Klarna, a global payments provider and shopping service, announced the launch of conscious badges in the Klarna App in collaboration with Clarity AI, the global sustainability tech platform.
Klarna continues “to evolve beyond payments to become a starting point for every purchase for 150 million consumers and 26 million app users worldwide, whether they already know what they want or are looking for inspiration, all while prioritizing environmental impact.”
With this new feature, Klarna users worldwide can “access even more comprehensive metrics about their electronics purchases at the touch of a button, including information on brands’ greenhouse gas emissions, energy derived from renewable resources, and more.”
Angel Agudo, Board Director and Head of Product at Clarity AI, said:
“We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with Klarna to develop conscious badges, the first-ever assessment of electronics brands’ achievements providing transparency at scale for consumers around the world. We believe there should be nothing ‘black-box’ about metrics, and we’re excited Klarna can leverage our AI capabilities to provide detailed information for Klarna shoppers who want to know more,”
Angel added:
“There are multiple dimensions to ensuring a company is on the right path to net zero. Yes, reduction in emissions is of course key, but so is a commitment and a plan to reduce emissions to truly have an impact of appropriate size and so we wanted to provide consumers all of those dimensions within the conscious badge experience.”
Shoppers increasingly “demand greater transparency about the environmental impact of their purchases, with over half (56%) of global consumers wanting more information about the environmental impact of their brands and products throughout their shopping experience.”
More than a third (37%) also “consider it important for brands to act in an environmentally sustainable way.”
Responding to this demand, Klarna has “launched ‘Conscious Collections’ in the Klarna App in 2022 to provide shoppers with information about the sustainability performance for brands within the fashion and footwear space.”
Brands featured in the collections “include Asket, Pangaia, Lucy & Yak, Mara Hoffman, Nudie Jeans and more.”
With the launch of conscious badges, Klarna is “now celebrating businesses prioritizing more sustainable practices in the electronics space, further equipping shoppers with the insights needed to inform future purchasing decisions.”
Electronics brands can earn up to 5 badges:
- Lower direct greenhouse gas emissions: If the company is among the 10% of Clarity AI tested comparable companies with the lowest direct and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions
- Lower indirect greenhouse gas emissions: If the company is among the 10% of Clarity AI tested comparable companies with the lowest indirect greenhouse gas emissions
- Committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions: If the company has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC
- Disclosing greenhouse gas emissions: If the company discloses direct, energy-related and indirect greenhouse gas emissions
- Using renewable energy: Over 90% of the energy used by this company comes from renewable sources
Salah Said, Head of Sustainability at Klarna, said:
“The rollout of conscious badges in the Klarna App marks a significant milestone in our continued effort to empower shoppers to vote with their wallets. Following the successful launch of ‘Conscious Collections’ in the Klarna App last year to bring greater awareness to environmentally and ethically friendly brands within the apparel and footwear verticals, we are thrilled to team up with Clarity AI to deliver the worlds’ first unbiased, AI-driven environmental assessment for electronics brands.”
Conscious badges are “currently accessible to consumers after they make an electronics purchase via the transactions details page of the Klarna App.”
In the coming weeks, the badges will also be “visible to consumers through Klarna’s CO2e tracker, regardless of whether they have made an electronics purchase.”
This new feature “follows several recent initiatives by Klarna to promote brand’s environmental achievements and provide consumers with the tools and insights they need to shop more consciously and enact positive change for the planet.”
In January this year, Klarna launched “a resell feature enabling shoppers in Sweden to resell their previous purchases directly through the Klarna App.”
Klarna also recently introduced “Shop Circular” Collections, “spotlighting brands with circular services to reduce waste and maximize the use of products, and unveiled significant upgrades to its CO2e tracker in the Klarna App.”
Klarna’s CO2e tracker now “provides shoppers worldwide with emissions data at a product level for nearly 60 million items in every step of the product’s lifecycle, bringing to life one of the largest awareness-raising efforts on carbon footprints ever to life.”
Over 324,000 consumers, “on average, actively track their carbon footprint through Klarna each month (Dec ’22).”
Conscious badges are “available now to Klarna App users worldwide.”