Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, today announced that as of December 2021, it is officially a carbon neutral company as part of its commitment to sustainability. Planet worked with SCS Global Services (SCS), an organization specializing in third-party certification, validation, and verification for environmental and sustainability quality performance claims, to certify its operations as carbon neutral in accordance with the internationally recognized PAS 2060: 2014 Carbon Neutrality Standard. This certification covers the entire supply chain – from manufacturing and launching their satellites to all aspects of its corporate operations – for the 2020 calendar year.
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“Planet’s mission is to help life on earth – and to fulfill that mission, we are not only committed to accelerating the adoption of sustainable practices globally, but embodying those practices in our own operations,” said Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Chief Impact Officer. “Using a rigorous, science-based approach, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact wherever possible.”
Planet’s direct and indirect GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and relevant Scope 3) were calculated for several categories, including Purchased Goods and Services, Capital Goods, Fuel and Energy Related Activities, Business Travel, Employee Commuting, Waste Generated, Downstream Transportation and Distribution. This process was completed by SCS who evaluated Planet’s GHG inventory in accordance with the WRI GHG Protocol, a GHG assessment standard. The total 2020 GHG inventory for Planet was 3,482 metric tons CO2e. SCS found that the main source category of GHGs for Planet was Scope 3 (Purchased Goods and Services, Business Travel) and Scope 2 (Purchased Electricity).
“We applaud Planet on their commitment to carbon neutrality and the work they did to assess and verify their claim ultimately earning carbon neutral certification for their company for 2020. It was clear to us that their dedication to acting sustainably extends across their entire company,” said Dave Jonas, SCS’ Program Manager for Climate Consulting Services.
High-Quality Carbon Credits
To achieve carbon neutrality, Planet needed to purchase 3,482 tons of verified and retired carbon credits to fully neutralize the total GHGs associated with its 2020 activities. These were purchased through a custom portfolio of three high-quality REDD+ projects offered by Pachama, a technology company that harnesses the latest advancements in satellite imagery, AI and remote sensing to measure and monitor carbon stored in forests to help finance conservation and reforestation. Pachama is also a customer of Planet’s and uses the company’s data to validate and monitor carbon projects globally over time. The offsetting projects include Agrocortex and Brazil Nut Concessions in the Amazon region, and NIHT Topaiyo in Papua New Guinea.
“We’re grateful to work closely with Planet, a leader in high-frequency satellite imagery. We have a valuable partnership in which Pachama leverages Planet’s data to advance our work to evaluate forest carbon projects, and Planet turns to Pachama to neutralize their emissions with high-quality carbon credits,” said Diego Saez Gil, CEO and co-founder of Pachama.
These credits were verified against the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), which guarantees that the credits purchased represent genuine, additional GHG emission reductions. Purchasing these credits also guarantees that they have been verified by an independent third party, were only issued after the emissions reductions had taken place, and were retired within 12 months from the date of the declaration of this carbon neutrality achievement.