Building a sustainable future, togetherBuilding a sustainable future, togetherBuilding a sustainable future, together

Catalyst Zero enables companies to decarbonise their organisations, products and assets at speed and scale via an enterprise software solution. As Tolga Oguz, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company explains: “Catalyst Zero brings together McKinsey’s sustainability expertise, sector-specific technical knowledge, and proven transformation experience. We work with companies across all sectors, and at all stages of maturity, to accelerate their sustainability journey.”  

Many enterprise sustainability solutions only offer benchmarking. Far fewer help a company get to where it wants to be, such as reaching net zero by 2025. This is a competitive advantage for Catalyst Zero, as Miquel Ferrer, Sr. Knowledge Expert at McKinsey & Company, highlights below: 

“What sets Catalyst Zero insights apart from other tools is the financial analysis: we help clients understand the capital and operating expenses of each option within their plan. This is crucial because once you have the strategy, the next step is to garner support across the broader organisation to secure funding for the plan.”

Since September 2022, Nearform has partnered with Catalyst Zero to help move enterprises into a low-carbon future. 

Nearform collaborated on the software build; working closely with the product team to support their client’s requirements and ensure the right features were identified and developed to support companies in their decarbonisation journeys. For example, when we added a new baselining tool that allows companies to understand their emissions, along with planning technology that enables organisations to appreciate their options for decarbonising and moving forward in their sustainability journeys. 

The outcomes of the Nearform/Catalyst Zero team spans three core software solutions: Catalyst Zero Company (CZC), Catalyst Zero Product (CZP) and the Decarbonization Lever Library (DLL). CZC was developed from scratch, with Nearform team members designing, developing and delivering the new module. Migrating CZP to a stronger application took just six months, increasing performance and paying off technical debt. Today, the joint team is working on a similar initiative for DLL, replacing the existing infrastructure with a new one that delivers better performance and is more future-proof. 

The partnership between Catalyst Zero and Nearform is a true collaborative effort, with one lean, tightly-knit team. Catalyst Zero’s product experts, analysts and partners provide direction for the high-level solution. Nearform’s specialists supply the technical expertise that brings these ideas to life in the form of high-quality features. 

The strength of this partnership has created enterprise software that delivers enormous impact for global organisations. For instance, a commercial vehicle manufacturer used Catalyst Zero to decarbonise across an entire product lifecycle. The client was able to identify and exploit opportunities to reduce upstream emissions enormously — over 60% by 2030 and more than 95% by 2040. Another example saw Catalyst Zero helping a global retailer reduce emissions by a whopping 200 million metric tons of CO₂.

Inspired by recent work with Treedom, a company that combats climate change by planting millions of trees, Nearform created its “Partner Forest”. It celebrates partnerships with clients by creating a positive environmental and social impact on local communities. In June 2024, members of the Nearform team met the Catalyst Zero team at their Amsterdam office and welcomed them into our Partner Forest. 

Alberto Motta, Delivery Architect at Nearform, explains why Catalyst Zero was invited to join the Partner Forest: “Catalyst Zero is a tool that helps companies in their path to decarbonisation. To celebrate that, and the common sustainability values between our companies, Nearform gifted the Catalyst Zero team 90 trees, as part of our Partner Forest.” 

Members of the Catalyst Zero team have been effusive in their feedback since joining the Nearform Partner Forest:

“We love this initiative, and it is particularly great to know we can offset our own emissions in this way. Looking forward to many more trees!” 

“I love it, thank you!” 

“What an incredible initiative! Thank you so much, team! We really value our partnership.”

In welcoming the Catalyst Zero team to the Nearform Partner Forest, Nearform and McKinsey embark on a shared commitment to plant a minimum of 10,000 trees by 2025. This will absorb approximately 2,797 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere, supporting around 1,176 farmers and their families.

Together, Catalyst Zero and Nearform are delivering meaningful change that helps the planet and its future generations. But this partnership isn’t the only example of McKinsey’s commitment to sustainability; as highlighted by Julia Macalaster, Director of Product - Sustainability at McKinsey, the Firm was recently “Recognised by TIME and Statista as one of the 'World's Most Sustainable Companies' of 2024”, ranking #34 on the 500-strong list.