The LEGO Group announced today new partnerships with climate solutions providers Climate Impact Partners and ClimeFi, including carbon credit purchases supporting four carbon removal projects across a range of engineered and nature-based solutions.
The new announcement also includes commitments from KIRKBI, the Danish family office for the Kristiansen family, which owns The Lego Group to the same four projects. The combined commitments are valued at DKK 24 million (USD$3.3 million).
Carbon removal technologies encompassed in the new partnerships include biochar, enhanced rock weathering , and reforestation.
The agreements, which will deliver carbon renewal credits between 2024 and 2026, follow the launch by the LEGO Group in 2023 of a series of climate-related commitments, including a pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, to work with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to develop emissions reduction targets covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as Scope 3 supply chain emissions, which account for 98% of the company’s carbon footprint, and to invest over $1.4 billion in environmental sustainability initiatives over the next three years. Lego said that the latest deals would expand the company’s portfolio of carbon removal initiatives, which includes a nine year carbon removal agreement with direct air capture (DAC) company provider Climeworks.
Annette Stube, Chief Sustainability Officer at the LEGO Group, said:
“We are proud to support these climate initiatives which we believe will have a positive impact on the wider environmental ecosystem. Innovative, high-quality carbon removal projects and emerging technologies have the potential to play an important role in supporting a more sustainable future, while reforestation has the potential to support improved biodiversity. These partnerships allow us to build our understanding of new technologies and practices to support a healthy planet for future generations.”
The LEGO Group’s partnership with ClimeFi includes two biochar projects, and an enhanced rock weathering project. Biochar carbon removal involves turning waste biomass into biochar, a process which stabilizes carbon and stores it long-term. Enhanced rock weathering speeds up the natural process of rock weathering, by spreading rock powder over agricultural fields, permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere. Both solutions have additional benefits beyond carbon sequestration, notably for improving soil health, according to LEGO Group.
Paolo Piffaretti, Co-Founder and CEO at ClimeFi said:
“We’re excited to partner with the LEGO Group on this robust and durable carbon removal portfolio. The projects were carefully chosen based on ClimeFi’s strict quality standards and underwent thorough technical review. The LEGO Group’s early adoption of these high-quality carbon removal solutions will help catalyze the growth of the Carbon Dioxide Removal industry and help achieve our shared climate goals.
In addition, the LEGO Group has partnered with Climate Impact Partners in support of a large-scale reforestation project in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (USA) through the purchase of carbon credits. The reforestation project is being developed and managed by the GreenTrees platform, which works with landowners to grow trees and provides carbon offsets, and aims to reforest more than 400,000 hectares in a region that has experienced significant deforestation. The project also aims to enhance flood protection, protecting against hurricanes and flood damage, and improve water quality in the Mississippi River by reducing nutrient run-off, LEGO Group said.
Sheri Hickok, CEO, Climate Impact Partners, said:
“We are proud to partner with the LEGO Group on its climate action ambitions, helping to turn them to tangible impact. This is a leading example of how the private sector can drive real impact – taking steps to reduce value chain emissions and simultaneously channeling finance to solutions, like reforestation, that deliver beyond value chain impact.”
