Invested In Climate

Salesforce's climate investing playbook, Ep #74

Oct 31, 2023

47:44

When it comes to big companies’ sustainability commitments, I’ve long been impressed by Salesforce. They made sustainability a core company value and pledged to put the full power of their business behind protecting the planet. Hold your skepticism for a minute – this is more than just big promises. They achieved net zero residual emissions and transitioned to 100% renewable energy for their operations back in 2021. They’re part of an effort to plant one trillion trees, and they’ve integrated helping other companies accelerate their own sustainability efforts into their core business through their Net Zero Cloud product. There’s much more too and I won’t try to capture it all, but central to their approach has also been leveraging their financial capital to accelerate climate progress. And that’s what we’ll focus on in this episode.

Today we’re joined by Salesforce’s SVP of Philanthropy Naomi Morenzoni and the Partner of Salesforce Venture Impact Fund Claudine Emeott. We talk about Salesforce’s history and strategy for using philanthropy and impact investing together to address climate change, some examples of recent investments and partnerships, how philanthropy can help derisk investments and bring more dollars to the table, how AI could be a game changer for climate and much more. Lots to learn and think about in this one. Here we go.

In today's episode, we cover:

[4:10] Naomi's role and objectives at Salesforce
[4:50] Claudine's introduction and background
[5:53] Launch and evolution of the Salesforce Venture Impact Fund
[7:24] Evolution and approach to nonprofit support at Salesforce
[9:33] Solving problems through philanthropy and impact investing
[11:56] Example of Pano AI and its alignment with the fund
[14:07] Investment in WeaveGrid
[15:34] Leveraging Salesforce technology and market presence for portfolio companies
[18:12] Philanthropic commitments and frameworks for impact evaluation
[18:12] Contrasting focus areas between Naomi and Claudine
[21:38] The state of climate philanthropy and the need for increased support
[23:33] Introduction and purpose of the playbook
[25:41] Financial instruments for climate initiatives and Salesforce's experience
[26:38] Levers for climate finance
[28:53] Five tips for readers to embark on their climate finance journey
[30:37] $8.3 million in grants to climate justice and conservation organizations
[33:45] Prospects for commitments to biodiversity and conservation
[35:03] Partnerships and initiatives in climate justice
[37:41] Supporting diverse teams in climate initiatives
[40:26] Impact of AI on climate efforts
[44:05] Current challenges in their work
[45:50] Lessons from Salesforce's ambitious climate initiatives