Better Health for All
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MercadoLibre's principal goods and services, e-commerce and fintech, are generally health-neutral. However, the company facilitates online pharmaceutical sales in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil, with health product sales in Mexico increasing by 600% in 2020.
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Its subsidiary, Sanarai, provides mental health services to over 4,000 individual clients in the Spanish-speaking Latino/x community.
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Sanarai's initial 30-minute consultation costs $20, and 50-minute emotional support sessions cost $49, paid out-of-pocket.
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Sanarai focuses on the Spanish-speaking Latino/x community, with 20% of its users from California.
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The company publishes an annual impact report and transparency report, has a whistleblowing hotline, and a privacy policy.
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It has a data security and cybersecurity program, with 43,367 people trained in cybersecurity and 9,520 in data privacy.
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MercadoLibre provides well-being programs to its employees, which may include mental health support.
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It requires gaming platforms using Mercado Pago to verify identity documents to prevent minors from accessing accounts and uses automatic filters to reject payments from minors to gaming sites.
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Sanarai includes a blog with educational content, and MercadoLibre offers financial education programs for young individuals aged 16-18.
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Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Mercado Pago provided 60% of new users with their first access to loans, and 1 in 2 SMEs received their first credit offer through the platform.
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The company allocated USD 106.4 million to 216,715 loans for SMEs and entrepreneurs, which represents approximately 0.44% of the total USD 24 billion in loans granted.
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The company faced fines including BRL 7.45 million (USD 1.23 million) from ANVISA, R$ 7.3 million (USD 1.2 million) for misleading advertising, and R$ 210k (USD 34k) for the sale of prohibited agrochemicals.
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MercadoLibre and Mercado Pago secured ISO 27001 certification in 2024 and hold PCI-DSS and PCI-PIN certifications.
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The company states that 85% of new users generate returns on their balances, and 73%+ of SMEs on the platform are family-owned businesses.
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35% of sellers used loans for inventory, and 18% for working capital.
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The company completed the allocation of a USD 400 million Sustainability Bond, issued in January 2021, with a fixed annual interest rate of 2.375%.
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Mercado Pago partners with Junior Achievement to teach basic financial education to thousands of public school students in five countries and with Emprende Pro Mujer and others to provide financial education for women entrepreneurs.
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Seven out of ten young digital account holders report Mercado Pago helps them learn financial management.
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The company operates in 18 countries across Latin America, with Mercado Credito available in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile.
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Mercado Pago is transforming into a digital bank in Mexico.
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The company's self-service tools use machine learning to accelerate response times and avoid long processes, while ensuring access to human support.
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Fair Pay & Worker Respect
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MercadoLibre's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 1589:1 in 2024.
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The company reported a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.22 in 2023 and a Lost-Time Incident Rate of 0.07 in 2024, with zero fatalities in 2023.
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Employee engagement was 91% in 2024, and the voluntary turnover rate for non-operational roles was 5.2% in 2024.
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However, 50-60% of the workforce is on precarious contract terms, and the company had five significant labor-law breaches documented in the past three years, including 195 substantiated human rights violations in 2024 and fines totaling over $1.2 million USD in Brazil for various compliance issues.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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MercadoLibre reported no suppliers identified with a significant risk of child labor or forced labor during the reporting period.
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The company has a whistleblower hotline with predefined Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for resolution, ranging from 30 to 60 days.
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The MELI Code+ (Code of Ethics for Suppliers and Business Partners) was launched in 2024, applicable to all suppliers and business partners, with compliance being a prerequisite for engagement.
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However, there is no stated percentage of all supplier contracts that include enforceable ethical-sourcing clauses. Regarding materials, 60% of boxes used in operations include 50% recycled material, and plastic bags in Mexico include 55% recycled content.
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While 94.8% of suppliers are local,
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there is no specific percentage of the procurement budget directed to indigenous, minority, or local community suppliers.
Honest & Fair Business
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MercadoLibre incurred approximately $4.92 million in ethics-related regulatory fines across 2023 and 2024, primarily in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Colombia.
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These fines were for issues such as selling unregistered or prohibited products, misleading advertising, and non-compliance with consumer legislation.
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Some of these fines are currently under appeal.
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The company has a Whistleblowing Hotline available 24/7 to all employees and the wider value chain, managed by an external provider, guaranteeing confidentiality and anonymity, with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for resolution ranging from 30 to 60 days.
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In 2024, 2,079 reports were lodged, of which 1,258 involved potential human rights violations, with 1,115 closed and 195 substantiated.
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The company's 2024 10-K filing mentions no financial restatements, but historical emissions data was updated due to a GWH to GJ conversion error in 2023.
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Board of Directors' members are required to submit quarterly declarations regarding related parties in compliance with SEC regulations.
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MercadoLibre has an Anti-Corruption Policy and a risk-based Anti-Corruption Program, conducting due diligence on 100% of transactions involving potential corruption risk.
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In 2024, 8,262 people were trained in anti-corruption policies and the MELI Code, and 610 organizations are monitored by its Third-Party Anti-Corruption Risk Management Program.
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The company holds ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, and PCI-PIN certifications, which involve external audits, but states that no external verification has been performed for its impact reports.
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Kind to Animals
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Mercado Libre has invested $24.2 million in its "Regenera América" program, which aims to restore and conserve 15,199 hectares of forests in Latin America.
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In 2023, the program invested $23.5 million across nine projects, restoring or conserving 14,500 hectares of native forest, equivalent to 13 million trees.
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The company also combats illegal wildlife trade, having removed over 80,000 irregular content items related to flora, fauna, and their derived products in the first half of 2025.
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Mercado Libre actively engages in public policy by collaborating with local police and environmental authorities, providing information for investigations, and partnering with the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online since 2022.
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It also works with organizations like WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to detect and act against publications of endangered species, aligning with international conventions like CITES.
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Mercado Libre's sites are prohibited from selling animals and plants, and its sites in Colombia, Brazil, and Chile prohibit and restrict the sale of animal and plant products.
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No War, No Weapons
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MercadoLibre prohibits the sale of firearms and weapons across its platforms in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile, and generally prohibits over 40 categories of products including firearms.
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The company states it actively complies with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and its performance metrics are published.
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MercadoLibre monitors 610 companies and organizations through its Third-Party Anti-Corruption Risk Management Program.
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The company uses AI for civilian applications like brand protection and online loans, and has AI Principles and an AI Governance Policy for responsible and secure internal use.
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MercadoLibre's Code of Ethics for suppliers and business partners states they must not do business with countries, persons, or organizations on international sanctions lists and must comply with embargo and sanctions regulations.
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The company's ethical red lines, as defined in its Code of Ethics, include a zero-tolerance policy for mistreatment and discrimination.
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The company reported an 88.6% closure rate for complaints, with 1,258 reports involving potential human rights violations, of which 195 were substantiated.
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Planet-Friendly Business
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Mercado Libre's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 2,351,772.7 tCO2e in 2024.
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Scope 1 and 2 emissions increased by 38.18% and Scope 3 emissions increased by 11.23% in 2024 compared to 2023.
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The company signed a commitment letter to SBTi in 2022 and continues to work on Science Based Targets, with validation pending.
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In 2024, 43.8% of its operational energy consumption was from renewable sources, with a target to reach 100% clean energy by 2035.
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The waste diversion rate was 77% in 2024, and a reverse logistics program recovered over 90% of returned products.
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The Regenera América program has invested $24.2 million to restore or conserve 15,199 hectares of forests, with an estimated carbon capture of 500,000 tCO2e over 30 years.
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All secondary packaging is recyclable, reusable, or compostable, and 77% of cardboard boxes contain at least 30% recycled content or are FSC certified.
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Packaging weight was reduced by 20% in Brazil and Mexico.
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The company published a TCFD report.
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Investment in climate adaptation for vulnerable communities is not explicitly detailed, but $12.8 million of $18 million committed to the Regenera America program is noted.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
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Mercado Libre has over 4,800 registered organizations in Latin America participating in its Mercado Libre Solidario program.
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The company directs 94.8% of its investment to local suppliers.
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It allocated BRL 42+ million to 63 initiatives celebrating Brazilian popular culture and sponsors the Parintins Festival.
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Over R$ 62 million has been invested in social and environmental initiatives in Brazil as of January 2, 2026.
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A whistleblowing hotline is available to all employees and those within the wider value chain, and a bot provides guidance on the MELI Code.
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Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for complaint resolution range from 30 to 60 days based on severity.
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The MELI Code has a regional focus, considering cultural contexts, and 87.5% of team members have completed the MELI Code e-Learning program.
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Any violation of the Code is investigated by an Internal Investigations team following a Report Handling Protocol.
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Safe & Smart Tech
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Mercado Libre experienced a data breach in March 2022, affecting approximately 300,000 users, with unauthorized access to part of its source code.
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The company stated that no sensitive information like payment details or passwords was compromised.
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Mercado Libre has established AI Principles and an AI Governance Policy to ensure responsible AI use, and continuously validates algorithms to reduce false results.
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Users have the right to request a review of decisions based on automated data processing and can obtain information about evaluation criteria and profiling programs.
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The company reported training 43,367 people in cybersecurity and uses phishing simulations.
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Mercado Libre states it does not sell or commercialize data that may identify users and keeps data only as long as necessary, deleting or anonymizing it afterwards.
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The company complies with various data protection laws across multiple countries and reported 0 cases of non-compliance identified by regional and international bodies.
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It also states that it mitigates and remedies potential security incidents in a timely manner, with 4,169 incidents mitigated in a recent period.
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Mercado Libre offers a Brand Protection Program for reporting intellectual property violations, with 91% of listings taken down for IP violations identified proactively.
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The company uses biometrics for identity validation and states users are responsible for password confidentiality.
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Mercado Libre publishes a Transparency Report every six months, with the latest covering H1 2024, and handled 92% of 1,202,923 user privacy rights requests through automated tools in H1 2024.
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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No evidence available to assess MercadoLibre, Inc. on Zero Waste & Sustainable Products.