Mastercard has released its Mastercard Carbon Calculator for Kenya and the wider region. This is amidst the growing trend toward eco-conscious spending and consumption among people who want to pursue more sustainable choices and practices.
Developed in collaboration with the Swedish fintech Doconomy, the Mastercard Carbon Calculator feature provides access to insights and data about environmental impact. It enables consumers to receive a snapshot of the carbon emissions generated by their purchases across spending categories. With this feature, banks and financial institutions can easily adopt and customize the feature for eco-conscious consumers, by integrating the Carbon Calculator into their mobile apps. The integration can be done through new APIs that are available on Mastercard Developers.
“Connecting people to helpful information and tools that enable them to prosper, pursue their passions, and help protect the planet, is an important part of how we are doing well by doing good. The New Mastercard feature enables banks to equip people with carbon footprint data and insights to help inform consumer spending and offer ways to contribute to reforestation,” said Gaurang Shah, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Digital Payments and Labs for Middle East and Africa, Mastercard.
“By engaging a whole industry in enabling individual insights as well as collective action, Mastercard has redefined the role the financial industry can play every day in tackling the climate crisis. When others are talking of the importance of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG), Mastercard is putting it to work at the fingertips of the consumer,” said Mathias Wikström, CEO, Doconomy.
In the Makuli Nzaui landscape, Makueni County, a tree planting ceremony will be the beginning of Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition (PPC) initiative to plant 1.2 million trees in Kenya. The Coalition will be embarking on this project for the purpose of creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly community for the benefit of all Kenyans.
Results from Mastercard’s most recent research released last month highlighted strong consumer demand for payment solutions that address sustainability.
The research revealed that among adults in Kenya, 92% stated they’re willing to take personal action to combat environmental and sustainability issues.
Last year, Mastercard formed the Priceless Planet Coalition, which unites businesses and consumers to restore 100 million trees by 2025. The Coalition continues to expand and now includes more than 50 members.