fat, sugar and salt levels labelled on food we buy, why shouldn’t our CO2 emissions be just as visible? This type of information shouldn’t be a premium or luxury that consumers pay for, but rather an essential part of every shopping journey,” said Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski.

The news comes in the same week sustainable footwear and apparel brand Allbirds announced it would make its carbon footprint calculating tool open-source.

The San Francisco-based brand said in a statement on its website that “sharing proprietary information might not make the most business sense” but “the global climate crisis is bigger than business”.