Shopify invests about 500 million yen to solve environmental problems

In September 2019, Shopify had announced the establishment of a fund called "Shopify's Sustainability Fund" to invest approximately 500 million yen (5million USD) annually in efforts to solve environmental issues.

And this month, in September 2020, it released a report on its efforts. Although I don't think there will be much demand for an article about this kind of initiative, I decided to write about it because I love Shopify and I want people to know about Shopify's various cool (cool) initiatives.

Shopify's efforts on environmental issues

When announcing "Shopify's Sustainability Fund" last year, Shopify CEO Tobi mentioned the many benefits humanity has enjoyed in the 200 years since the discovery of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, beginning with the Industrial Revolution and continuing to the present.

On the other hand, however, he pointed out the destruction of the natural environment and the increasing climate change (global warming) as more and more carbon dioxide has been released into the air.

"I want Shopify to be a company that sees the next century. to make our 100-year vision come true, we need to not only make commerce better, but take better care of our planet."

"I want to sustain Shopify into the next century. To achieve that 100-year vision, we must not only do business well, but we must also gently care for our planet. "

(Citation: https://news.shopify.com/we-need-to-talk-about-carbon )

Report on "Shopify's Sustainability Fund"

And in a report released on September 15, Shopify noted that it had divided its endowment portfolio into two areas, and where each portfolio would be invested.

The two portfolios

1. Frontier Portfolio
   
   Investing in innovative technologies that can permanently reduce carbon dioxide in the air. These projects have the potential to reverse global warming (climate change) and the majority of Shopify's Sustainability Fund is invested in this portfolio.
   
   
2. Evergreen Portfolio
   
   Invests in projects that can temporarily reduce airborne carbon dioxide or decrease emissions. The majority of these projects are related to reforestation and other forms of natural regeneration, and renewable agriculture.

Frontier Portfolio

• Carbon Engineering
  https://carbonengineering.com/
  
• Planetary Hydrogen
  https://www.planetaryhydrogen.com/
  
• CarbonCure
  https://www.carboncure.com/
  
• Climeworks
  https://www.climeworks.com/
  
• Charm Industrial
  https://www.climeworks.com/
  
• Running Tide
  https://www.runningtide.com/
  
• Puro.earth
  https://puro.earth/
  

Evergreen Portfolio

• Indigo Ag
  https://www.indigoag.com/
  
• Nori
  https://nori.com/
  
• Soil Value Exchange
  https://www.soil-value-exchange.com/
  
• Pachama
  https://pachama.com/
  

Shopify Global Warming Initiatives Summary

I am becoming more and more fond of Shopify's commitment to environmental issues as well as business development in this way.

Not only does the initiative itself directly contribute to the global environment, but the fact that Shopify is promoting this kind of initiative as news has made me think about what we can do as well and what we should be aware of in our daily lives.

For example, the electricity we use in our daily lives is generated by thermal power, and the cars we use to commute to work also emit carbon dioxide.

We should be conscious of saving electricity by turning off lights we don't use, and walking instead of driving if it is within a short walking distance to get exercise. Even such a small effort may make a big difference in 10 to 20 years.