Microsoft joins the likes of Google, Apple, and other tech companies to make new promises to combat the climate crisis. This time, the tech giant vows to lower its carbon footprint and to capitalize on renewable energy.
In a blog post written by the company’s Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa, the multi-billion tech superpower laid down four main promises to address the climate crisis and reverse the impact that the company made throughout its lifespan.
“The urgency of the climate crisis has by now fully been absorbed, and the conversation has turned to the practical matter of what needs to be done to mitigate the worst impacts of a rapidly changing climate and adapt to that which we cannot avoid,” Microsoft said.
First on the list of promises made by the company is to realign its company’s operation to support the 1.5C strategy, which has been endorsed by climate scientists around the world. The strategy aims to limit the global temperature to rise by only 1.5 Celsius.
“Today, we’re pleased to say that our renewable energy target has been certified by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) as aligned to a 1.5-degree Celsius future. The certification is meaningful for two reasons — first, we believe that actions should be driven by the best available science, and SBTi uses that as core criteria for approval and second, because what is most important is not just setting targets — it’s meeting them.”
As part of this promise, Microsoft said that they would extend the same standards to all their suppliers.
The move of the company to renew commitment on environmental stewardship comes after their employees published an open letter to the company demanding them to stop working with oil companies and to dissociate itself from companies who proliferate the use of fossil fuels.
“Microsoft makes millions of dollars in profits by helping fossil fuel companies extract more oil,” states the letter which refers to the recent partnership of Microsoft with an oil company. “As Microsoft workers, we’ve been made complicit.”
