Carbon neutrality
The DEG Platform aims to streamline deal execution and increase efficiency, which can have a positive impact on the environment by reducing the need for emails with attachments. However, we want to do more than just minimize our carbon footprint. We aim to help the world achieve carbon neutrality by not only reducing our CO2 emissions but also implementing ways to offset and remove CO2 from the air.
To achieve this goal, we plan to introduce a small discretionary fee to our services, allowing clients to contribute to offsetting the CO2 emissions typically generated by using the platform. Additionally, for each transaction, we will allocate a portion of the fee to a carbon removal program, such as Climeworks (https://climeworks.com/), which we admire but have not yet contracted.
While some argue rightfully that direct air capture does not address the root cause of carbon emissions, as a tech business, we have limited control over the carbon footprint of the underlying systems we use. Furthermore, removing excess carbon from the air is an important component of the overall solution to climate change. We do not claim that this is the ultimate solution, but we believe it is a valuable step towards making the world a better place.
As a startup, we need to implement the following steps :
Define accurately the Carbon we generate each time the Deal Execution Platform is used on a transaction, which will be done once we have the first feedbacks and data from our platform usage,
Assess the relevant discretionary fee, keeping in mind that with Direct Air Capture, one ton of CO2 cost about $500 to $600. If you assume that a typical Funds Flow is like 3,000 emails, half of them without attachment and half of them with attachments, you get about 0,08 ton of CO2, translating into a $ cost of roughly $40 to $50 — costs to be refined with the help of specialists, and to be considered as illustrative at this point.
Define the amount of cash per transaction we want to give back to the world to make it a more sustainable place for our children and grand-children, probably in the range of [$100] per transaction to double down on the original CO2 impact - amount to be further investigated and discussed with equity sponsors and key stakeholders.