A Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan

Today, my partners and I announced an extensive plan to:

• offset 100 percent of our firm's estimated 728 tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent emissions beginning this year;
• to purchase offsets for our young portfolio companies (the dozen or so with 15 or fewer employees, and probably 3 to 5 more startups each year); and
• to reduce our total carbon emissions 25 percent by 2013 (and continue to purchase carbon credits to offset the balance).

We follow in the tradition of our namesake, Sir Henry Bessemer, whose inventive process dramatically reduced both the carbon and the energy required to refine steel. The culture and values of a business most often take root early in its life cycle, so we will instill environmental awareness in startups at the time of inception. Our goal is to fund a new generation of companies committed to constructive carbon policies that reduce the harmful emissions which cause global warming. And our hope is that other investment firms will follow suit.

Justin Label (head of Bessemer's CleanTech practice):
 

"While we have set aggressive targets, we also recognize that energy is critical to the economy and that for the foreseeable future, most energy will have a carbon footprint. Therefore, being 'carbon neutral' is not our ultimate goal. Rather, we hope this initiative will serve as a way to stay engaged on carbon issues and add to the pool of capital available for creative solutions."

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