Harnessing the power of collective action

Often, the enormity of the climate crisis can leave individuals feeling powerless. Many question the impact of their actions in the face of systems that continue to support unsustainable practices. Yet, it’s crucial to recognise that small changes, when multiplied across millions, can have a significant impact. This belief forms the cornerstone of Cogo’s mission. We believe that the cumulative effect of small sustainable changes by millions of people can propel us forward, together.

At Cogo, we aim to help people understand how their spending affects their carbon footprint and to guide them towards reducing their impact. We believe that measurement is a critical first step in anyone’s climate change journey. Our research shows that people often overestimate the impact of low-impact actions like recycling and underestimate high-impact actions like flying. This is the result of low carbon literacy.

Our products enable individuals and businesses to quantify the carbon emissions associated with their spending. People can see which behaviours have a high carbon footprint and then take more effective action to reduce their impact. Given that consumption is a major driver of climate change, every one of us has a role in mitigating its damaging effects, either by reducing consumption or by making more sustainable choices.

These changes not only contribute to personal carbon savings but also signal to companies the growing importance of sustainability, therefore instigating bottom-up change. Moreover, when aggregated, these individual actions lead to significant collective savings. For instance, insights from our pilot with NatWest revealed that the average user saved approximately 11 kg of CO2 emissions per month by adopting less carbon-intensive behaviours. When replicated across all banking app users, this results in savings exceeding 1 million tonnes of CO2e emissions annually—equivalent to the footprint of a small city. And that's just one partnership!

We currently partner with 20 banks globally, reaching a combined customer base of millions. Our vision is to see more banks join this global movement, empowering more people to take climate action. Collective efforts have the power to effect meaningful change, and as we convene at COP28, this principle of collective action is more important than ever. It’s through our united efforts, both small and large, that we can steer towards a more sustainable future.

Get in touch if you want to be a part of the change.