Mumbai: Leveraging its association with sports for positive societal and environmental impact, Mastercard has chosen 22 children to walk alongside the Indian team with potted plants ahead of the first India-Australia ODI match at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. The initiative was part of Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition (PPC), which aims to highlight the significance of reforestation to counter climate change.

Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition unites companies, communities and consumers in climate action and includes more than 100 partners globally, including sustainably minded merchants, fintechs and global banks. Under this program, Mastercard and its partners aim to restore 100 million trees globally and one million trees in India by 2025.

“Mastercard is committed to using sports as a platform to trigger a positive change in society. People are extremely passionate about cricket in India and a majority of fans often idolise their favourite cricketing stars. That’s why Mastercard chose this occasion and selected 22 young mascots to drive an environment-first campaign. The idea behind this initiative was to take the PCC program to the masses and encourage a collective climate action,” said Mastercard VP & head marketing & communications, South Asia Manasi Narasimhan.

The Priceless Planet Coalition has 18 restoration projects globally, ensuring that Mastercard and its partner organisations are able to maximise their climate, community, and biodiversity commitments. Apart from using ecological and social metrics to make a note of the amount of carbon-neutrality generated and monitor progress on tree growth and survival rates, the PCC initiative is focused on generating jobs and improving livelihoods.