Setting a new standard: Slush partners with Supercritical for carbon removal
Slush and Supercritical are partnering to remove 100% of the carbon emissions of the Slush 2024 event. Our goal is simple: leave the planet in better shape than we found it.
The voluntary carbon market is often a messy space that lacks transparency and legitimacy, making it difficult to navigate without companies like Supercritical. We’re excited to partner with a team that’s committed to bringing clarity and credibility to carbon removal. Supercritical vets high-quality carbon removal projects in their marketplace, so we know we’re buying a real tonne of carbon removed.
Why we are using carbon removal
Slush is committed to redefining what a truly sustainable event looks like. While we’ve implemented several initiatives—from design to recycling—to reduce the carbon footprint of our main event, eliminating emissions entirely isn’t possible due to the nature of our industry: organizing an event that requires people to travel the world.
Based on the carbon emission calculations we conducted with Supercritical, Slush 2024 generates 12,700 tCO2e, with participants’ travel accounting for 98% of emissions, and the remaining 2% coming from event operations. To address this, we are using carbon removal.
From avoidance credits to removal credits
This year, we’re using a high-quality afforestation project to remove our carbon emissions. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, afforestation is a nature-based carbon removal solution and means planting trees on land that hasn’t been forested before.
We’ve completely phased out carbon avoidance credits from our offsetting portfolio and moved to carbon removal credits. We’re doing this, as we believe removal is the only real way to offset emissions. Avoidance projects only prevent more emissions being emitted, while removal projects store CO2 from the atmosphere. For example, forest protection is counted as avoidance, and planting a completely new forest is carbon removal. Avoidance projects might reduce future emissions, but carbon removal is needed to remove carbon that’s already in the atmosphere.
We know that planting trees is not a perfect solution for carbon removal. While forests are great carbon sinks, they don’t store carbon permanently. More long-term solutions—such as direct air capture and enhanced rock weathering—would offer greater impact, but they are not yet commercially viable at the scale we need. By working with Supercritical, we’re hoping to push these technologies closer to commercialization, so they’re feasible for businesses like ours in the near future. To hit net zero by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times, carbon dioxide removal must be scaled.
We encourage the startup world to measure and compensate for emissions
We want to spread the word that measuring and taking responsibility for our carbon emissions doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Since it’s easier to set good habits early, rather than change your behaviour when your company has grown, we believe all startups have a responsibility to at least measure their emissions and track their biggest sources.
Hop over to Supercritical’s website to learn more about the technologies behind carbon removal and how you can measure and remove your emissions.
You can contribute by removing your emissions associated with Slush 2024 through our platform when purchasing a ticket. If you’ve already bought your ticket, it’s not too late to contribute—simply click here or the button below to compensate for your participation and travels.