Intuit Leads Climate-Positive Movement as Founding Member of Project Drawdown Labs

In 2020, Intuit declared its commitment to surpass carbon neutrality and positively impact the planet. We announced a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50 times greater than our 2018 carbon footprint (2 million metric tonnes) over the next 10 years. We aim to help our communities and improve the world for our customers and the generations that will come after us. That goal is becoming a reality thanks to our partnership with Project Drawdown.

In our 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, we outlined our plan to move outside our own operations to find solutions for employees, customers, communities, and partners. Finding ways to collaborate across sectors is critical to our collective ability to find long-term solutions to climate change, especially as we aim to advance entire systems as quickly and equitably as possible. Simply put, we must move—as a company and as a society—from the “doing less bad” mindset toward creating new and better solutions that meet the moment of the climate crisis.

What is Project Drawdown?

This is why we’re thrilled about our partnership with Project Drawdown, the leading resource for information and insight about climate solutions.

The organization focuses on a more meaningful impact on the global climate initiative by facing the issue head-on in three distinct phases: 

1. 1. Engage employees in climate solutions 
   2. Set a new standard for corporate climate leadership 
   3. Shift financial capital 

Drawdown Labs is Project Drawdown’s initiative to be a testing ground for how the private sector can go beyond a “doing less harm” approach to one that also brings resources, influence, employees and customers in to help solve the problem. Intuit, alongside Google, IDEO, Allbirds and others, will work together as part of Drawdown Labs to find powerful new ways to address the climate crisis at the urgency and scale required.

Intuit’s Partnership with Project Drawdown

Intuit has leaned heavily on Project Drawdown’s insights as part of our carbon offset initiatives in prior years. For example, we participated in carbon offset projects aligned to Project Drawdown’s recommendations. Their impactful recommendation to focus on refrigeration management continues to be a powerful tactic for quickly reducing greenhouse effects. 

Once we realized how our offsets could quickly scale to maximize benefit, we kicked off a project with Tradewater to collect and dispose of old refrigerants in Ghana. These potent greenhouse gasses and ozone-depleting substances. The Ghana project is responsible for preventing the release of at least 150,000 tons of CO2e and shielding the ozone layer from these pollutants.  

Project Drawdown has helped us shape our strategy, narrow our focus, and select high-impact climate initiatives. Now, in conjunction with the other Drawdown Labs members, we’ll focus on innovation and financing within the highest impact climate solutions – including regenerative agriculture, reducing food waste, and finding solutions like refrigerant management.

“Intuit is honored to be the founding member of Drawdown Labs,” said Sean Kinghorn, Intuit’s global sustainability leader. “Companies must stop focusing on only reducing their own emissions, and look outside their four walls to have a positive impact in the broader world if we are ever going to slow down, and eventually, reverse climate change. Intuit is proud to have the opportunity to collaborate with other forward-thinking companies and accelerate climate solutions around the globe.”

Intuit aims to be a catalyst to scale climate solutions quickly and equitably. Drawdown Labs has already opened many doors for Intuit to identify and connect with climate solution providers, and scale our impact. The partnerships we’re forming through the coalition will only amplify our progress.  The next decade is critical to ensuring our planet and communities remain safe and livable– and we’re rolling up our sleeves to find and implement the most impactful cross-sectoral solutions.