The digital payments industry, pivotal to global commerce, is facing increasing scrutiny over its environmental footprint. In response, The Payments Association has launched an initiative aimed at creating a standardised approach for measuring carbon emissions across the digital payments value chain.
This strategic move seeks to align the payments sector with global sustainability goals by integrating environmentally responsible practices into its core operations.
The report titled Sustainable Digital Payments: Measuring Carbon Emissions in the Payments Chain, which details the initiative, was developed by the Association’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) Working Group..
The document addresses the extensive impact of the industry, pointing out that while emissions per transaction may be minimal, the aggregate effect across billions of transactions is also substantial.
Tony Craddock, director general of The Payments Association, said: “It’s a privilege to be part of a sector driving the conversation around carbon emissions management.
“We started this initiative in advance of any legal direction or international competition. We do so for the sole purpose that it will provide better payments and environmental standards for both consumers and the payments sector in the long run.
Collaborative efforts
The report calls for collaborative efforts to develop a comprehensive framework that ensures data integrity and comparability. Such a framework would facilitate significant reductions in the industry’s carbon footprint, leveraging collective action for greater impact.
“Agreement on a standard way to measure emissions when people pay or get paid will provide a useful starting point for meaningful discussion,” Craddock also added. “And it will help us decide what tools are needed to ultimately reduce carbon emissions, too. We believe this will contribute to increasing shareholder value, improving customer outcomes and reducing the environmental impact of payments.”
Next steps
By setting this standard, The Payments Association hopes not only to improve the payments industry’s sustainability but also to inspire other sectors to adopt similar measures, contributing to broader environmental goals.
It recommends the establishment of baseline emissions data to ensure consistent tracking and the development of a roadmap for action, which includes identifying as well as assessing emission sources at each stage of the payment process and setting measurable reduction targets.
The report also calls for ongoing evaluation of the impact of these initiatives, ensuring they adapt over time to meet emerging challenges and opportunities in sustainability within the digital payments industry.
The post Toward a Greener Future: PA’s Push for Standardised Carbon Measurement in Digital Payments appeared first on The Fintech Times.
