GreenCollar acquires consumer climate action platform, Go Neutral
Australia’s leading environmental markets project developer and investor, GreenCollar, has today announced the acquisition of Go Neutral, a consumer-facing start up that connects people with easy, real and meaningful action on climate change.
The acquisition allows GreenCollar to expand into the retail carbon market, offering individuals the opportunity to purchase high quality and high integrity carbon offsets to neutralise their own emissions. Through the acquisition, Go Neutral’s customers will have greater access to GreenCollar’s high quality Australian carbon projects, designed to deliver positive environmental impact while also supporting regional economies.
Founded in 2020, Go Neutral is an online platform that connects individuals with real climate action. Initially focused on cars, the start-up calculates the average CO2 emissions for a car in Australia and equates this to an annual offset cost of $90. Consumers purchase an annual Go Neutral car sticker, which then funds carbon removal projects such as native bushland regeneration to balance the emissions from the vehicle.
With a vision to go beyond net zero and deliver net positive environmental benefits, each Go Neutral project is selected for its additionality, with a focus on creating healthy landscapes and stronger regional economies.
The acquisition follows KKR’s investment in GreenCollar and the launch of Reef Credits in 2020, solidifying GreenCollar’s position as a leader in project and methodology development and the global expansion of environmental markets. With GreenCollar’s support, Go Neutral will extend its offering beyond cars and into other major consumer emission sources such as flights and household consumption.
GreenCollar’s Co-Founder and CEO James Schultz said “the acquisition of Go Neutral is a major milestone for our business as it provides a retail platform to rapidly scale direct consumer demand for high quality offsets that deliver real environmental benefits. Australia has over 20 million owned cars, producing 60 million tonnes of carbon each year, and the transition to EV cars will take time to gather momentum. Go Neutral is how we can bridge that gap. Through this platform, we can provide consumers with new ways to neutralise their lifestyle through high quality offsets at an affordable price – ultimately making environmental impact more accessible.”
Founder and CEO of Go Neutral Casey Whitelaw has joined the GreenCollar Executive Team as Head of Product and Technology. With almost 15 years at Google as an Engineering Director for Chrome and Google Maps, Whitelaw brings a wealth of expertise in technology and innovation to the team.
Whitelaw said “Go Neutral is all about helping more people take action on climate change by making it simple, effective, and accessible. Instead of asking a few people to be perfect, we can make a bigger difference by helping Australians take impactful steps in the right direction. For anyone that needs to drive a car, and can’t go electric just yet, we’ve got your back! Our customers have told us that they love supporting Australian carbon removal projects, and joining forces with GreenCollar means that we can support projects with great benefits and the highest integrity.”
Schultz added “It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Casey onto our leadership team. Bringing his impressive experience to the business will prove vital as we continue to pioneer new ways to value and improve our environment.”
