Mastercard commits to 20% emissions reduction by 2025

Financial services giant Mastercard has set a new goal to tackle greenhouse gas emissions across it global operations.

The 20 percent target, to be achieved within the next eight years, has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. The campaign supports major corporates to reduce their emissions in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

It will now compare all future levels of pollution to a baseline set in 2016 and monitor both direct and indirect emissions.

Mastercard is reportedly the first company within the payments industry to have its targets approved by the initiative, run by a collection of NGOs including WWF and the World Resources Institute.

 “As a company, we pursue opportunities to be a force for good in the world,” said chief sustainability officer Kristina Kloberdanz. “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. This commitment highlights Mastercard’s determination to be a part of the solution.”

Mastercard already obtains 100 percent of its energy usage from renewable sources. It has achieved this through building new solar panels at its offices, buying directly from renewable projects, and through sourcing renewable energy ‘credits’ in specific countries. Continuing this good work it is working towards sustainability certification for all eligible office buildings and new construction projects.

Despite having multiple offices around the world, the majority of Mastercard’s emissions are indirectly sourced, coming from within its extensive supply chain. To tackle this problem, it will form a team to work with suppliers to monitor and reduce their “product and service-relation emissions”, according to a company statement.

Cynthia Cummis at World Resources Institute said: “We congratulate Mastercard for the bold step they have taken to set a science-based target. Being the first payments company to align their business strategy with the Paris Agreement, Mastercard is demonstrating its business leadership and positioning itself for success in the low-carbon economy.”