TECHNOLOGY
The fund’ s targets can be broken down into three pillars: n Decarbonisation n The nature pillar( protection and restoration of natural stocks) n Carbon dioxide removal.
It was launched in collaboration with MilkyWire, an impact firm dedicated to supporting environmental projects. Alex stresses that these three pillars“ really need” to happen:“ We need to decarbonise the economy, we need to protect biogenic carbon stocks in nature and we need to actually remove some of the carbon. That’ s the net in net zero, right?” The process works by selecting the project that has the highest impact. Current projects span a global range, with a strong variety of uses of AI in the fight against climate change effects. One such example is the work being done by Acres of Ice, which relieves water scarcity by using AI to turn excess ice into man-made glaciers. Similarly, Nigeria’ s Geotek
US $ 24m since 2021, Klarna has directed over US $ 24m to over 100 climate and nature projects worldwide
Water Solutions uses AI to identify and monitor hidden water sources, demonstrating the power of AI for drought-prone areas. Over in Latin America, GainForest e. V. aids Indigenous forest guardians to monitor and map biodiversity in a push for conservation. India boasts two winners of funding; SEEDS, which uses AI in combination with satellite data to verify disaster losses at speed. The second is the Self-Employed Women’ s Association & IFPRI, which empowers female workers with an AI-powered advisor loaded with local weather insights, leading climate resilience in their communities. Lastly, Klarna has provided funding to the SakaWarga Foundation in Indonesia, which trains villages in disaster preparedness through an AI resilience coach, accessible via mobile through local-language chats.
The bigger, pinker picture Klarna poses as a“ pretty unique” programme, according to Alex. It prefers to think of itself as not just a funding programme, but as“ a partner, not a buyer” he explains.“ We really feel like we’ re trying to have a catalytic impact there because we might not be as big as some of the other big tech buyers, but I think we’ re seeing ourselves more as a partner than purely a buyer. We’ re often the first buyers for these organisations”. financechief. com 77