Announcing Climate Vault’s 2023 Carbon Champion Award Winners
At Climate Vault, we’re proud to be building a community of Carbon Champions across a diverse collection of industries, from finance and higher education to beauty and design. Regardless of the industry, our Carbon Champions embody key climate action characteristics that we have grouped into five categories: Strategist, Amplifier, Innovator, Game Changer, and Catalyst.
We created this program to enable us to celebrate and recognize organizations that leverage Climate Vault’s solutions as part of their holistic and credible climate action strategy. This year’s group of honorees represent the organizations that have best embodied each trait, as well as a sixth additional Overall Carbon Champion Award.
In a world where the need for urgent and credible climate action has never been more critical, each of our recipients has made a significant difference in the fight against climate change this year. We are honored to have each of them as a valued member of the Climate Vault community.
We’re thrilled to share that this year’s 2023 Carbon Champions honorees are:
Morningstar, Inc.: Recipient of the Carbon Champion Amplifier award
The Amplifier award celebrates an organization that drives awareness about the importance of addressing climate change while advancing thought leadership to inform and inspire a wider audience through a multi-channel approach. Morningstar’s team has hosted and participated in a number of sustainability-focused events and conferences this year that gathered sustainability leaders and stakeholders to discuss key challenges and opportunities to advance the fight against climate change.
“We are honored to receive the Carbon Champion Amplifier award, which recognizes our dedication to promoting transparency in climate data. We strive to aid investors’ decision-making and support their ability to account for climate risks and opportunities in their investments.”
– Kunal Kapoor, CEO, Morningstar, Inc
Wesleyan University: Recipient of the Carbon Champion Innovator award
The Innovator award celebrates an organization that seeks out and creates innovative solutions to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. They expand ways of thinking about reducing carbon emissions, supporting constituents, and building a more sustainable future. By implementing a new travel fee for employees, Wesleyan University was able to significantly mitigate its employee travel carbon footprint while also increasing awareness of the climate impact of each trip.
Qlik: Recipient of the Carbon Champion Strategist award
The Strategist award celebrates an organization that seeks to identify and analyze key issues, then leverage data-driven insights into effective ways to address them–all in order to help organizations, communities, and individuals mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Qlik has taken monumental steps to achieve net zero emissions by 2025, while also advancing data and AI solutions to help its clients understand their own carbon impact and implement meaningful solutions to address the climate challenge.
“As we embrace our role as a Carbon Champion Strategist, we at Qlik recognize the power of data-driven insights in combating climate change. Our commitment goes beyond achieving net-zero emissions; it’s about leveraging our AI and analytics expertise to empower organizations in understanding and mitigating their environmental impact. This award is a testament to our unwavering dedication to innovative, sustainable solutions that not only address today’s challenges but also pave the way for a greener, more responsible future.”
– Julie Kae, VP of Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
T. Rowe Price: Recipient of the Carbon Champion Game Changer award
The Game Changer award celebrates an organization that leads the charge against climate change by making a tangible difference in their own carbon footprint, as well as implementing diverse and creative solutions to deepen their impact. T. Rowe Price established its own ESG Oversight Committee this year, engaged with employees and key stakeholders through various eco-focused campaigns, and surpassed its reduction goal in greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of the 2025 deadline.
“We support the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5˚C., because we believe that a smooth climate transition will create a more stable economic environment, reduce uncertainty, and enable business investment. We are proud to receive Climate Vault’s Game Changer award. Our partnership enables us to address our emissions from business travel, an area where our ability to reduce emissions is limited, and engage our workforce to address their personal carbon footprints.”
– Heather McDonold, Corporate ESG Senior Manager
Cuningham: Recipient of the Carbon Champion Catalyst award
The Catalyst award celebrates an organization that can drive and accelerate progress by collaborating with others, mobilizing and inspiring them to knock out their own carbon footprints. Cuningham began its drive to monitor and reduce carbon emissions in 2018 and as of 2022 had offset all of its Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 business travel emissions, in partnership with Climate Vault. Cuningham has been an active leader in the Large Firm Roundtable (LFRT) Sustainability Leaders’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions from their firms’ internal operations. The success of Cuningham and other like-minded firms has now emboldened the LFRT to request that all of its member firms commit to the same effort beginning in 2024. As industry leaders, these firms will have a ripple effect on the entire design and construction sector.
“After spending five years monitoring and then reducing carbon emissions from our internal operations, Cuningham needed to tackle the daunting issue of carbon offsets. We wanted to achieve carbon neutral status for our Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 business travel, and could only achieve that using offsets. At the same time, we were very aware of the questionable nature of some popular offset programs. Our search for permanent, additional, verifiable, enforced, and real (PAVER) offsets led us to Climate Vault. They’ve been a true resource in verifying the validity of our analytical methods and have made procuring offsets straightforward. Thank you to Climate Vault for helping us all pursue a carbon neutral future!”
– Paul Hutton, Director of Regenerative Design
Northern Trust: Recipient of the Overall Carbon Champion award
The Overall Carbon Champion award recognizes the organization that exemplifies exceptional dedication and impact in more than one category and drives action, educates others and accelerates progress towards meaningfully combating climate change. Northern Trust demonstrated commitment to mitigating its environmental impact including Northern Trust Asset Management, publishing its first report to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Northern Trust Asset Servicing launching a voluntary carbon credit ecosystem to support the carbon dioxide removal space, participating in numerous climate related thought leadership speaking engagements, committing to use Science-Based Targets (SBTi) to tackle it carbon footprint, and much more.
“We are honored to be named one of Climate Vault’s Carbon Champion honorees. At Northern Trust, we believe we share the responsibility to meet the needs of our current generation while protecting the environment for future generations. Our partnership with Climate Vault has allowed us to accelerate our progress in meaningful ways for various stakeholders.”
– Jamie Jones Ezefili, Chief Sustainability Officer
“We are incredibly excited to recognize our partners for the innovative and high-impact initiatives they have all undertaken in the fight against climate change this year,” said Michael Greenstone, Co-Founder of Climate Vault and Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. “Our Carbon Champion recipients’ vital work, and those of all Climate Vault partners, demonstrates that it is possible for organizations to take credible, voluntary actions to reduce their carbon footprints. Climate Vault is honored to work closely with our pioneering and industry leading partners.”
It is truly inspiring to witness the dedication to leading the charge against climate change and making a tangible difference in emissions that our honorees bring to the table. We can’t wait to see what amazing things our Carbon Champions do in 2024 and are honored to be a part of their climate action journey.
Are you ready to join our community of Carbon Champions and satisfied stakeholders, customers, and partners with quantifiable, verifiable carbon reductions + removals? Contact the Climate Vault team to learn how we can help you simplify your climate solutions in the most credible and data-backed way.