TIME Launches CO2.com to Enable Businesses to Maximize Climate Impact with Climate Action Portfolios that Go Beyond Offsetting

TIME commits to reaching Net Zero by 2026 with CO2.com

NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TIME announced the launch of CO2.com, a new climate action platform that enables businesses to maximize climate impact. Through CO2.com customers can access curated and highly vetted portfolios that make it easy for companies to have a measurable climate impact, as well as tools that support them in confidently communicating their positive action.

CO2.com's climate action portfolios are created by experts, backed by science and verified by multiple, independent third parties to ensure the highest level of quality. They go beyond traditional carbon offsetting to provide customers access to projects that deliver multiple levels of carbon impact through CO2 removal, CO2 reduction, and the protection of important carbon sinks, as well as nature and community co-benefits.

"Business can be an incredible platform for accelerating climate action. As business leaders, we will be judged by the quality and impact of the actions we take today. CO2.com delivers on the trust businesses want, and the impact and quality the planet needs," said Marc Benioff, chair of TIME and CO2.com.

"The mission of CO2.com is to provide a world-class, trusted service that makes it easy for companies to go beyond offsetting and do the right thing for the planet," said Simon Mulcahy, CEO of CO2.com & TIME President of Sustainability. "We believe that most businesses want to move beyond weak climate claims and deliver real impact, yet struggle with the complexity. Big enterprises deploy large teams on this, but many companies don't have the bandwidth and expertise to filter out the low quality, low impact offsets that shape today's carbon markets. Every company needs real climate impact credentials, not greenwashing."

In order to solve for the quality concerns the carbon market is struggling with, CO2.com employs a 7-step quality assessment framework. This ensures all projects, once sourced, are carefully vetted for scientific robustness, additionality, permanence, long term viability, project developer track record, nature and community co-benefits, as well as risk mitigation plan. In addition, contracts with suppliers include time-bound deliverables and milestones to ensure project performance and delivery of carbon outcomes. 

CO2.com sources its projects from inside and outside of the carbon markets, and is an inaugural partner of Salesforce's Net Zero Marketplace.

CO2.com is not only focused on increasing the quality of business climate action, but also on enabling more companies to communicate what they are doing to inspire others. CO2.com portfolio customers receive detailed, and regularly updated data and insights on their carbon, nature and human well-being impact to use in reporting, and company communications. CO2.com provides additional assets and tools to make it easy for companies to communicate their approach and impact. 

Key Features of CO2.com:

• CO2 Climate Action Portfolios: A curated collection of climate action projects, verified for quality, that enables companies with a confident climate impact claim.
• MyCO2 Impact Summary: Summary of the overall projected impact of the portfolio, including detailed and specific measurements of CO2 removed, CO2 reduced, area protected, as well as sub-measurements of Sustainable Development Goals across nature and community well-being.
• MyCO2 Performance Report: Twice annual performance update that provides transparent insights into actual achievements and permanence over time.
• Communication Tools: Multiple tools to enable CO2 customers to easily communicate their climate impact leadership on different channels, including with employees, investors and customers.
• Learning Hub:  Climate explainers and guides to help customers on their net zero, nature positive learning journey.
• Climate Action Insights: Business-relevant insights and news updates to improve understanding of climate issues, regulatory change, and evolving science as it happens, as well as important deep dives into what other companies are doing.

"We set out to create a better way of doing business, by putting people and the planet alongside shareholders as our key stakeholders" said Neal Gandhi, CEO & Co-founder, TPXimpact, and customer of CO2.com. "We're excited to work with CO2.com as their climate action portfolio ensures we're doing the very best we can to accelerate a net zero, nature positive future for all." 

TIME itself is the first customer of CO2.com with the goal of reaching net zero by 2026.

With the launch of CO2.com, TIME is deepening its long-standing commitment to sustainability and building on its award-winning editorial coverage and trusted reporting on climate change—from its iconic 1989 Endangered Earth Planet of the Year cover to TIME2030, a decade-long global editorial initiative on the ongoing exploration of solutions to the world's biggest challenges and the leaders and innovators driving them. TIME's current issue includes a new cover package on this historic moment of investment in green energy, coupled with a relentless pace of extreme weather events.

"TIME, throughout its history, has served as a guide to the future, and we are excited to take on a broader role in ensuring a sustainable one with CO2.com," said Edward Felsenthal, TIME editor in chief and CEO. "TIME intends to not just continue to focus on climate leadership in our editorial coverage, but to become a leader ourselves through working with CO2.com to become net zero by 2026."

CO2.com is the newest division of TIME and aims to help businesses and their leaders not only better understand and navigate the changing world, but to take real action to solve the climate crisis. Since becoming an independent company under the ownership of Marc and Lynne Benioff in 2018, TIME has been rapidly expanding its suite of products and platforms for storytelling, which, in addition to its iconic magazine and digital platforms with a combined global audience of more than 100 million, includes the Emmy Award®-winning film and television division TIME Studios, a significantly expanded live events business built on the powerful TIME100 and Person of the Year franchises, an industry-leading web3 division, an award-winning branded content studio, the website-building platform TIME Sites and more.

To learn more about CO2.com and accelerate your climate journey, visit: www.CO2.com.

"The scale of the climate crisis means every business needs to prioritize reducing emissions. On top of this, business leaders need to support credible, high integrity programs beyond their value chain. CO2's approach, to enable businesses of every size to focus on quality instead of greenwashing, is certainly the way forward." – María Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition

"I'm delighted that CO2.com is prioritizing the protection of irrecoverable carbon in its model for climate investment. If destroyed, these critical ecosystems will make it nearly impossible to achieve a habitable planet." – M. Sanjayan, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer, Conservation International

"I'm excited and grateful for CO2.com's science-first approach. The climate solution set they have curated in our oceans and beyond shows great potential for capturing carbon while benefiting biodiversity and people." – Doug McCauley, Professor, University of California Santa Barbara; Director, Benioff Ocean Initiative

"I could not be more excited that CO2.com is raising the bar on the quality nature-based interventions by moving us beyond carbon, to focus on the local biodiversity and social impacts. Possibly the most exciting advance is the move to value the conservation of existing ecosystems, which are the last essential strongholds of biodiversity on our planet." – Professor Tom Crowther,

Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich, co-chair of the advisory board for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

"Business leaders are also going to be judged by their sustainability approach, and in particular their climate actions. It is most important to set targets, report and reduce emissions. In addition we need to support resilience via climate adaptation actions. I support all programs, like CO2.com, that contribute via high quality programs that actually deliver." – Feike Sijbesma, Co Chair CEO Climate Leaders (WEF), Co Chair Global Climate Adaptation Centers, honorary chair Royal DSM (former CEO)

"With growing interest in blue carbon solutions, I'm excited about CO2.com's science-first approach to build inclusive and scalable models for climate projects inside and outside the carbon markets." – Trisha Atwood, Associate Professor at Utah State University

"ASU, the most sustainable university in the US, and ranked #1 for impact, is excited about working with CO2.com on this crucial science-first approach to shape a better world for the generations to come." – Professor Peter Schlosser, Vice President and Vice Provost of Global Futures and Director of the Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University.

"For years, American Forests has been focused on the investments needed to scale climate-adapted reforestation, with a major emphasis on the critical shortage of seeds and nursery workers nationwide. We are thrilled that CO2 understands the direct connection between the reforestation pipeline and ambitious forest restoration goals and is supporting our partnership with National Indian Carbon Coalition and Indian Land Tenure Foundation to help develop Tribal-owned seedling nurseries and strengthen the Indigenous nursery workforce. We cannot achieve reforestation at the trillion trees scale without these value-aligned partnerships." – Jad Daley, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Forests

About TIME
TIME is the 99-year-old global media brand that reaches a combined audience of more than 100 million around the world through its iconic magazine and digital platforms. With unparalleled access to the world's most influential people, the trust of consumers and partners globally, and an unrivaled power to convene, TIME's mission is to tell the essential stories of the people and ideas that shape and improve the world. Today, TIME's 360° suite of products and platforms for storytelling also includes the Emmy Award®-winning film and television division TIME Studios, a significantly expanded live events business built on the powerful TIME100 and Person of the Year franchises, an industry-leading web3 division, an award-winning branded content studio, the website-building platform TIME Sites and more.

About CO2.com
CO2.com enables every business to maximize their impact through high-quality climate action portfolios. Created by experts, backed by science and verified by independent third parties. CO2.com's mission - to increase the scale and quality of climate action towards a net zero, nature positive world. CO2.com makes it easy for companies to act confidently, and share their positive impact clearly. CO2.com's difference - highly vetted climate action portfolios, detailed project performance analyses and powerful communications tools. For more information, and to accelerate your climate journey, go to www.CO2.com.

Media Contacts:
Kristin Matzen, TIME, [email protected]
Kiasia Truluck, TIME, [email protected]

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SOURCE TIME