(Monday 28 June 2021, Geneva). A new partnership to harness the power of green consumer behaviours to enhance biodiversity and climate efforts has been launched with some of the world’s leading digital platforms, financial institutions, and consumer goods and services companies as launch members. The ‘Every Action Counts’ (EAC) coalition is launched today by the Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA), funded by the Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) initiative of the MAVA Foundation.
The EAC brings together a global network of digital, financial, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies with experts in sustainability, and nature and biodiversity conservation. The new network will share best practices in encouraging individuals to take positive actions in daily life to create planet-friendly outcomes. Each coalition member will endeavour to pursue locally relevant approaches to driving sustainable consumer behaviours by advancing people-centric, tech-enabled and innovation-oriented engagement models.
The coalition holds the potential to scale green action as a norm which is encouraged, recognised and rewarded leveraging technology and innovation models. Examples of this work in practice include:
The coalition aims to promote knowledge sharing to inspire innovative green tech solutions around the world, helping each payment platform and consumer goods company to focus on the green behaviours most relevant to their audience.
Marianne Haahr, spokesperson for the ‘Every Action Counts’ coalition and Executive Director of Green Digital Finance Alliance, said: “This new coalition wants to creatively leverage technology and partnerships to enhance green awareness and catalyse green action for 1 billion people by 2025. We want to encourage consumer behaviour that can become a driver of nature conservation and regeneration.
“We see a future where economic growth can coexist with, and even support, nature conservation and climate action, which is why we are bringing together members who can help champion this vision for our global economy.“
Launch members are: Ant Group (China), BBVA (Spain), BigPay (Malaysia), DANA (Indonesia), FNZ (UK), GCash (Philippines), Lazada Group (Singapore), Mastercard (US), MTN Group (Pan-African company headquartered in South Africa), Paytm (India), Rabobank (The Netherlands), SANLAM (South Africa), and Telenor Microfinance Bank/Easypaisa (Pakistan).
Experts working with the coalition include Siegmar Otto, a leading researcher on sustainable consumer behaviour and human-computer interaction; Professor Richard Wood of the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology); and environmental engineer Francesca Verones, also at NTNU.
Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Responsible Business at launch member BBVA, said: “A deep shift in behavioural change must happen and we have no doubt that it will happen. This exciting moment offers an opportunity to build solutions that help citizens translate values into behaviours at a massive scale and shape new green behavioural norms. The companies that will take a proactive role in this moment of the journey will have a huge impact and will succeed. We look forward to collaborating in this new effort, focused on environmental integrity and high ambition.”
Kristina Kloberdanz, Chief Sustainability Officer, at launch member Mastercard said: “At Mastercard, we are delighted to join forces with like-minded companies through the ‘Every Action Counts’ coalition. This reinforces our commitment to build an inclusive and sustainable digital economy – where people and the planet can thrive – as we bring innovations and initiatives to market that help people understand the environmental impact of their behaviour. For example, together with our partner Doconomy, we created the Mastercard Carbon Calculator to help inform consumer spending and offer people ways to contribute to global forest restoration through our Priceless Planet Coalition.”
Nompilo Morafo, Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, at launch member MTN said: “As MTN works to drive greater digital and financial inclusion, we recognise the importance of reducing our impact on the environment and balancing this to ensure more people are connected daily. We take a conservative approach to the use of energy, plastic, water and other resources through demand reduction, refurbishment, recycling and upcycling. For us, Every Action Counts enable us to offer our customers access to opportunities towards greener lifestyles and green job opportunities which can unlock the green economy across our markets.”
Vian Sharif, Head of Sustainability, at launch member FNZ said: “FNZ welcomes the launch of this innovative partnership. Global challenges require large-scale ambitious solutions and we hope that the ‘Every Action Counts’ coalition can help us explore how to bring together large digital communities of people to work hand-in-hand with nature and climate conservation experts.”
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme, a supporter of Every Action Counts said: “Nature provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, but we have not been so kind in return. I welcome this coalition aiming to empower 1 billion people to become part of creating a world where everyday actions and choices combat climate change and end biodiversity loss. As we embark on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, putting people at the centre of the green transition is key.”
Magnus Ekbom, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, at launch member Lazada Southeast Asia said: "Lazada is proud to be a launch partner to Every Action Counts coalition. Sustainability and conservation need to go hand in hand with business strategy. We are committed to drive awareness and innovation to build a lasting e-commerce ecosystem in Southeast Asia, with collaborative partnerships and empowered consumers coming together to create responsible, sustainable consumption habits."
Notes to editor
For more information please contact:
Ola Adeyemi,
ESG Communications
Tel: + 44 (0)7721 655294 | ola@esgcomms.com
About the ‘Every Action Counts’ (EAC) coalition
The coalition was launched by the Green Digital Finance Alliance, a not-for-profit designed to leverage digital technologies and innovations to enhance financing for sustainable development. The ‘Every Action Counts’ coalition aims to work with like-minded members including international organisations, private sector corporates and subject matter experts to creatively leverage technology and partnerships to enhance green awareness and green action of 1 billion people around the globe by 2025. For more information visit http://greendigitalfinancealliance.org/initiatives-publications/eac-coalition/
