RATING
Neutral
SECTOR
Other Credit Granting
Chief Sustainability Officer
Jaxon Love
Contact Details:
LinkedIn
Stock Exchange and Ticker
NASDAQ: PYPL
Website
Contact
T: (402) 935-2258
E.mail: N/A
Listing
- #123 World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies (2022)
- #45 World’s Best Employers (2022)
- America’s Best Employers By State (2022)
- #282 Best Employers for Women (2022)
- #216 Global 2000 (2022)
- #20 Best Employers for Diversity (2022)
- #26 America’s Best Large Employers (2022) Dropped off in 2023
- #8 America’s Best Employers (2021)
- #26 Just Companies (2021)
Awards
- Fortune Blue Ribbon Companies award
- TIME 100 Most Influential Companies
- Financial Times Diversity Leaders
- 2021 CPA Zicklin Index – Trend Setter
- CDP Climate Rating A
- Bloomberg Equality Index
- Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality
- Glassdoor Best Places to Work
- Forbes World’s Best Employers 2021
- America’s Most JUST Companies, 2022
- Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators, 2021
- Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies
- Engage for Good Golden Halo for Business
- Fortune Change the World
- Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators in the U.S.
- U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership National 100
Revenue
$25.371B
Market Capitalisation
$99.23B
Employees
30,900
Content source
PayPal Sustainability Report
Evaluation of PayPal
PayPal has made conscious progress towards sustainability, which is reflected in targets, certifications, frameworks and recognition, and share of renewable energy. The company has not been subjected to major controversies recently and has kept a rather positive image. Some aspects which would require more focus from PayPal include its reporting. Targets are not as clearly delineated, but on the other hand the report follows five notable frameworks and was subjected to third party verification. Another aspect includes the circular economy and how PayPal plans to address this issue itself and through suppliers. Overall, PayPal’s sustainability performance is good, with a Neutral outlook and in order to achieve A rating the company will have to perform better.
Sustainability Scorecard
PayPal Company Activity
PayPal Holdings, Inc. was developed as a technology platform for digital payments. The product portfolio includes PayPal, PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, and Paydiant. It creates better ways to manage and move money, and offers choice and flexibility when sending payments, paying or getting paid. It allows its customers to use their account for both purchase and paying for goods, as well as to transfer and withdraw funds. Furthermore, it enables consumers to exchange funds with merchants using funding sources, which include bank account, PayPal account balance, PayPal credit account, credit and debit card or other stored value products. Lastly, it offers consumers person-to-person payment solutions through its PayPal website and mobile application, Venmo and Xoom. PayPal was founded in December 1998 and is headquartered in San Jose, CA.
PayPal Sustainability Activity - As per company declarations
PayPal believes that financial security is critical to the resilience of individuals, organisations, and communities, impacted by a changing climate. As part of their mission to democratise financial services, PayPal is exploring opportunities to mobilise their payments platform and manage their global environmental impacts to support an equitable transition to a climate-neutral economy. They are committed to managing their key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) opportunities and risks in a way that is consistent with these values and demonstrates their dedication to operate as a responsible global citizen. Additionally, the company is working to maximise the positive impact of their business by advancing their environmental sustainability program, by mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions, managing their water consumption and resilience, and enhancing their waste management practices.
Certificate & Labels, Standards and Frameworks
- ISO 27001
- ISO 45001
- The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
- Value Reporting Foundation’s SASB standards for the Software & IT Services and Consumer Finance industries
- Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
- World Economic Forum’s Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics (SCM)
- Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TCFD)
- Independent Limited Assurance Statement
- For both offices and data center electronics, IT asset disposal service providers maintain certification to the R2, e-Stewards or WEEE standard for responsible e-waste management
PayPal in the news: Press Reviews and Social Media
PayPal controversy: App backtracks on new policy to fine $2500 for misinformation
PayPal and America’s Pending Social Credit System | Opinion
Paypal got backlashed for releasing a policy update that said users would have to pay up to $2,500 in damages for spreading misinformation — which the company has since called an error.
PayPal halts payment support to PornHub models | Reuters
PayPal stopped payment support to PornHub’s models after it found the adult entertainment website made certain payments without the permission of the payment processor. MindGeek commented, this decision would impact payouts to over a hundred thousand performers who rely on them for their livelihoods.
Highlights from PayPal Sustainability Report
Achievements
- SDG compliance
- Frameworks
- Progress towards the goals
Weaknesses and Setbacks
- Reporting could be improved, especially reporting on targets
Targets vs Progress Reported
| Target | Results reported |
|---|---|
| Carbon Negative | |
| Carbon negative by 2030 and remove historical emissions since the company was founded in 1975 by 2050 | - Allocated $471 million to date via Climate Innovation Fund to accelerate carbon, water and waste goals - Contracted for 2.5M metric tons of carbon removal in FY21 and FY22 (meeting 2 year goal) - Improved device efficiency; Surface Pro 8 is one of the most energy efficient Surface Pro devices ever The new Surface Laptop Studio has a 30% smaller carbon footprint than its predecessor, the Surface Book 3 13” Energy-saving mode, a new low-power standby mode for Xbox consoles, uses as little as 0.5W |
| Reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions to near zero by 2025 through energy efficiency work and by reaching 100% renewable energy - Azure datacenters running on 100% renewable energy by 2025 n |
- Scope 1 emissions have been increasing since 2018 - Scope 2 location-based emissions have been increasing since 2017 - Scope 2 market-based emissions have been decreasing since 2019 - The share of renewable energy used is not disclosed - Company reported that it reduced Scope 1 and 2 by 16.9% - Signed new PPAs for 5.8 GW of renewable energy in FY21 - Microsoft is using Bonsai, a low-code AI platform to improve the efficiency of its Redmond campus chiller plants, which provide the air conditioning within an HVAC system - All lighting is high-efficiency LED with motion detection - Cooling systems are integrated with the servers, providing cooling only when the servers require it - At the Bengaluru Cosmo office site, installed an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with flywheel to store kinetic energy to provide backup power without the need for lead acid batteries - Sweden datacenter will be fully supplied with hourly energy consumption with an offshore wind farm |
| By 2030, 100% of electricity consumption will be matched by zero carbon energy purchases 100% of the time | - All purchased energy since 2018 has been from renewable sources - Donated $100 million to Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst initiative |
| By 2030, reduce Scope 3 emissions by more than half from a 2020 baseline | - 87% of in-scope suppliers reported emissions to CDP - Scope 3 emissions increased by 22.7% (driven by growth of cloud services business and an increase in sales and usage of devices) - Finished a complete conversion of primary distribution center in Europe to 100% renewable energy - Released a set of in-depth capacity building tools and resources, developed in partnership with ENGIE Impact, WSP, and CDP to help companies report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set strategies to reduce emissions from electricity |
| Committed to electrifying global campus vehicle feet of 1,800 vehicles by 2030 (TARGET IN PROGRESS) | - Series of pilot programs to be launched |
| Committed to certifying Microsoft data-centers and major offices to LEED Gold or Platinum | - Four data centres are LEED Gold certified and 74 projects are going through certification |
| Be diesel-free by 2030 (target “under construction”) | - Assessing the long-term feasibility of deploying large batteries as backup power for critical infrastructure - Piloting hydrogen fuel cells as viable green energy for backup power - Puget Sound campus modernization project removed natural gas from the campus |
| Water Positive | |
| By 2030, replenish more water than is used, by reducing the water intensity of direct operations and replenish in water-stressed regions where the company operates | - Water consumption in 2017 was 1,913ML, in 2021 it reached 4,478ML - Invested in replenishment projects expected to generate 1.3M cubic metres of water benefits (45% of global water consumption across operations) - New datacenter region in Arizona uses zero water for cooling - In Hyderabad, India, Microsoft is piloting air-to-water generators to help offset 4 million litres of ground water extraction per year - Pioneering research and implementation of liquid immersion cooling - Investigating and piloting turning up the heat in datacenters; the higher server inlet temperatures will reduce cooling hours and water use - Silicon Valley campus with a net zero water certification - Microsoft and Gila River Water Storage are recharging and replenishing groundwater levels in the cities of Goodyear and El Mirage, Arizona, contributing an estimated additional 610,000 cubic meters - Microsoft supported three water restoration projects in the Columbia River Basin near Quincy, Washington |
| By 2024, reduce water waste in datacenter operations by 95% | - Microsoft is using the Smart Water Navigator (developed with Ecolab) in datacenters to prioritise and manage incoming water quality sources like recycled water |
| Provide 1.5 million more people with access to clean water and sanitization services | - Via partnership with Water.org 242,988 people were provided water access in Mexico, India, and Indonesia - Delivered 670M liters of water benefits per year via programs with Water.org |
| Zero Waste | |
| Become zero waste across direct business by 2030 | - Total waste generated in 2017 was 26,059 metric tons, in 2019 reached 46,178 metric tons and in 2021 dropped to 22,518 metric tons - Certified four data centers as Zero Waste with new certifications - 11 campuses now have customized roadmaps to achieve zero waste by 2030. The Puget Sound campus has been Zero Waste certified since 2016 |
| By 2025, 90% of servers and components within regional datacenter networks will be reused | - Planned 5 Circular Centers in FY22 - 76% reuse rate in 2021, 11% less than 2020 |
| By 2025, eliminate single-use plastics in all Microsoft primary product packaging and all IT asset packaging in datacenter | - Reduced single-use plastics in product packaging by 18% in FY21 - Eliminated a single-use plastic product, reducing over 500,000 kg of plastic annually - Over the past year, the Amsterdam Circular Center model has achieved 83% reuse and 17% recycling of cloud hardware |
| By 2030, design Surface devices, Xbox products and accessories, and all Microsoft product packaging to be 100% recyclable in OECD countries | - Achieved a 97% recyclable Xbox Series X and S, and a 93% recyclable metal Surface Laptop 4 - 75% of all Xbox Design Lab controllers now utilise post-consumer recycled plastic - Introduced several new Xbox Wireless Controllers, built using over 30%t post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials; and the Ocean Plastic Mouse, which has a plastic shell made with 20% recycled ocean plastic |
| By 2030, achieve 90% diversion of operational waste at datacenters and campuses and 75% diversion for all construction and deconstruction projects | - Diverted more than 15,200 metric tons of solid waste across direct operations in FY21 - 78.4% diversion rate in 2021 - The Puget Sound project is currently achieving over 90% diversion |
| Ecosystems | |
| Aggregate environmental data from around the world and put it to work through computing and machine learning in a new Planetary Compute | - Released the Planetary Computer and have over 500 users signed up - Made available 24 petabytes of data available in the Planetary Computer - The AI for Earth program has provided more than 850 grants since 2017 |
| Take responsibility for the ecosystem impacts of Microsoft’s direct operations by protecting more land than the company uses by 2025 | Invested to protect more than 17,000 acres of land in FY21 (5000 acres above the goal) |
