Snapchat hopes to be ‘net negative by 2030.’ – APF pic
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 3 – Snapchat is taking action on the climate. With COP26 now underway in Glasgow, the social network has pledged its own efforts to reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. The American firm has unveiled an action plan to take Snap to Net Zero – or even beyond – by 2030.
The fight is on against greenhouse gas emissions for Snap. The company behind the Snapchat app and Bitmoji has unveiled its plan for achieving Net Zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2022: “We’re announcing this commitment because the latest science has made clear that more needs to be done to avoid climate change’s worst impacts,” the US company said in an official statement.
Winning over Gen Z
Snap also plans to reach Net Zero for all emission categories, including scope 3, by 2030. This is a significant commitment for the social network, which wants to position itself as a leader in this ecological battle while also highlighting its popularity among young people: “Our products have significant reach with younger generations, who care passionately about combating climate change,” explains Snap. “We feel a deep responsibility to take action at a pace and scale that can make a difference. Among other things, we think that includes committing to Net Zero (and beyond).”
Indeed, Snap is also reaching out to Generation Z. The company has understood that the fight against climate change is an important issue when it comes to wooing this young generation. That’s why the application announced its intention to “educate [its] Generation Z audience […] about the climate crisis and actions they can take.” Among other things, Snap mentions original content and augmented reality experiences: “We regularly do research with our Gen Z community to better understand the issues they care about and want to see represented on the platform, and climate change and the environment are among the issues that rank highest. On average, over 200 million Snapchatters engage with AR on our platform every day.”
A new Snap Original
Snapchat will also launch “Planet Rewild” in 2022. The series, developed in partnership with Snap and Re:wild, will visualise what the Earth will look like in decades to come if actions, like reforesting the planet, are not undertaken. The initiative seeks to bring Re:wild’s mission to “protect the wild that’s left and restore the rest” in to the app, “allowing Snapchatters to learn, explore and uncover some of the most pressing threats to nature and our own survival.”
In addition to this original series, Snap will continue to create augmented reality lenses for World Environment Day, June 5, and Earth Day, April 22, 2022, as part of its partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Watching the progress of partners
To achieve this goal, Snap founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy will be investing at least US$1 million (RM4.14 million) a year until 2030 in carbon removal. The American company has also signed the Climate Pledge, along with more than 200 other companies, to commit to Net Zero, as well as regular reporting and credible offsets.
Snap will also keep a close eye on its partners, aiming to have at least 80 per cent of suppliers reporting to the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) by 2025 to help monitor their progress.
In addition, the company will hone its own contributions by reducing travel-related emissions and investigating sustainable aviation fuel, for example, but also by developing stricter sustainable building standards. Moreover, Snap pledges to use removal credits generated by its various initiatives to go beyond Net Zero, potentially making Snap net negative by 2030, “meaning we will remove more carbon than we are emitting,” the firm explains.
Still, Snap acknowledges the immense challenges ahead: “We recognize that the market for carbon removal is unpredictable, that relevant indirect emissions can be difficult to calculate, and that we may have to revisit these commitments over the years as conditions change. But we commit to achieving these goals to the best of our ability and being transparent about our progress and any challenges we face.” – ETX Studio