Transparency is the key to sustainability

Klappir, a software company that has its roots in 2013, develops and sells software that supports the community’s journey towards sustainability.

Klappir was originally established to design digital solutions in the field of environmental issues for the maritime sector. The company’s vision was to utilize the extensive data being collected in paper form, and to digitize statutory registration processes. The scope of data collection soon increased, and it now covers almost everything related to environmental measurements in the operations of companies and institutions. From the beginning, Klappir has worked systematically to build a powerful digital infrastructure to monitor sustainability and create a sustainable digital ecosystem.

Klappir’s goal is to increase understanding of all aspects of sustainability through the continuous development of smart sustainability solutions.

Jon Agust Thorsteinsson, CEO and one of the founders of Klappir, says that the company and its employees are passionate about helping customers make their organizations sustainable by giving them access to accurate real-time data that is easy to work with, analyse and respond to.

More than 300 shareholders in the company

Since 2013, Klappir has worked with companies, municipalities and institutions to achieve success in sustainability, and in 2017, Klappir was listed on Nasdaq First North. Today, the company has more than 300 shareholders. These shareholders are entrepreneurs, families, institutional investors and individuals; parties who want to contribute to a sustainable future.

Jon Agust says that Klappir has invested in the development of the best available technology to support climate issues and that ecosystems have been set up with more than 6,000 users.

“In 2022, we have more than 26 green jobs. We have been well received in Denmark in recent months, so we decided to establish Klappir Nordic. That company currently has two employees who will serve the Nordic countries. We have high hopes of further strengthening our position in the Nordic region with the establishment of Klappir Nordic,” says Jon Agust.

Klappir places great emphasis on working with the community on important projects. Klappir works closely with the City of Reykjavik, Landvernd, Port of Faxafloi, Sorpa, Gagarin and Origo to assist in an initiative against young people’s climate anxiety. This is done by educating students and giving them access to technologies and data that support sustainability teaching.

Green Penguin increase environmental literacy in children and young people

“Together with our partners, we collaborate with Reykjavik Primary and Secondary Schools to teach students to understand the sustainability of schools and homes. The project is called "Green Penguin" or Grænskjáir in Icelandic. It aims to increase environmental literacy and insight among children and young people. We have designed an accessible and easy-to-understand information screen that will be available in all schools in Reykjavik this autumn. The study material is then prepared by Landvernd in connection with Green Flag Schools (Grænfánaskólar). This will be a revolution in sustainability teaching in the nation’s schools,” says Jon Agust.

Klappir’s activities support the 17th United Nations Global Goals, a collection of 17 main goals, 169 sub-goals and 231 indicators. “We encourage collaboration on the goals, so we achieve the results that the community is aiming for in sustainability,” Jon Agust continues. “Klappir enables organizations and institutions to share knowledge and reliable data, publish accurate, transparent and standardized sustainability results, and to build unified knowledge and understanding of climate issues and ESG as a whole.”

Klappir’s Sustainability Platform has almost all the tools and equipment needed to monitor and maintain sustainability. The main modules in the solution platform are:

• Data collection and data management
• Asset management and environmental impact of assets
• Analysis of environmental and sustainability risks in the value chain
• Dashboard and analysis tool
• Risk analysis
• Supplier assessment
• Investments and credit ratings (PCAF)
• Reporting tool
• Accounting tool for sustainability statements
• Connection between ports and ships

The benefits of Klappir's Sustainability Platform are:

• Standardized sustainability solution for all industries
• Everyone works for sustainability in the same way, regardless of the sector
• All conversion factors, analyses and presentation of financial statements are the same for everyone
• All sustainability settlements are comparable

Klappir’s Digital Ecosystem

The ecosystem connects all parties using the solution platform. It enables parties to work together and receive or provide support for others in the ecosystem.

The benefits of the ecosystem are:

Collaboration based on UN Global Goal No 17 (Collaboration on goals) A common vision of success in which the success of each individual is measured and the success of the ecosystem can be assessed in comparison with society as a whole

Jon Agust says that Klappir encourages co-operation between public entities, private entities and ordinary citizens on sustainable development.

“Through digital ecosystems, Klappir is connected to users in different ways with the goal that they can support each other towards sustainability. Whether it is a public entity, a municipality or a company, the parties are connected and can submit sustainability data to each other.”

According to Jon, parties can, for example, download real-time data from Klappir’s solution showing their use of electricity and fuel along with the discharge of waste directly from their suppliers. Klappir’s Sustainability Platform subsequently processes the data and enables parties to calculate carbon footprints, identify opportunities to reduce waste, prepare sustainability settlements and share information with investors or other stakeholders.

As stated above, Klappir’s beginnings can be traced back to maritime activities, so it can be said that Klappir places great emphasis on protecting the oceans. Klappir’s Sustainability Platform includes custom software modules for ship and port operations. Klappir has developed digital ship records to register a ship’s environmental data in accordance with IMO MARPOL Annexes I-VI. Klappir has also developed a software solution for ports that receives environmental information from ships. More than 90% of vessels entering the Icelandic environmental jurisdiction use Klappir products to submit environmental data

Klappir is world leaders in its field

Jon Agust says that Klappir strives to support the restoration and development of ecosystems on land and work to launch a national effort to restore ecosystems in Iceland through land reclamation by getting everyone involved in Klappir’s ecosystems to produce carbon sequestration units through forestry, wetland restoration and land reclamation.

According to Jon Agust, Klappir is working with its partners, to set up a methodology that manages the production of carbon units through a certified process. The methodology manages the process from planting a forest to the delivery of certified carbon units, in line with international practices that are recognized by Icelandic and international authorities. To begin with, the focus is on forestry, but the intention is to add wetland restoration and land reclamation as well as other approved carbon projects.

Jon Agust says Klappir’s digital technology, services and methodologies help communities achieve common, measurable results.

“Klappir is a world leader in its field with a B2S (business to society) solution. Klappir connects communities, community infrastructure and regulatory bodies through the Sustainability Platform and digital ecosystem, and we are extremely proud of that,” says Jon Agust.

Article published in Fréttablaðið 25.03.2022 (IS)

Related articles:
Now is the time to start thinking about CSRD
Klappir supports companies on the journey to sustainability
Top five sustainability trends 2022