Canva joins Amazon’s Climate Pledge to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2040

Canva has become the first Australian company to sign tech giant Amazon’s The Climate Pledge to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 and meet The Paris Agreement a decade ahead of schedule.

The Australian tech powerhouse, which has a strong philanthropic, environmental and social focus, including its 30-something co-founders giving away the fortune they’ve built,

Cameron Adams, co-founder and chief product officer at Canva, said climate change is the single greatest threat to global stability, security and life on earth.

“Like many technology companies, we’ve been vocal about our stance on climate change and the urgency in which we need to take serious action,” he said.

“As one of the fastest growing technology companies in the world, we’re also in a unique position to help champion this effort. Slowing the effects of climate change is going to take the work of many.”

Canva’s Australian operations were certified as carbon neutral last year, and the company set a goal for its entire global operations to be climate positive by 2023.

Adams said the decision followed recent discussions within the company about how it could further contribute to global sustainability efforts.

“It’s important to us because we are all human, we all need to live on this planet, and we want to ensure its survival. Canva is always looking at how our actions impact the climate, and how we can inspire others to take action as well,” he said.

“One of our values is to be a force for good, which expresses the desire for us as an organisation to leave the world in a better state than when we found it. And we believe that taking climate action is one of the most important ways we can do that.”

Rianne Van Veldhuizen, managing director of AWS ANZ said they’re are looking forward to working with Canva to help achieve their sustainability goals.

“Amazon is committed to building a sustainable business for our customers and the planet – solving the world’s environmental and sustainability challenges is a task that no single organisation can take on alone, but working together, we can make a significant impact,” she said.

Adams said his company was acutely aware of the importance of showing leadership in sustainability initiatives.

“It’s a new world for companies to be operating in, ethically and sustainably,” he said.

“A big part of our brand promise to our customers is to be the company that is thinking about environmental, economic, and social impacts of what Canva is and what we offer.”

Other signatories to The Climate Pledge include Procter & Gamble, HP, and Salesforce. Combined, the Pledge signatories have more than seven million employees across 26 industries in 21 countries. Together they are expected to collectively mitigate 1.98 billion metric tons (BMT) of carbon emissions from a 2020 baseline – the equivalent to 5.4% of current global annual emissions.

There’s more about Canva’s ongoing sustainability work here.