Microsoft Will Be Carbon Negative in 10 Years, Will Other Tech Giants Follow?

Microsoft Corp. recently laid down the gauntlet to tech companies. They  announced an ambitious goal to be carbon negative in 10 years, and by 2050 Microsoft says it will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975. The bottomline is Microsoft will be carbon negative in 10 years and that’s a good start.

At an event at its Redmond campus, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, President Brad Smith, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood, and Chief Environmental Officer Lucas Joppa announced the company’s new goals and a detailed plan to become carbon negative.

“While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so. That’s why today we are announcing an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s carbon footprint,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “By 2030 Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.”

The Official Microsoft Blog has more information about the company’s bold goal and detailed plan to remove its carbon footprint: https://blogs.microsoft.com/?p=52558785.

The Goal

The company announced an aggressive program to cut carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, both for direct emissions and for their entire supply and value chain. This includes driving down our their direct emissions and emissions related to the energy they use to near zero by the middle of this decade. It also announced a new initiative to use Microsoft technology to help  suppliers and customers around the world reduce their own carbon footprints and a new $1 billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture and removal technologies.

Beginning next year, the company will also make carbon reduction an explicit aspect of their procurement processes for their supply chain. A new annual Environmental Sustainability Report will detail Microsoft’s carbon impact and reduction journey. And lastly, the company will use its voice and advocacy to support public policy that will accelerate carbon reduction and removal opportunities.

The Challenge

Now that Microsoft has made this commitment, will this push other tech giants to follow suit? Time will tell, but we do know that Microsoft will be carbon negative in 10 years is a good first step.

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The Asia Rising Editorial Team is made up of a multinational team of writers, content experts and journalists from around the world operating out of our Bureaus in New York, Bangkok, Toronto and while on assignment across Asia.