Expanding the Fight for Carbon Neutrality
Social Entrepreneur Works to Reduce the Global Carbon Footprint, One Company at a Time
Austin Whitman, CEO and founder of Climate Neutral, has spent most of his career learning about carbon emissions and their effect on global climate, spending his early years working in clean energy and policy. But it wasn’t until 2018—when he connected with Peter Dering and Jonathan Cedar of Peak Design and BioLite—that he realized it seemed as if no real progress had been made over the past decade or so.
International discussions in the United Nations had paused. The United States had pulled out of the Paris Agreement. Governments and nonprofits that had been doing research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy sources had essentially stopped. The number of voluntary markets, both individuals and companies, working on their own carbon offsets did not drop, but it also did not rise.
Whitman knew then that it was time for him to take some action and figure out how to improve the global climate, ultimately trying to achieve total carbon neutrality. He then went on to launch Climate Neutral, an independent nonprofit organization, in March 2019.
Climate Neutral is working to expand awareness of global warming and climate change and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world. It looks to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other fossil fuels in our atmosphere through a simple process for companies to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon footprint, ultimately to be able to achieve the status of Climate Neutral Certified.
This certification comes with a badge that can be displayed on the company’s website, products, and other consumer-facing collateral. The Climate Neutral team has now committed 120 brands to achieve Climate Neutral certification, going through the process of measuring their carbon emissions, looking to reduce them to the greatest extent that they can—ultimately hoping to achieve net zero—and offsetting whatever they cannot.
In this episode of the Grow Ensemble Podcast, we chat with Whitman as he shares his journey. He talks about how his company has had such high demand in such a short period of time (by the end of 2019, it was looking to have three dozen brands, and it hit 80). Familiar brands—including BioLite and Peak Design, Avocado Green Mattress, Allbirds, All Good Products, Klean Kanteen, and Life Straw—have accelerated the momentum of growth for Climate Neutral. We at Grow Ensemble are happy to say we are now a part of the mission to achieve climate neutrality with Climate Neutral as well.
Whitman also shares more about the Climate Neutral Certified system he and his team have created, as well as what it’s been like building a nonprofit from the ground up.
Want more episodes on companies working to save the environment? Listen to:
- #35 — Digital Carbon Footprints, Passion Projects, and Purposeful Work with James Christie, Co-Creator of Sustainable UX
- #38 — Strategically Planning to Rid the World of Single-Use Plastic, with Jim Osgood CEO of Klean Kanteen
- #53 — A Sustainable Vision for the Future of Fashion with Alex Husted, Founder & CEO of Helpsy
Bonus material: Get the full show notes and extras for this episode.
Join us for this episode with Whitman and a few of our favorite takeaways:
- His journey to founding Climate Neutral.
- How Climate Neutral has experienced such exceptionally rapid growth.
- The challenges the organization has faced since launch in 2019.
- What the future looks like for the Climate Neutral team.
Bonus material: Get the full show notes and extras for this episode.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
