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Uber announces 'Planet' option in Mexico, to compensate and reduce carbon footprint

The Uber Planet trip option was previously called Uber Eco in Costa Rica, where it was first available in Latin America

Photo: Screenshot/Uber
  • Through the purchase of carbon credit certificates, Uber investments will be made in the conservation of the forests of the Estado de Mexico and Puebla; in addition to a wind project in Oaxaca.
  • By January 2022, more than 450 driver-partners are expected to replace their current vehicles with a hybrid or electric one.

Uber Planet arrives in Mexico on Wednesday, a new mobility alternative with which users will be able to offset the carbon footprint of their requested trips through the Uber app. Besides, Uber announced it is including programs and partnerships to encourage driver-partners to switch to a hybrid or electric vehicle in Mexico.

The Uber Planet trip option was previously called Uber Eco in Costa Rica, where it was first available in Latin America. With Uber Planet, riders are able to know through a report the tons of CO2 that are offset during the trip and the visualization of the carbon credits acquired at the end of each month. The additional cost of each trip using Uber Planet will be $0.37 per kilometer traveled.

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“At Uber, we are working and investing every day in products and innovations that contribute to a different mobility than what we had before COVID-19; For this reason, today we present Uber Planet, a solution to generate more sustainable trips that help build healthier and greener cities in favor of people, where the well-being of the planet and the health of all are prioritized,” explained Gretta González, general director of shared trips of Uber Mexico, in a press statement.

Uber Planet option is made through an alliance with Anaconda Carbon, a company that will be in charge of measuring, mitigating, and compensating the carbon footprint produced by the trips requested by users through Uber Planet in Mexico.

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The carbon credits that Uber will acquire through Anaconda will support conservation projects, which are certified and backed by the United Nations and by Climate Action Reserve, such as the San Jerónimo Zacapexco Forest, in Estado de Mexico; of San Rafael Ixtapalucan and Santiago Coltzingo, in the State of Puebla; also, the Oaxaca I, II and III Wind Complex, located on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the State of Oaxaca.

Likewise, this new product includes programs and alliances to encourage driver-partners to change their vehicle for a hybrid or electric one, so that in this way not only the carbon footprint is compensated, but rather that it is reduced to zero. By January 2022, more than 450 driver-partners are expected to be able to replace their vehicles with these eco-friendly and environmentally friendly models.

“At Uber, we are committed to doubling down on our sustainability efforts. For this reason, we will continue to invest in innovations such as Uber Planet, in addition to promoting multimodality, so that through technological solutions we can all build a more sustainable and responsible country with our cities and above all, with the environment; let’s take care of the planet one trip at a time,” concluded González.

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