Pledge by Mastercard International Incorporated
Priceless Planet Coalition
Total Trees Pledged: 100,000,000Supporting actions: Sustainable Forestry, Nursery Development, Data and Technological Tools,
In January 2020, Mastercard launched the Priceless Planet Coalition and committed with our partners to preserve the environment through the restoration of 100 million trees in 5 years. Mastercard believes that by working collectively with our banks, merchants, business and consumer customers and other partners we can drive more positive change than if we each acted alone.
Priceless Planet Coalition (PPC) partners will lead campaigns to engage consumers to contribute to the tree-planting goal. Mastercard’s global payment infrastructure will provide additional ways for cardholders to contribute, including “round-up” campaigns at a range of leading retailers that allow consumers to add a tree-planting donation at the point-of-sale. Mastercard corporate customers can also contribute to this effort every time employees use their cards for travel, goods or services. These businesses can contribute rebates received from their issuing banks to tree-planting projects by using their Mastercard cards.
Large-scale restoration programs need to be executed deliberately, with consideration given to several factors. Mastercard has selected global environmental organizations Conservation International and World Resources Institute to lead the design, mobilization and coordination of the program based on their science-based and holistic approaches to restoration, monitoring and evaluation, and successful track records in global conservation. With the help of these organizations, Mastercard is developing a global portfolio of high-quality restoration projects, emphasizing those with the most potential for positive impacts on climate, community and biodiversity.
Priceless Planet’s approach will include a comprehensive forest restoration monitoring and evaluation protocol, which will be applied to every PPC project for a period of 5 years. Highlights include:
• Baseline, first-year and long-term protocols for every project for the entire program period enables global analysis
• Geospatial/remote sensing including satellite and drone technology
• Field-based sampling/ground truthing methods
• Statistical evaluation of methods tested to ensure comprehensive monitoring and to maximize accuracy/efficiency
• “Counterfactual” control sites, matched with the original conditions of restoration locations chosen during the baseline period
• Comparisons to project sites to determine the additionality of PPC projects; will not count as incremental trees.
The most current list of partners who have joined our coalition can be found at www.pricelessplanet.org.
Trees: 100,000,000
In many cases, selected projects will require nursery development and/or will support seed collection efforts. Flagship projects will be designed to demonstrate effective restoration at scale.
Projects and geographies with the greatest potential for positive impacts on climate, community, and biodiversity goals will be chosen for Priceless Planet Coalition, with help from Conservation International and WRI, who have substantial capacity to fulfill large-scale reforestation projects and will provide detailed project plans with funding and delivery timelines. Project selection criteria and standardization will focus on:
• Standardization of practices across all projects
• No invasive species, and no species destined for timber harvest
• Proper community engagement
• Ecologically and socially appropriate restoration methods• Robust and standard monitoring and maintenance plans, etc.
• Maximization of climate, community and biodiversity safeguards and benefits
Priceless Planet’s approach will include a comprehensive forest restoration monitoring and evaluation protocol, which will be applied to every PPC project for a period of 5 years.