Sylvera
Sylvera claims to be "the leading carbon credit ratings company."[1] It was founded by a machine learning entrepreneur and uses proprietary machine learning algorithms along with satellite surveillance as the basis of its carbon credit rating system.
Sylvera has a particularly close partnership with Bain & Company, as both a major investor and close collaborator.[2]
Customers include Cargill, Delta Airlines[3] and Shell Oil[4]
Salesforce is a major investor in Sylvera, and its upcoming "net zero marketplace" for carbon credits was announced to use Sylvera's ratings system.[5]
Sylvera is a member of the IETA, part of the IETA hub panel discussion at COP26 with Verra, Delta Airlines, Mercuria, and Cargill [6] At COP27, hosted its own panel as part of the IETA Business Hub (main sponsors included Chevron, Verra, Total Energies,, Bain & Company, and the US Chamber of Commerce).[7]
Has worked closely with the World Bank and World Economic Forum[8]. In November of 2021, Sylvera was selected as "a top innovator in the @WEFUpLink World Economic Forum Carbon Market challenge", leading to a "year-long programme of engagement" with the WEF.[9] One year later, they proclaimed together that "new technology" such as Sylvera's meant that most of the concerns with carbon offsetting "have now been addressed." [10]
Claims to have no conflict of interest because it doesn't sell credits[11], yet its major customers are polluters like shell + delta who ARE highly invested in Sylvera's ratings of their credits' legitimacy to deny greenwashing charges
Sylvera publishes reports to downplay evidence of carbon credit fraud[12] and led an industry-wide effort to refute mounting evidence of widespread greenwashing in early 2023 with the publication of an open letter endorsed by (among many others) the IETA, REDD+ Business Initiative, and Toucan Protocol.[13]
- ↑ https://www.ieta.org/resources/COP27/COP27%20IETA%20BusinessHUB%20Program%20Guide_F.pdf
- ↑ https://www.bain.com/about/media-center/press-releases/2022/bain--company-joins-forces-with-sylvera-to-accelerate-growth-of-the-voluntary-carbon-market-and-provide-unparalleled-transparency-on-carbon-credit-quality-to-businesses-and-investors/
- ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/25/sylvera-series-a/
- ↑ https://www.axios.com/2022/01/26/sylvera-carbon-offsets-index-ventures-insight-partners
- ↑ https://www.southpole.com/de/news/salesforce-announces-first-of-its-kind-carbon-credit-marketplace
- ↑ https://verra.org/verra-at-cop26-in-glasgow-scotland/
- ↑ https://www.ieta.org/resources/COP27/COP27%20IETA%20BusinessHUB%20Program%20Guide_F.pdf
- ↑ https://pitch.com/presentations/Sylvera-Pitch-Deck-5pN1bC3nzvUj5ZVeRU0Qgyz3?slide=c2a6587c-3ae2-4a3a-8205-ffebc8da5663
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SylveraCarbon/status/1455560081060384777
- ↑ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/carbon-offsetting-rainforest-sylvera/
- ↑ https://www.sylvera.com/blog/series-a-announcement
- ↑ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-03/carbon-credit-fraud-assumptions-are-challenged-in-new-study
- ↑ https://reddplusbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VCM_Stakeholder_Open_Letter_Final-2.pdf