Alibaba's effort to fight desertification gains 500 million app users and counting
- 5 years ago
The popular Chinese payment app, Alipay, is encouraging users to fight desertification. An initiative in the app allows users to engage in low carbon emissions activities to grow virtual trees and collect energy points. With enough energy points, a virtual tree can then be converted into one real tree that will be planted in western China's arid areas, where deserts are encroaching on cities and villages, jeopardising the livelihoods of millions. Alipay is run by Ant Financial, an affiliate of…