Mogo (MOGO.T) reaches the one million mark in trees planted with its reforestation program, veritree.

The idea behind this program is to off-set carbon and maybe try to keep our species alive for another few years. The program includes planting one tree every time a customer makes a purchase using their MogoCard. Now one million trees have been planted in Canada and Kenya.

“One way to stop climate change is by eliminating our carbon footprint and reaching net zero. With an estimated three billion people vulnerable to its effects, climate change is one of the most significant social issues of our time. Reaching net zero is a goal every Canadian can strive for, and Mogo is proud to be making this goal more achievable than ever,” said David Feller, Mogo’s founder and CEO.

Mogo and veritree have enabled reforestation in both Canada and Kenya over the past four months, helping to create jobs and offset the effects of climate change through the restoration of ecosystems. veritree is a restoration technology platform that helps design, track and verify global restoration efforts. Their platform works with Mogo because of the company’s stated carbon-offset mission.

Here are some stats:

• The average MogoCard user plants enough trees every month to offset 6,000lbs of CO2, which represents nearly 2X the average Canadian’s monthly CO2 footprint
• The top MogoCard users offset 27X the average Canadian’s monthly carbon footprint
• 90% of MogoCard users say the card helps them better control their spending
• If only 25% of debit and credit card transactions in Canada were done on the MogoCard, we would be a climate-positive nation

They want to take it a step further. Going beyond reducing CO2 emissions to actually pulling them from the atmosphere, which is a central benefit of planting trees, is required if we’re going to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate targets of limiting global marking to 1.5 degrees Celcius. It’s hard to determine if that’s ever going to happen, but it seems like a worthwhile goal.

“How we spend determines both our level of wealth and our carbon footprint. By using the MogoCard, Canadians are not only in better control of their money while striving for financial freedom, they are fighting climate change. Reaching this milestone and planting more than one million trees is proof that Canadians don’t just want to build wealth; Canadians are serious about taking climate action and will choose products that enable them to have a positive impact and build a better future,” said Feller.

Mogo intends on expanding their sustainability portfolio beyond veritree to reach out to other potential partners, and therefore make it easier for their customers to manage their finances while also reaching a net-zero carbon footprint.

—Joseph Morton