Mastercard has published its 2021 Corporate Sustainability and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) reports, which showcase the company’s commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) to develop a sustainable and inclusive digital economy where everyone thrives. This initiative is supported by Mastercard’s recent commitment to connecting remuneration for all workers to the company’s ESG goals.
“Creating a more sustainable and inclusive society is both challenging and urgent,” says Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard. “Our annual Sustainability and DEI reports demonstrate our success in creating a positive effect – as well as our future plans to do more.”
The following are among the report’s highlights:
PROSPERITY
Ensuring everyone has the chance to succeed in the digital economy
- More than 675 million people have been engaged as part of the objective of bringing 1 billion people into the digital economy by 2025.
- Added 25 million micro, small, and medium-sized companies (MSMEs), achieving half of the five-year target in less than two years.
- In Solidarity is a project aimed at eliminating racism and closing the racial wealth and opportunity gap.
- Invested multimillion-dollar cash in minority-owned start-ups and other companies.
- Spending on Black suppliers more than doubled in 2021 compared to 2020, totalling more than $120 million.
- Increased training, mentorship, sponsorship, and well-being initiatives for Black colleagues in the United States, as well as a more diverse recruiting and talent pipeline.
- This year marked the third year of philanthropic giving through the Mastercard Impact Fund, which has granted more than $260 million to 143 organisations in 94 countries.
PEOPLE
Creating a workplace and a society where everyone can connect their greatest interests to their highest potential
- Continue to promote pay equity: They established that in the United States, Black, Hispanic, and Asian employees get $1.00 for every $1.00 earned by white employees; internationally, women at Mastercard earn $1.00 for every $1.00 men earn.
- Increased flexibility and well-being initiatives, including four “work from anywhere” weeks each year, quarterly meeting-free days, and year-round end-of-week flextime.
- Advanced inclusive card solutions include the introduction of Touch Card for clients with eyesight impairments and the expansion of True Name to let transgender and nonbinary people to use their preferred names on their cards.
- In partnership with the NGO Neurodiversity in the Workplace (NITW), we launched a Neurodiversity Hiring Pilot to seek neurodivergent applicants for full-time employment positions in our Operations & Technology division.
PLANET
Reducing carbon emissions and engaging businesses, communities, and consumers together in climate action
- Accelerated commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within a decade, from 2050 to 2040.
- The Priceless Planet Coalition has enlisted the help of over 100 partners to restore 100 million trees.
- The Worldwide Sustainability Innovation Lab was established to co-create sustainable commerce solutions such as the Carbon Calculator, which is integrated across the company’s global network to assist consumers in understanding the environmental effect of their purchases.
- Using Mastercard’s Sustainable Card Materials Directory, 60 million Mastercard-branded cards were created using certified sustainable materials, up from 10.7 million at the end of 2020.
PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE
Reiterating a strong commitment to ethical operations and adherence to laws and regulations
- Mastercard’s multi-layered, principled approach to cybersecurity is outlined in Cybersecurity Principles.
- The first sustainability bond report was published to demonstrate efforts in accelerating carbon reduction, supporting consumers’ environmental choices, and fostering inclusive growth.
- We strengthened our commitment to data responsibility, privacy, and security by extending the EU’s high consumer protection regulations, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), internationally, and integrating the company’s AI Governance structure with wider data responsibility principles.
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