Company profile

Global warming is advancing, and worldwide CO₂ emissions continue to rise. It is now the responsibility of each and every one of us to turn the tide. To significantly reduce emissions on a large scale, we must target key levers. The non-profit startup ForTomorrow connects these dots and provides individual climate protection with a guarantee of effectiveness.

Mission: Make effective climate protection available to all individuals in Europe

The company’s vision is to make the EU carbon neutral before 2040. Carbon neutral means that only as many greenhouse gases are released into the air as can be sequestered at the same time. To achieve this, all Europeans must reduce their carbon footprint to less than one tonne per year. Since this is not achievable on an individual level, ForTomorrow provides private individuals with access to the EU emissions trading system.

“Emissions trading is the climate protection tool of the European Union and, in principle, is very effective in continuously reducing CO₂ emissions in Europe. However, politics does not fully harness its potential, falling short of the expectations of many people - that’s where ForTomorrow’s idea comes in” Ruth von Heusinger, founder and CEO of ForTomorrow, describes her motivation. The physicist founded the company in 2019 to redesign emissions trading, following the motto “Beat the system by using the system.”

CO₂ offset via subscription

How does it work in practice? The Berlin-based company offers so-called climate subscriptions. With their monthly donation, subscribers compensate their individual carbon footprint every month. In return, ForTomorrow buys EU emission rights and cancels them. By reducing availability, major CO₂ emitters such as energy companies, heavy industry, and aviation can purchase fewer emission rights and are forced to emit less CO₂. The second part of the money goes towards afforesting climate-resilient mixed forests in Germany to sequester CO₂ in the long term.

With this method, ForTomorrow offers a unique opportunity to reduce and sequester CO₂ emissions in Europe in an uncomplicated and reliable way. In order to give the subscribers security, the start-up works transparently. The monthly Impact Report provides an overview of what has been achieved. Forestry experts regularly report on the planted areas. In the medium term, monitoring is to be improved even further through the use of drones or satellite images.

Effectiveness guaranteed through non-profit status and regular reporting

The legal form of a non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH) ensures that ForTomorrow’s donations are used for their intended purpose. ForTomorrow is obliged to invest at least two-thirds of its revenue in climate protection projects. Currently, the investments far exceed the mandatory share, reaching 85 percent. To keep operating costs low, the start-up does not have its own office and instead works in a co-working space in Berlin. The team, led by founder and CEO Ruth von Heusinger, consists of four permanent employees and a growing number of freelancers and volunteers. An expert advisory board advises the ForTomorrow team on its activities and strategy development. Its members include Prof. Dr. Grischa Perino (Chair of Economics, especially Ecological Economics) and Thomas Schmidt (CEO Haniel).

Milestones: First successes and 2023 goals

The balance sheet so far is encouraging: more than 1 400 people are already using the offsetting offers. Together, the community has already offset more than 24,000 tonnes of CO₂. In addition, more than 46 000 new trees are being planted and more than 13 000 emission rights are being cancelled. This equates to the CO₂ savings of a coal-fired power plant being shut down for eight days. For comparison, in Germany in 2021, according to the German Environment Agency, 762 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalents were emitted.

For its commitment, the climate start-up received the Planet Hero Award from Zurich Group Germany in October 2022. Apart from recognition, the award signifies excellent news for climate protection. The prize money helps ForTomorrow to grow further. The goal is to offset 100,000 tonnes by the end of 2023. In order to achieve and sustain this course, ForTomorrow will strategically expand its activities and introduce offers for corporate customers as well as cooperation opportunities. In this way, ForTomorrow wants to contribute to realising the vision of a climate-neutral Europe before 2040 with the help of a growing community.