Mastercard to tie executive bonuses to environmental, social and governance goals

Mastercard will bind its senior executive’s bonuses to environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives, Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach mentioned in a note on the payment website of the processor on Wednesday.

To help Mastercard achieve its goals of cutting its carbon usage, improving financial inclusion, and gender pay parity the company will link compensations for executive vice presidents and above.

Miebach said that the objective of these incentive compensation programs is to encourage and reward performance that will help them achieve their financial goals as well as strategic goals.

The initiative comes as there is a boosted interest in companies that perform well on environmental, social, and governance targets due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to an assessment of how economies should look in the future.

Mastercard priced a $600 million sustainability bond this month with proceeds to be used to maximize carbon reduction and foster inclusive growth, among other initiatives. It pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 earlier this year.