Member Interview with Julia Collins, CEO and founder of Planet FWD

1. Why is sustainability important to your business?

We have fewer than 100 months to reduce global emissions by at least 40% in order to stave off the worst possible effects of climate change. Planet FWD believes that decarbonizing global supply chains is one powerful lever in achieving this goal. That’s why we are very proud to support large consumer companies in measuring, mitigating and managing their climate impacts. 

2. How do you realize your vision for sustainability/what successes can you point to?

Our company helps companies measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions by leveraging the largest LCA database for agricultural production systems. Planet FWD’s core technology has robust Scope 3 emissions modeling capabilities, making it the best solution in the market for consumer companies, where 89% of emissions come from the supply chain on average.

We’re working with companies like Blue Apron, Just Salad, Kroger’s Simple Truth, Numi Organic Tea, Pangaia, and more to help them better understand their current carbon impact and identify ways they can meet their climate goals. 

3. What public policy priorities are of great importance to you at this time and why?

We’re paying close attention to the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, and following to see how the funds for climate-smart agriculture are being distributed. 

We’re also continuing to watch the SEC’s proposal to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures for investors. According to the SEC, these rule changes “would require registrants to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports, including information about climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited financial statements.” 

Beyond policy, more broadly, we’re paying close attention to the midterms, keeping an eye out for climate champions to support in order to protect and further the progress we’ve made in the last two years. 

4. How does being part of ASBN help you to fulfill your goal(s)?

Having access to a network of like-minded businesses that we can be in community with is invaluable. There is no silver bullet to tackling climate change. It will take all of us working together to get this accomplished, and having this community to learn from helps us step closer every day.