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.