Last week, Mastercard announced the Priceless Planet Coalition, a group of companies intending to plant 100 million trees over the next five years to help address climate change.
It’s the latest example of companies in the financial services industry taking steps based on climate change. The coalition was announced just ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, where climate change is a focus this year.
Read on to learn more about the coalition and why more companies are adjusting their business practices to address climate change.
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What are the details of the Priceless Planet Coalition?
In addition to Mastercard, the Priceless Planet Coalition includes Citibank, Santander UK, L.L. Bean, Saks Fifth Avenue and American Airlines, among others.
According to the press release, companies involved in the coalition will work on joint campaigns and continue carrying out their own strategies for sustainability. Full details weren’t announced, but one of the initial campaigns will encourage people to use mass transit in cities worldwide — including New York, London, Barcelona, Helsinki and others — by planting trees based on ridership.
Together with the coalition, Mastercard is urging corporate card customers to contribute to the tree-planting program when employees use their corporate cards.
“[Climate change] has the biggest negative impact on those who are socially and economically vulnerable,” Mastercard President and CEO Ajay Banga said in the press release. “The time for just negating our environmental footprint has passed. Our best chance at changing the course we’re on and setting us all up for better futures is for companies and consumers to pull in the same direction towards a shared goal.”
Why does this matter?
Mastercard is the latest financial services company to address climate change. Other major financial companies are also making changes, citing climate change’s effect on economic growth and investment returns.
Here are some other recent examples of companies making changes and identifying the economic impacts of climate change.
- Earlier this month, CEO Laurence Fink said that BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset management company, will begin taking sustainability into account when assessing risks for investment portfolios.
- In April, Bank of America announced plans to invest another $300 billion on what it deemed “low-carbon business activities.”
- In May, JPMorgan Chase published a climate report that called for a “transition to a lower-carbon economy.”
- Business consultancy McKinsey released a report this month that also warns of climate change risks and socioeconomic impacts.