Shopify Climate Goals

Shopify is a global leader in e-commerce, providing tools for millions of merchants worldwide. Beyond enabling online sales, Shopify has made sustainability and climate action a core part of its mission. By investing in carbon removal, sustainable shipping, and climate-focused funds, Shopify aims to reduce its own environmental impact while empowering merchants and consumers to participate in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Shopify’s Carbon Removal Commitment

Shopify is a founding member of Frontier, an advance market commitment to purchase $1 billion of permanent carbon removal by 2030. This initiative aims to scale innovative carbon removal technologies by providing early-stage suppliers with guaranteed demand. Technologies supported include:

• Direct Air Capture (DAC): Capturing CO₂ directly from the atmosphere and storing it permanently.
• Enhanced Rock Weathering: Accelerating natural mineral processes to lock away carbon.
• Ocean-Based Carbon Removal: Using methods like alkalinity enhancement to increase CO₂ absorption.

By investing in these emerging technologies, Shopify not only offsets its own carbon footprint but also helps grow the carbon removal market, creating long-term climate impact.

The Shopify Sustainability Fund

In addition to Frontier, Shopify operates the Sustainability Fund, which finances carbon removal and climate-focused projects around the world. Since its inception, the fund has committed over $54 million to support more than 40 carbon removal initiatives.

In 2023, Shopify signed offtake agreements worth $57.1 million with companies such as Lithos Carbon, supporting enhanced weathering projects that are expected to remove 154,000 tons of CO₂ between 2024 and 2028. These investments ensure that Shopify’s environmental impact is both measurable and permanent, while also providing a reliable revenue stream for early-stage carbon removal innovators.

Carbon-Neutral Shipping Through Shopify Planet

Shopify has also focused on helping merchants and consumers reduce emissions from e-commerce operations. The Shopify Planet app allows merchants to offer carbon-neutral shipping on all orders, either by funding carbon removal themselves, passing costs to customers, or using a shared approach.

The Planet app partners with over 40 verified carbon removal companies, ensuring that every contribution results in permanent CO₂ removal. Merchants can display carbon-neutral badges and marketing assets on their storefronts, making sustainability transparent to consumers and enhancing brand trust.

Empowering Merchants and Consumers

Shopify’s approach goes beyond internal operations. By providing tools like the Planet app and resources for carbon tracking, Shopify enables merchants to:

• Track emissions associated with their shipments.
• Offer customers the option to participate in carbon removal.
• Communicate sustainability initiatives to increase consumer engagement.

This ecosystem empowers both businesses and consumers to actively participate in global climate solutions, creating a collective impact far beyond Shopify’s own operations.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Impact

Shopify continues to expand its climate initiatives by:

• Increasing investments in permanent carbon removal technologies.
• Supporting climate entrepreneurs and early-stage innovators through funding and mentorship.
• Offering new tools for merchants and consumers to reduce, offset, and remove carbon from their business activities.

By combining finance, technology, and community engagement, Shopify aims to create a positive, measurable impact on the planet and lead the e-commerce industry in sustainability.

Conclusion

Shopify’s climate goals demonstrate that e-commerce can be both profitable and sustainable. Through carbon removal investments, the Sustainability Fund, and carbon-neutral shipping, Shopify is setting a new standard for responsible commerce.

By enabling merchants and consumers to participate in carbon removal and sustainable practices, Shopify is proving that businesses of all sizes can contribute to a low-carbon future, creating lasting change for the planet and the next generation of online commerce.