Climate Lockdowns: New CO2 monitoring credit card enables tracking of ‘carbon footprint on every purchase’ – ‘Monitors & cuts off spending when we hit our carbon max’ – Mastercard & UN join forces

Get ready for a Chinese-style social credit system scoring when it comes to your personal spending habits and how they impact “climate change.” A new credit card called Doconomy, has launched that is “working in tight collaboration with Mastercard” and an alliance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  is now available so you can monitor your personal CO2 budget on every purchase you make.

The new CO2 monitoring Mastercard called Doconomy debuted in order to enable “all users to track, measure and understand their impact by presenting their carbon footprint on every purchase.” The credit cards feature the slogan on them reading “DO. Everyday Climate Action” and have a personal pledge on the rear of the card boasting: “I am taking responsibility for every transaction I make to help protect the planet.” The Mastercards feature the UN “Global Climate Action” logo on them as well.

The World Economic Forum praised Doconomy. “While many of us are aware that we need to reduce our carbon footprint, advice on doing so can seem nebulous and keeping a tab is difficult. DO monitors and cuts off spending, when we hit our carbon max,” the World Economic Forum wrote on the Doconomy CO2 monitoring website.

The Doconomy credit card website explains: “With fat, sugar and salt levels labeled on food we buy, why shouldn’t our CO2 emissions be just as visible?” asks the Doconomy website. “This type of information shouldn’t be a premium or luxury that consumers pay for, but rather an essential part of every shopping journey.” The website details how the credit card will help consumers “understand their impact by presenting their carbon footprint on every purchase.”

Mathias Wikström, the CEO of Doconomy, explained, “Reducing carbon emissions needs to be prioritized by all parties. At Doconomy we are proud to engage and educate around our lifestyle’s impact on the planet…The financial sector has developed a tremendous efficiency. Now that same force can address the planetary fragility.”

This new CO2 monitoring credit card follows on the heels of the new study in the Journal Nature in August 2021 calling for “personal carbon allowances” that would monitor individuals’ CO2 emissions through smart meters and tracking apps.

See: Journal Nature: COVID lockdowns are key to begin ‘personal carbon allowances’: ‘Restrictions on individuals…that were unthinkable only 1 year before’ have us ‘more preparedto accept tracking & limitations’ to ‘achieve a safer climate’–Nature Sustainability: Authors argue COVID restrictions, smart meters & tracking apps can be used as a stepping stone for a personal carbon allowance.

Doconomy’s new CO2 monitoring card boasts that it has started “providing 90 million consumers with carbon footprint insights.” The credit card was launched with the aim of “educating all consumers around climate impact information as a first step towards driving awareness around the climate crisis.” The Doconomy CO2 credit card website claims it is the “largest initiative ever taken by a bank in educating its users on the impact of consumption.”

“Working in tight collaboration with Mastercard, setting a global standard for carbon calculations on everyday transactions, and other frontrunners like Klarna in banking, Doconomy aims to reach 1 billion users by COP26 in November,” the Doconomy CO2 credit card website explains.

“Companies, consumers and communities must work together to make the significant changes needed to effectively address climate change” said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard Chief Digital Officer. “The Mastercard Carbon Calculator informs consumers about the carbon footprint of their purchases, so that they can make more mindful spending decisions and contribute to forest restoration. By embedding sustainability in the very fabric of our business, we can unlock the power of our network, reaching billions of consumers and partners, to create positive change for the environment,” Lambert added. 

Niclas Svenningsen, Manager, Global Climate Action at the UN Climate Change secretariat praised the CO2 monitoring credit card. “What’s really key here is the availability of information. One certainly can’t expect people to change their behaviors and take climate action if they do not know what their climate footprint is or what their consumption represents. With this data now easily accessible thanks to the partners’ excellent work, citizens are empowered to make smart decisions and act responsibly, and it can provoke a significant cultural shift around climate action,” Svennigsen wrote.

This article was first published at Climate Depot and is reprinted here by permission.