Visa
CEF Lead Executives
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ROB WHITTIER
Head of Sustainability and Climate Action
Rob leads Visa’s global and sustainability and climate programs including the implementation of Visa’s climate action plan and progress towards their 2040 net-zero targets. Rob also leads Visa’s programs around supplier engagement on climate and ESG, employee engagement and sustainability, and sustainable travel and commuting, and supports the development of new products and solutions for Visa’s clients and partners in financial services and fintech. Rob has 20 years of experience in sustainability and energy including leading sustainability for Vail Resorts, the worlds largest mountain resort company,
as Director of Sustainability and adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, and as one of the original architects of Deloitte’s Sustainability and Climate Change practice.
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SVETLANA ZENKIN
Winner CEF Leadership Program (2014)
Manager, Transparency and Sustainability Reporting
Svetlana Zenkin leads Corporate Social Responsibility/Sustainability/ESG reporting to ESG analysis, investors, and other internal/external stakeholders. She was previously a Sustainability Manager on the eBay Impact team where she oversaw sustainability and ESG reporting, goals and strategy. Prior to eBay, Svetlana worked at HP and HPE as a Sustainability Manager. She started her environmental career at the US EPA, and holds Bachelor’s and Masters’ degrees from UC Berkeley. Svetlana lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter.
Latest Sustainability Reporting
Highlights
- Reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions 24% since FY20.
- Maintained 100% renewable electricity use for operations.
- Has improved power usage effectiveness of its data centers (which account for 66% of total electricity consumption) by 21% since 2017.
- In 2023, launched a Sustainable Travel Initiative to make sustainable travel options more accessible for employees.
- Implemented the Visa Global Print project in 2022 to reduce pages printed in offices, avoiding the printing of over four million total pages in FY23.
- Has digitally enabled 67 million Small & Micro Businesses (SMBs), including 23 million women-led SMBs, exceeding its global goal of 50 million SMBs by 2023.
- Board’s combined diversity for gender, race, and ethnicity was 73% in 2023.
- Women earned $1.00 for every $1.00 earned by men for the same work globally, and underrepresented employees earned $1.00 for every $1.00 earned by white employees for the same work in the U.S. in FY23.
- Received a 100% rating on the CPA-Zicklin Index for Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability.
Recent News
2024
NEWSWEEK / STATISTA — Published its America’s Most Responsible Companies 2025 list, ranking 600 U.S. companies (out of the 2,000 largest publicly traded companies) on ESG performance. The analysis is based on 30 key performance indicators along with consumer reputation. Merck scored #1, with 97.83 points (out of 100). CEF members in the top 50 include: General Mills (#2), Applied Materials (#4), HP (#6), Mastercard (#7), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (#9), Ecolab (#12), Analog Devices (#13), Qualcomm (#29), Cisco Systems (#31), Visa (#33), CBRE (#35), Apple (#42), and General Motors (#50). (Dec 2024)
2023
VISA — Announced its first partners for its Recommerce Behavioural Insights Lab, a new initiative running rapid real-world experiments to understand and share how businesses can help consumers actively engage in the transition to a more circular economy and take active steps to live more sustainably. The first two experiments will be run in partnership with fashion brand COS (to explore consumer participation in resale markets) and the United Repair Centre (to investigate barriers stopping consumers from repairing their garments), and will take place in various locations across Europe. The experiments will be open sourced, with key findings available through downloadable playbooks, to help other businesses develop their own circular models. (July 2023)
2022
The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Upskilling Initiative, a public-private endeavor to support training and education in digital skills for women and girls in 8 countries, including Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Fourteen U.S. companies, including CEF members Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Google, HP, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Visa, will each provide 500,000 or more digital upskilling opportunities by 2032, such as providing training in data science, cyber-security, AI, and robotics; providing female small business owners with toolkits to help with website planning, social media, and marketing; and supporting digital leadership and entrepreneurship training in rural areas. (Sept 2022)
CARBONPLACE / VISA — Completed a successful test of the new Carbonplace payment platform designed to increase the efficiency, transparency, and security of carbon credit purchases. The blockchain-based Carbonplace platform was developed by seven banks—BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itau Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest Group, Standard Chartered, and UBS—to be “the SWIFT of the carbon offset market.” In the pilot transaction, CEF member Visa purchased Verra-certified carbon credits from Sustainable Carbon, a leading carbon credit project developer, as part of Visa’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The Carbonplace platform eliminates the need for purchasers to perform their own vetting of carbon credit providers or maintain their own private registries of purchased carbon credits. It is expected to launch in late 2022 and could play a key role in driving more private sector capital toward climate change solutions. (May 2022)
2021
CDP “A LIST” — 272 out of nearly 12,000 companies scored by CDP made CDP’s 2021 “A List,” which includes a climate change A List (200 companies), a water security A List (118 companies), and a forests A List (24 companies). The lists recognize companies for their “environmental leadership,” all of which are reducing their value chain emissions and have verified Scope 1 and 2 emissions, SBTi-approved emission-reduction targets, evidence of targets that cover their Scope 3 emissions, “robust governance and oversight of climate issues,” and “rigorous risk management processes.” A record 14 companies received Triple A scores for their work across all three themes, including: Danone, Firmenich, Fuji Oil Holdings, CEF member HP, International Flavors & Fragrances, KAO Corporation, Klabin, Lenzing, L’Oréal, Metsä Board Corporation, Mondi, Philip Morris International, Syrmise, and CEF member Unilever. Additional CEF members on the A Lists include: Ecolab (water security), Ford (climate change, water security), General Motors (water security), HPE (water security), Microsoft (climate change, water security), PepsiCo (forests), Samsung (water security), Schneider Electric (climate change), Visa (climate change). (Dec 2021)
Eco-Skies Alliance — 12 companies, including CEF members Meta, Microsoft, and Visa, joined United Airlines’ corporate alliance to reduce aviation-related environmental impact and create demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Existing signatories have collectively contributed to the purchase of over 7 million gallons of SAF this year—enough to eliminate approximately 66,000 metric tons of GHG emissions. (Dec 2021)
Launched Visa Eco Benefits, a new benefits package that account issuers can add to Visa credit/debit products to help cardholders consume more sustainably.Program features include a carbon footprint calculator by
ecolytiq, cardholder carbon offsets, and rewards for sustainable behaviors. The program launched in Europe and will roll out globally over the next year. (Nov 2021)
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RE100
— The RE100 companies, which are committed to 100% renewable electricity, now have an electricity demand greater than that of the U.K. or Italy and are on track to save CO2 emissions equal to burning over 118 million tons of coal per year. RE100 members include
CEF Members:
3M, Apple, Bank of America, Bloomberg, Dell Technologies, Ecolab, Facebook, General Motors, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mastercard, McKinsey & Co., Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens AG, TD Bank Group, Trane Technologies, Unilever,
and Visa.
(July 2021)
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Second Chance Business Coalition — A cross-sector coalition of 29 large US employers committed to expanding second chance hiring and advancement practices for people with criminal records. Co-chaired by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Eaton CEO Craig Arnold, members include Bank of America, Cisco, GM, JPMorgan & Chase, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Microsoft, P&G, PepsiCo, and Visa. (May 2021)
The Climate Pledge
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52 new signatories—including Colgate-Palmolive, Heineken, PepsiCo, and Visa—joined the Climate Pledge, a
global commitment to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and achieve net-zero carbon by 2040.
Co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism,
it now consists of 105 companies collectively generating $1.4 trillion in annual revenue and employing over 5 million people across 25 industries in 16 countries. (April 2021)
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Announced it achieved carbon neutrality across its operations in 2020 and outlined plans to become a climate-positive company through new partnerships and expanded initiatives to drive sustainable commerce, including (April 2021):
- Becoming a signatory to The Climate Pledge
- Joining the UN Race to Zero initiative
- Joining the Climate Business Network of WWF
- Forming a new collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) to identify new opportunities to apply electronic payments capabilities and its network to support a low-carbon future
Committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040
and setting Science-Based Targets in line with the
Business Ambition for 1.5 °C level. (April 2021)
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Visa announced a 5-year energy agreement with MP2 Energy, a subsidiary of Shell Energy N.A., to power its largest data center with 100% renewable energy. The data center, located in Virginia, accounts for over a third of its global electricity use. (March 2021)
Over 170 CEOs from U.S. companies issued a public letter to Congress backing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and urged rapid, bipartisan adoption. CEF member companies involved included BlackRock, Comcast, Google, JetBlue, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Siemens, and Visa. (March 2021)
Ethisphere released its 2021 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. CEF members recognized include (March 2021):
- 3M
- ADM
- Aptiv
- CBRE
- Dell Technologies
- Ecolab
- General Motors
- HanesBrands
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Honeywell
- HP
- International Paper
- Kaiser Permanente
- Kimberly-Clark
- Mastercard
- Microsoft
- PepsiCo
- VF Corporation
- Visa
- Waste Management
2020
Visa issued a $500 million green bond to finance projects that help the company accelerate the transformation of its infrastructure and operations to reach its environmental goals. This is the company’s first green bond issuance. (August 2020)
Visa has appointed Douglas Sabo as the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer. (August 2020)
Visa announced plans to support 50 million small and micro businesses (SMBs) in the wake of the pandemic. The company will offer programs that help SMBs transition to digital payment systems, build online businesses, and more. (June 2020)
Visa partnered with CPI Card Group to launch the Earthwise High Content Card—a payment card made with up to 98% upcycled plastic. The EarthWise High Content Card is the first of its kind endorsed by Visa. (June 2020)
The Visa Foundation provided $2 million in COVID-19 relief grants to Feeding America, Food Banks Canada, American Red Cross, Direct Relief, and Children’s Aid. (May 2020)
Included in Ethisphere 2020 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. (March 2020)
Visa achieved 100% renewable electricity for its global operations. The accomplishment will reduce the company’s Scope 2 emissions from facilities and data centers by nearly 90%, compared to 2014 baseline levels. (Jan 2020)
2019
Visa entered a collaborative partnership with strategy consultancy Globescan, IKEA, P&G, VF Corporation, WWF International, and others to launch a new global consumer research study on the topic of Healthy and Sustainable Living. The results are expected in September 2019. (May 2019)
Included in Ethisphere 2019 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. (March 2019)
Visa contributed $1 million to Feeding America's Shutdown Response Fund to help local food banks in the communities that are facing the greatest increase in food assistance needs. (Jan 2019)