In celebration of International Zero Emissions Day, GForest announces that it has reduced a total of 52 billion grams of carbon through the various digital transactions done by its users on GCash. These day-to-day services include sending money, paying bills, and buying load.
Daily activities contribute to our carbon footprint which indicates the total greenhouse gas emissions related to these actions. Planting more trees aids in carbon sequestration where carbon dioxide is captured and stored, reducing its presence in the atmosphere and ultimately, minimizing climate change.
As a pioneer in the fintech industry and a committed supporter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, GCash encourages Filipinos to minimize their carbon emissions by giving incentives for digital transactions done through GForest.
GCash users earn green energy points for performing digital financial transactions in the app. The equivalent carbon reduced by going digital is converted into green energy points, which users can use to plant virtual trees. To ensure that the points given are based on actual carbon reduction, GCash tapped the expertise of China Beijing Environmental Exchange (CBEEX) to use science-based methodologies to compute these.
The virtual trees planted by users are then planted into actual trees by Gcash’s partner local and international organizations in strategic areas around the Philippines. After some time, these trees will also sequester carbon from the environment.
“Our partnerships with CBEEX and other established organizations in the Philippines for our reforestation efforts through GForest is a testament to how dedicated we are in addressing climate change. By employing sustainability practices and evaluation methods backed by science, we ensure that we are able to reach our targets,” said CJ Alegre, GCash Head of Sustainability.
Since its inception in 2019, GForest has planted 2.5 million actual trees in total, covering over 11,000 hectares across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, resulting in about 1.3 million tonnes of carbon sequestered. This has been made possible by its 14.4 million green heroes.
