Trafi’s Journey Towards Carbon Neutrality

Reaching carbon neutrality sounds really cool, doesn't it? That's why after the Lithuanian startup Trafi announced they had reached carbon neutrality, I wanted to talk to them.

The following article recaps my conversation with Indre Blauzdziunaite on one of the latest Virtual Coffee Breaks. We discuss the reasoning behind this decision, how carbon neutrality contributes to Trafi's business strategy, and the challenges along the way. 

Authors note: If you want to receive an invite to the following Virtual Coffee Break straight to your inbox, sign up for receiving an occasional newsletter from me at the bottom of the page. 

About Trafi and the person behind this story

Trafi is a fast-growing tech startup that is currently employing over 100 people. They have developed the world's leading Mobility-as-a Service tech platform and are committed to building sustainable solutions for cities and companies.

My guest Indrė Blauzdziunaite. is the Senior Sustainability Manager at Trafi. Indre B. is working on building and implementing the company's sustainability strategy and tuned in to share her lessons learned from the journey. Continue reading to learn about Trafi’s three-way strategy, sustainable mobility, and suggestions for other tech companies on this journey. 

Sustainable Mobility

It's no rare occasion to see companies in the transportation and mobility sectors think about sustainability. The transport sector is responsible for 25% of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and is the leading cause of air pollution in cities. Companies like Trafi are not only thinking about sustainable mobility. They are making it happen. There are many issues with the current ways of how people and packages move on the road.

“Trafi works on providing alternatives to car-based commuting, instead of improving the automobile, which is the approach most of the mobility innovations are focusing on. ,” shares Indre B. 

Trafi’s sustainable mobility plan is quite extensive and does not only include a plan for cities but also for companies. Indre, the company’s Sustainability Manager, described the company's new product as a solution for companies on the hunt for sustainable business partners. They are inviting corporations to reimagine what “company car” looks like in 2022 - it can also be a monthly budget to be used as needed to move across the city (using carsharing, taxis, scooters, bicycles, and public transportation). This approach has been proven to be fruitful for both the company and the employees if they have a sustainability-oriented mindset since it helps the company reduce vehicle emissions at their end. 

The process of reaching carbon neutrality

Before the process officially started, the company went through internal discussions on the importance of social and environmental matters to various company stakeholders. The team agreed that if they are heading in this direction, it's crucial for them to be able to communicate about their efforts. And that alone already meant there has to be a certain level of credibility to their actions and initiatives. 

During the Virtual Coffee Break, Indre., Trafi's Senior Sustainability Manager, shared some of the other key reasons for exploring this subject:

• Moral reasons were a significant driver for Trafi team. Especially the leadership team was eager to find out their carbon footprint with the long-term vision of reducing it and eventually reaching the net-zero level. It was (and still is) for Trafi to ensure all of their operations were sustainably oriented.

• Demand from company employees was another significant push. Trafi team members wanted to see the company's vision and support it.

• Lack of climate commitments from tech companies - although digital operations are responsible for more emissions than aviation and shipping industries together, reduction plans from digital SMEs are rare. Trafi wanted to pioneer the way and encourage more tech companies to act.

Once the “WHY” was clear, the process could start. For Trafi, the journey followed these three steps:

Step 1: Calculation

First, the company calculated the impact it leaves behind through research, surveys, and data analysis. For this process, they partnered with the carbon calculation and offset company South Pole. Trafi discovered that they emit 615 tons of carbon per year. For the Trafi team, it was important that the whole process was carried out accurately to ensure the communication was bulletproof. 

Step 2: Reduction

Once the calculations were completed, the company started analyzing the data. A big part of the analysis is understanding which company activities contribute to the largest part of its footprint. In Trafi’s case, it turned out that 95% of their footprint is in Scope 3 - in activities like end-users interacting with Trafi technology and their purchased goods such as IT equipment. Trafi has set the plans to reduce the footprint of several scope 3 areas, such as digital operations, electricity consumption, business travel, etc. 

Step 3: Offsetting 

Lastly, Trafi offset inevitable carbon dioxide emissions by supporting TIST Uganda (community-led reforestation program) and Safe Community Water Supply (an organization that repairs and restores water boreholes to provide clean drinking water to Rwandan communities) and investing in frontier carbon removals technology Running Tide project. Trafi collaborated with Patch to diversify its offset portfolio. 

Difference between carbon-neutrality and net-zero

During the Virtual Coffee Break, another important concept that we addressed is the difference between “climate neutrality” and “net-zero.” It is common for people to mistake these two concepts, but there is a great difference in the actions company has to take to reach these different states. 

In essence, climate neutrality is the first base. That usually means a company has calculated its carbon footprint, has offset its emissions and has a reduction plan in place. The next milestone is to reach net-zero (the goal we're all striving for by mid-century). Net-zero emissions mean that the company has completed all the possible actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and are offsetting the rest. However, the ultimate destination is to become climate positive - do more good than bad for the environment. ​

Although Trafi is already working on reducing their emissions, there is a gap in reduction guidelines such as Science Based Targets for digital SMEs - therefore Trafi’s reduction efforts cannot yet be set as official targets. To tackle this challenge, Trafi has also initiated the joint Sustainability Alliance for SMEs to share the best practices. 

While we're here, let me point out that climate-neutrality is not the same as carbon-neutrality. Although the term “carbon neutrality” might rank better on SEO, “climate-neutrality” actually covers all 6 greenhouse gases (including methane, which is 6 times more potent than carbon), not just carbon. 

Carbon-neutrality is not all there is to the story of Trafi

‘Trafi journey has never been just about the environment’, shares Indrė B, Senior Sustainability Manager at Trafi. The company also focuses on all three ESG aspects - environment, social responsibility, and good governance.

Some of the key social targets include ensuring the well-being of employees, providing training on mental health, allowing employees to have a comfortable work-life balance. Further, Trafi encourages its employees to contribute to local NGOs during their working hours. NGO's and charities often lack resources to work on a website set up or other technical tasks, but Trafi's employees often time have these skills and willingness to help out. Employees are encouraged to volunteer during their working hours to allow sufficient time for recreation and relaxation. 

Another aspect of Trafi ESG is its governance practices. Indre B. shares that they are equally important to ensure outstanding performance and reduce risks. Trafi focuses on the following aspects of governance: consumer privacy and data security, tax and administrative transparency, and involvement in supporting changes in mobility regulations. 

Challenges faced on this sustainability journey

Trafi’s journey towards achieving carbon-neutrality has been a long one, filled with its fair share of difficulties. Indrė Blauzdziunaite, the company’s representative, honestly described this journey as “quite a tough challenge.” Further, she explained how difficult it was for the company to find a good business partner who would help them out with all the complex mathematical calculations involved in this process. 

Indre wanted to share this to give heads up for all the businesses that plan on achieving something similar: “Any company setting out on this journey can expect that along the way, your company might also encounter hurdles in terms of finances, recruiting skilled personnel, and timely execution of these ambitions.”

Conclusion

If you’re a startup founder yourself launching on a sustainability journey, check out other useful articles on this blog or book a call with me here. Impact House is here to help fast-growing tech company founders understand how to tackle sustainability and discover business opportunities along the way. Working with Impact House helps you save time and resources and get to the results faster. 

There is no silver bullet solution for climate change, but there is always something that you can do. Find the thing that adds value to your business and start now!