CRM solutions provider Salesforce announced today a new commitment to invest $100 million through the purchase of carbon credits in technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere at scale.

Carbon removal is emerging as a key tool in the fight to address climate change, although most technologies and solutions to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere remain at fairly early stages. According to the landmark IPCC climate change mitigation study released earlier this year, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods scaling to billions of tons of removal annually over the coming decades.

Salesforce stated that its new initiative is aimed at helping to scale Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) solutions through 2030.

The investment, unveiled at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, forms part of an initiative from the First Movers Coalition (FMC), a coalition of companies committed to creating early markets for clean technologies addressing hard-to-abate sectors. FMC was launched at the COP26 climate conference last year, with Salesforce as a founding member.

The new announcement is the latest in a series of sustainability-focused initiatives by Salesforce. Earlier this year the company announced the addition of Sustainability as a “Core Company Value.” Salesforce has also announced that it will introduce climate obligations in its supplier procurement contracts, and that it will begin integrating ESG performance in its executive compensation programs.

Carbon removal forms one of the key priorities under Salesforce’s Climate Action Plan, published last year, and the company aims to shift its carbon credits portfolio to mostly include 1.5⁰C-aligned carbon removal credits, from its current position which also includes reduction and avoidance credits.

Suzanne DiBianca, Chief Impact Officer, Salesforce, said:

“We’re in a climate emergency and the world needs bold climate action now. We must bring disruptive clean technologies to market at scale to meet our climate goals. That’s why we’re proud to commit Salesforce’s purchasing power to drive demand for carbon removal solutions as part of the First Movers Coalition.”