Protecting the planet

Visa is using the power of our network to accelerate transformation in sustainability and economic recovery, while helping ensure that the planet and economies around the world thrive.

As we use our electronic payments network to connect consumers, financial institutions, merchants and governments around the world, we recognize the importance of understanding and minimizing the environmental footprint of our business and taking urgent climate action. Visa also seeks to use the opportunity we have in the broader payments ecosystem to help be an engine of sustainable commerce.

For annual programmatic and progress updates please see our latest Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report.

VISA PROTECTING THE PLANET FOCUS AREAS

Visa’s climate commitments

Carbon neutrality

Visa continues to maintain carbon neutrality across our operations, which we achieved for the first time in 2020. We define operational carbon neutrality as including the footprint from our scope 1, scope 2 and the employee commuting and business travel components of our scope 3 GHG emissions. Our ability to maintain carbon neutrality is the result of ongoing energy efficiency initiatives, our transition to 100 percent renewable electricity and limited use of carbon offsets to cover our residual footprint. Our carbon offsets portfolio includes projects spanning our geographic regions and representing areas such as forest preservation, reforestation, renewable energy and clean cookstoves.

Net zero by 2040 and climate positive

We are committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, a timeframe at least 10 years ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement. Visa’s science-based near-term targets are approved by the SBTi at the 1.5° Celsius ambition level.

We also recognize that our opportunity for and commitment to positive climate impact go beyond the formal definitions of greenhouse gas emissions scopes in international protocols. In fact, we believe some of the greatest positive impacts we can have to support the transition to a low-carbon economy and sustainable commerce involve harnessing the power of the global Visa network as well as our products, services, network, data, brand and payments expertise to help inspire and empower others.

Visa operations

Our commitment begins with our continued efforts to minimize the environmental impact of our operations and activities “within Visa”—the footprint of our offices, data centers, business travel, employee commuting, procurement and other areas. Considering these areas and how they interconnect allows Visa to develop sustainability initiatives for different aspects of our business.

Greening our offices and data centers

The responsible use of natural resources in the operation of Visa offices and data centers is a foundational part of our efforts to protect the planet. In our offices, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact by focusing on green building design and operation, obtaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or equivalent certifications for our buildings and increasing resource use efficiency. We also continue to bring additional sustainable food options to the offices where we offer food service, such as sourcing sustainable and local ingredients and following sustainable food source recommendations. In our data centers, we focus on our energy efficiency, measured by power usage effectiveness (PUE), including by upgrading our cooling and server equipment. We also have piloted and evaluated innovations like direct expansion, dry mode cooling and immersion cooling to improve our energy and water efficiency.

100% renewable electricity

In 2020, Visa achieved our goal to transition to using 100 percent renewable electricity, which we are committed to maintain. While we have achieved our initial goal, we continue to pursue opportunities to contribute to additional renewable electricity generation through utility providers and external renewable energy suppliers and partners, including through long-term renewable electricity purchase agreements. Visa continues to champion the overall corporate renewable energy movement, including through our support of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).

Sustainable business travel and events

Corporate travel is a contributor to our environmental footprint, and we continue to develop initiatives to provide and promote green travel choices to employees, such as highlighting green-certified hotels, more efficient rental vehicles and options for rail travel. Visa also hosts events for our clients and employee teams throughout the year, and we are committed to minimizing the footprint of these offerings. We created the Greening Our Events initiative to help reduce the food- and travel-related footprints of these events. Our Green Meeting Guide includes recommendations on sustainable catering options and tips on how to host zero waste events.

Engaging our suppliers

As the goods and services Visa procures contribute to our overall emissions footprint, we are engaging our suppliers to identify areas for improvement and opportunities for partnership on emissions reduction strategies. Our efforts to engage suppliers include incorporating environmental sustainability expectations in the Visa Supplier Code of Conduct, which all onboarded suppliers receive during that process, and participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Supply Chain program. Through this program, we engage our leading suppliers around measuring their emissions footprint, setting targets, reporting to CDP and assigning footprint back to Visa.

Employee commuting

Visa is committed to helping our employees commute to our offices in more sustainable ways. We offer employee shuttles between nearby public transit hubs and other offices at many of our facilities around the world. We encourage employees to use public transportation by offering transit fare subsidies in select offices. We also provide access to electric vehicle chargers in select locations.

Employee engagement

We are committed to empowering our 28,000+ employees around the world to be sustainability stewards in the workplace, at home and in our communities. We engage our employees in sustainability through our annual global Earth Month events, Sustainable Living Eco-Challenges, employee-focused green teams, our Sustainable Living Speaker Series and other offerings.

Visa’s inaugural green bond

In 2020, Visa issued our inaugural green bond for $500 million, maturing in 2027. We are using the green bond, believed to be the first issued by a digital payments network, to finance projects including the construction and operation of highly efficient buildings, energy and water efficiency improvements, expanded use of renewable energy, employee commuter programs and initiatives focused on sustainable consumer behaviors.

Sustainable commerce

As a global payments technology company whose network connects billions of consumers, millions of merchants and thousands of financial institutions, we continue to expand our initiatives toward being a climate positive company by embedding sustainability across our business and implementing initiatives to understand, inspire, engage and empower consumers and others toward sustainable living and commerce.

Sustainable accounts

As a global payments network, we believe that we can play an important role in helping consumers understand and act on their individual environmental impact. Through our Visa Fintech Partner Connect program, we are working with partners such as ecolytiq to bring to our financial institution clients “sustainability-as-a-service” offerings in consumer carbon footprinting, context-based education and access to high-quality carbon offsets. In addition, Visa’s Fast Track Program has helped the launch of next generation issuers, including those providing climate-focused accounts.

Sustainable consumer behaviors

Visa works to support initiatives, remove friction from and bring solutions to advance sustainability and climate action in particular areas of consumer behavior, including mobility and travel/tourism.  Visa currently is working with hundreds of transit agencies around the world to support public transit use through digital payments acceptance and usage. Visa also is supporting the global transition to electric vehicles (EV), including by partnering with the largest operators of EV charging stations to further enhance customer payment experience at charging stations with Visa contactless cards. In addition, we are helping advance sustainable travel and tourism through our founding partner role with Travalyst, as well as other travel initiatives.

Sustainable consumers

Visa continues to support stakeholders in commerce with the understanding of consumer barriers and drivers of sustainable living behaviors by conducting consumer research.For example, Visa has served as a multi-year design partner in the GlobeScan Healthy and Sustainable Living Study of consumers spanning over 30 markets. Visa has used the survey findings to drive continued development of solutions for and communication to consumers.

Inspiring lifestyles

We also use our brand presence to support efforts to inspire sustainable living among consumers overall. Visa is a founding partner of Brands for Good, an industry initiative to use the opportunities of brands and brand platforms to make sustainable living more attractive, rewarding and attainable. Visa also served as the lead sponsor of season one of the popular Netflix series “Down to Earth” with Zac Efron, a travel show that helps viewers explore healthy, sustainable ways to live.

We know that urgent action is needed to address the climate crisis, and we are committed to helping restore our earth today and for the long term.

See our latest progress

For annual programmatic and progress updates, please see our CR&S Resources page for our latest CR&S Report.