A major international bank has launched a new payment monitoring system to track customers’ purchases as part of a crackdown on the general public buying meat and dairy products.
London-based NatWest Bank launched the “carbon footprint tracker” to supposedly tackle the alleged “climate crisis.”
The British multinational bank’s system monitors customers’ spending and scolds customers when they buy meat and dairy products.
The tracker issues alerts that warn customers their food purchases are causing “climate change.”
As part of NatWest’s smartphone banking app, users receive messages when they are caught buying traditionally farmed produce.
They are also urged to “swap out” items such as beef and milk with “alternatives” such as “non-dairy” or “plant-based” products.
The app pressures customers to take part in “veggie Mondays” and warns they should be “choosing (mostly) plant-based” diets to fight “global warming” by reducing their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The alert messages also recommend eating “vegetarian at home” to reduce your “carbon footprint” by 40kg.
By “swapping out beef,” the app alleges an individual could reduce their “carbon footprint” by 12kg.
In addition, users are urged to try adding tofu, lentils, and other “alternatives” to their diets as substitutes for eating meat.
The bank doesn’t draw the line at food, however, and seeks to push the green agenda into all aspects of its customers’ spending.
The app also suggests buying “more second-hand clothes” and taking “fewer flights” in order to comply with the “Net Zero” targets of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Additional warning messages from the bank tell customers to switch off tumble dryers, share car journeys, and wash their clothes in cold water.
Users can also “opt-in” to receive a “monthly carbon score,” which the bank already tracks as default.
However, the move has angered British farmers with its push to crack down on red meat and to replace dairy products with “plant-based alternatives.”
The UK’s National Farmer’s Union (NFU) has criticized NatWest for promoting “oversimplified” messages that “miss the nuance of the path to a sustainable food system.”
A major international bank has launched a new payment monitoring system to track customers’ purchases as part of a crackdown on the general public buying meat and dairy products.
London-based NatWest Bank launched the “carbon footprint tracker” to supposedly tackle the alleged… pic.twitter.com/U3soXTqkd4
— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 23, 2024
Sources:
h/t Little Lost