LB Forsikring: Carbon removal as responsible climate action

From reducing emissions to practical next steps

For LB Forsikring, the starting point was simple: reduce what can be reduced, and take responsibility for what remains. As part of its broader ambition to move the business towards Paris alignment, LB Forsikring decided early on to prioritise keeping their Scope 1 & 2 emissions as low as possible, and taking responsibility for their ongoing emissions in Scope 1 and 2 with carbon removal. As a financial institution with one office in Copenhagen and a limited number of leased vehicles, these emissions were not the company’s most complex categories, but they were a practical and important place to begin. They maintain separate targets, goals, and strategies for their investment portfolio.

The company focused first on keeping emissions as low as possible, even through company growth, through measures such as:

• purchasing renewable electricity via a power purchasing agreement,
• optimising facilities,
• and shifting company vehicles from internal combustion engines to EVs.

But, as the team recognised, there would always be something left. From that perspective, investing in carbon removal became a logical extension of its climate strategy.

Reduce all you can, but know there will most likely always be something left. So, if you have a climate strategy and it does not address carbon removal; start thinking about it. Do not be scared about the complexity. See it as investment in your own understanding and the solutions we need. Just as in other areas, you don’t need to be the expert, find credible partners and build from there.

- Mikkel Minor, Chef for Bæredygtighed

Leaning on a portfolio manager in Klimate

The core of the collaboration is the ability to lean on Klimate’s portfolio management capabilities. The Klimate team brings the necessary expertise to create and operationalise a CDR strategy, supporting them with market guidance, portfolio design, due diligence, and reporting transparency, helping the company navigate a field that is still shaped by scientific, political, and market debate.

For LB Forsikring, this has made it possible to pursue carbon removal in a way that is structured and credible, while staying focused on its core business. Members of the Klimate team have helped LB Forsikring build a portfolio shaped by both diversification and permanence. Inspired in part by the Oxford Offsetting Principles, the company prioritised more durable removal pathways such as biochar, bio-oil, and direct air capture, while also thinking carefully about the trade-offs across methods. This also allows them to invest in a portfolio aligned with the organisation’s overarching values, ensuring the removals they support would not simply shift the burden to future generations.

Key results:

Today, LB Forsikring uses carbon removals sourced through Klimate in relation to the residual Scope 1 and 2 emissions that remain after reductions. Their first portfolio spanned 2023-2025. Now, Klimate and LB Forsikring have kicked off their next investment for 2026-2030.

• LB Forsikring contracts in advance to secure preferential pricing, but also adjusts for any shifts in their Scope 1 and 2 results year on year. For example, in 2024 they emitted more than their 50 tco2e, and therefore, financed an additional 25 tonnes.
• Tonnes removed so far (2023-2025): 175 tonnes

They prioritise transparency over branding when it comes to sharing their carbon removal efforts by publicly sharing their public ledger link, provided by Klimate, while providing details and inviting questions via their Annual Reports.

Building knowledge & capacity in the market

Seeing Scopes 1 & 2 as a starting point to build internal knowledge and capacity to engage with the market, LB Forsikring reflects on how they can make their carbon removal actions even more meaningful. Their next phase reflects the way LB Forsikring has approached carbon removal from the start: not as a shortcut, but as a serious, long-term part of climate responsibility. This includes building out a separate strategy and set of targets towards their portfolio emissions, and developing a climate transition plan to address decarbonisation of their core business, available in their annual report.

With Klimate as a partner, the company has been able to build that understanding gradually, make informed choices, and stay focused on what matters most.

‍Uncertainty, for some people, leads to inaction. I would very much like to say there's a different story. It should lead to more action. Just because we might run into roadblocks, we become wiser as we go along and can pivot approaches as we go. As long as we stay focused on the overall common goal, less CO2 in the atmosphere, then we can never go totally wrong.

- Mikkel Minor, Chef for Bæredygtighed

For organisations considering a similar path, LB Forsikring’s perspective is straightforward: carbon removal does not need to begin with perfect expertise. It begins with recognising that even after meaningful reductions, some emissions remain — and that dealing with them is part of the job.

LB Forsikring is a member-owned Danish insurance company made up of Lærerstandens Brandforsikring, Runa Forsikring, Bauta Forsikring, and LB Erhverv. Together, it serves more than 440,000 members in what it calls an “insurance community,” where policyholders are also members through LB Foreningen. With around 900 employees, LB Forsikring is the fourth-largest insurer in Denmark’s private market.

You can read more about LB Forsikring on their website for more details about their views on social responsibility overall.