We're Climate Neutral!

At Ancient + Brave, we’re celebrating the fact that we’re officially Climate Neutral Certified. The reality is that even after facing a global pandemic (and everything else the last eighteen months has thrown at us), climate change is the single biggest threat to humanity - and we have the tools to stop it. The process to become Climate Neutral Certified is a months-long effort to measure, offset, and reduce our carbon footprint. These are actions that all brands - and individuals - can and should take now to flatten the curve of carbon emissions.

Sustainability and the environment have been part of our DNA since day one, and today we’re thrilled that we’re able to join over 300 other Climate Neutral Certified brands in taking meaningful action for the climate.

Why now?

It’s no secret that this is a challenging time for business. In the face of unexpected obstacles, radical pivots, and new ways of working, we’ve learned that we are able to face big challenges as individuals, a team, and a society.

Globally, we emit almost 60 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year. If we don’t take responsibility for this problem now, then there’s no way we’ll hit the 2050 goals set out by the Paris Climate Agreement. These are make-or-break goals. Reach them, and we avoid the devastating effects of climate change. Miss them, and life on Earth will change for billions of people.

We’re acting now because scientifically-vetted solutions to climate change exist, and they are accessible to brands like ours. 

Kate Prince, our Founder says, “Sustainability has been at the very heart of Ancient + Brave since we started. We are truly committed to minimising our footprint as an integral part of our business strategy and operating methods.  ”

How did we get here?

We partnered with Climate Neutral to measure, offset, and reduce our carbon emissions. This process has taken mount of time and resources from our team, but ultimately it’s a reasonable cost compared to the threat of climate change. 

Bella Todaro, Certification Manager at Climate Neutral, told us that "Our brands dedicated thousands of hours to understanding and addressing their climate impacts through the certification process.”

We were among them and have followed the process of: 

Measure

We measured our yearly carbon footprint at 124 tonnes. To arrive at this number, we looked at all of the emissions created from making and delivering our products/services, including our supply chain emissions, employee commuting, business travel, and utility bills.

Offset

We “zeroed-out” these emissions by purchasing carbon credits. These carbon credits supported a portfolio of projects that help diversify local economies in Papua New Guinea, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico in order to alleviate the pressure to cut down trees. This helps preserve natural ecosystems, and increase carbon stored in trees, thereby reducing emissions.

Reduce

Last, but not least, we created Reduction Action Plans to help lower the emissions we produce.

This year we will have moved all our storage and fulfilment in-house. This will reduce the amount of transportation that goes between storage and fulfilment. Also, by having our own warehouse, we can ensure we use 100% renewable energy.

By the end of 2021, we will have a zero-waste office. This includes reducing our waste, composting, sourcing close loop projects from brands such as Fill Refill. 

We are sharing the details of our process for two reasons: 

1) Our customers deserve transparency, and we want to show how we’re working to live up to our claims of climate responsibility. 

2) We hope that other brands will see what we did and become inspired to take action. 

What does it mean to be Climate Neutral Certified?

Climate Neutral is a nonprofit committed to solving climate change by making carbon neutrality simple and accessible. Austin Whitman, CEO of Climate Neutral says, “Consumers hold massive power to shape the economy, and their power is exerted through the actions of the brands they support. With our climate label, we’re helping consumers find the brands that are willing to invest immediately in climate solutions.”

The brands certified so far this year all went through the same process to measure, offset, and reduce their emissions, neutralising about 700,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

To The Future

We’re thrilled to be in good company with this year’s Climate Neutral Certified brands. We believe in Climate Neutral’s mission of taking action now to solve a problem that we understand to be an urgent threat. We’re glad you’re with us for the journey. Let’s work together to tackle climate change faster.