Ant Group, the Fintech division of digital commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), has made a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Ant Group’s management stated that to achieve the carbon neutral target within the coming decade will involve establishing a carbon neutrality fund. This will be done to support the ongoing research and development (R&D) of renewables and other new “green” technologies. The digital payments firm will also be working cooperatively with other industry participants to support green finance initiatives.
Ant Group further noted that it would be looking into ways to leverage blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT) solutions to support the ongoing climate effort. These initiatives may involve using DLT to more accurately track the carbon reduction process.
Ant Group’s management stated that it has outlined a roadmap to neutralize direct and indirect emissions that are associated with the purchase of electricity (starting in 2021). By 2030, the firm intends to completely cancel out carbon emissions from other sources it doesn’t actually own or manage. This may cover key areas including business travel and supply chain.
Ant’s pledge or commitment to lower carbon emissions has come after the announcement of the resignation of the firm’s CEO Simon Hu.
Ant Group’s Alipay virtual payment platform had launched the Ant Forest green project back in 2016. It was found within the app and aimed to encourage its users to actively participate in low-carbon emission activities, like making utility bill payments via online platforms and walking to work or other places instead of driving. Green energy points that are earned by users taking part in the project may be used for planting more trees or for protecting a particular area of land for biodiversity conservation.
Other large firms have also made commitments to become carbon neutral within the next 10-20 years. These efforts are all part of an international focus and effort to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stated in July 2020 that it intends to become carbon neutral across all its main businesses by 2030.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) previously pledged to become “carbon negative” in the coming decade. The tech giant said it plans to cut more carbon from the environment than it produces.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019. It’s basically a pledge to become net-zero carbon across its different businesses within the next 20 years, – which would be 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.