2025 is a notable yr on this planet’s continued efforts towards a extra sustainable future. It marks the five-year countdown to 2030, the top of the timeline for the Sustainable Growth Targets (SDGs). 2025 may even be the 30th convening of the UN Local weather Change Convention—often known as COP30—and it’s happening in Brazil, each a symbolically and strategically necessary nation on this planet’s struggle in opposition to local weather change and environmental degradation.
Additionally it is a notable yr for Microsoft. Along with celebrating the 50th anniversary of our firm’s founding, it’s the midpoint of our personal sustainability journey. In 2020 we introduced our ambitions to be carbon adverse, water constructive, and 0 waste by 2030, all whereas defending ecosystems. We’ve made super progress over the previous 5 years, and we’re pleased with what we’ve completed. We’ve additionally discovered classes alongside the best way, classes that always inform and form our path towards 2030 and past.
The objectives that we set in 2020 mirrored what we believed we would have liked to do with a purpose to assist push the world towards a net-zero financial system. I joined Microsoft on this journey two years in the past—turning into our Chief Sustainability Officer in January 2023—and I proceed to be impressed by the work of staff throughout the corporate of their relentless pursuit of those objectives.
- In June 2020, we introduced our largest energy PPA thus far on the time—a 500MW PPA with Sol Programs. At present, we’re one of many largest carbon-free vitality patrons on this planet, with a 34-gigawatt (GW) contracted renewable vitality portfolio throughout 24 international locations thus far. We’re bringing extra carbon-free electrical energy onto the grids the place we function, and we proceed to advocate for the growth of fresh vitality options all over the world.
- A key part of our water constructive aim is to replenish extra water than we eat throughout our world operations. We’ve grown our replenishment portfolio to 90 tasks in over 40 places all over the world.
- On our journey to grow to be zero waste, we’re discovering alternatives to maintain electronics in circulation. The repairability of our present portfolio of Floor gadgets has developed considerably from our first field-repairable product in 2019. That is additionally true of Xbox, which just lately introduced how they’re working to develop the variety of methods gamers can get help to restore their consoles and equipment.
- We exceeded our land safety aim, with 15,849 acres of protected land and surpassed our preliminary goal of 11,000 acres by greater than 40%.
That is solely a snapshot of the actual progress we’ve made during the last 5 years. We’ve a longstanding dedication to sustainability, and our expertise reveals us that the investments and improvements we’ve centered on are good for our firm, our prospects, the financial system, and our planet. Each funding has additionally been a studying alternative, an opportunity to check our assumptions and regulate as wanted.
Whereas we’re pleased with these achievements, we all know that our work is way from over, and that the trail forward has gotten tougher. The world just isn’t on observe to fulfill essential local weather objectives and we see many of those challenges mirrored in our personal journey.
In 2020, Microsoft leaders referred to our sustainability objectives as a “moonshot,” and almost 5 years later, we’ve needed to acknowledge that the moon has gotten additional away. Nevertheless, the power creating this distance from our objectives within the brief time period is identical one that may assist us construct an even bigger, quicker, and extra highly effective rocket to achieve them in the long run: synthetic intelligence (AI). This isn’t hyperbole. Already, we’re seeing AI make a constructive influence on the planet, and within the coming years, this know-how will start to quickly speed up local weather options at a scale we’ve not but seen. In November 2023, we launched our AI and Sustainability Playbook, which highlights 5 foundational enabling circumstances wanted to unlock AI’s full transformative potential for accelerating sustainability progress. In January, we shared a report that highlights our progress and the improvements which have superior every of these 5 pillars.
Constructing the AI financial system of the long run is a high precedence for our enterprise, however we’re additionally within the enterprise of sustainability. As CSO, it’s my job to make sure that these twin mandates are working collectively.
To attain this, we have to run our sustainability initiatives like we run the remainder of our enterprise: guaranteeing that our focus is on the highest-impact interventions that really transfer the needle on the subject of planetary influence.
Carbon Neutrality
Microsoft introduced that it was carbon impartial in 2012, a number of years forward of our bold aim to be carbon adverse by 2030. Microsoft’s prior years reaching carbon neutrality had been based mostly on a standard mixture of environmental attributes bought with funds from our corporate-wide carbon charge and our total carbon emissions discount efforts. This can be a prime instance of the place we’ve discovered and adjusted alongside our journey. Whereas we proceed to use the carbon charge to investments in emissions reductions, we’ve ceased buying non-additional, unbundled renewable vitality certificates. We’re refocusing using these funds on extra long-term, higher-impact investments throughout carbon discount, carbon removing, and clear electrical energy procurement. These interventions are anticipated to extra successfully assist us obtain our aim of turning into carbon adverse by 2030 and will take us out of carbon-neutral place.
We may even proceed to spend money on revolutionary local weather options by means of our $1B Local weather Innovation Fund (CIF). Since launching the CIF in 2020, Microsoft has dedicated almost $800M to options starting from sustainable fuels and low-carbon constructing supplies to carbon dioxide removing, water innovation, and round financial system applied sciences. We now have a portfolio of 63 investees that we’re serving to to scale. Going ahead, we are going to prolong this technique and proceed to take a position our capital to construct new markets and enhance the market provide of rising sustainable applied sciences to deal with carbon, water, and waste.
We’re proud to proceed making choices that drive constructive environmental influence available in the market and ship high-integrity investments. We stay resolute in our dedication to our local weather objectives and to empowering others with the know-how wanted to construct a extra sustainable future.
In my first yr with Microsoft, I wrote a bit on LinkedIn: Eradicating Roadblocks within the Race to Internet Zero, the place I in contrast reaching our sustainability objectives to coaching for a marathon, noting that “it can take focus, planning, and perseverance to achieve the end line.” At present—and now two years into my position—I wish to add one other comparability, to an African proverb that claims the next: “If you wish to journey quick, journey alone; if you wish to journey far, journey collectively.”
In 2025, the moon is additional away, so all of us should journey collectively and do extra if we’re going to attain it. We’ll proceed to work in shut collaboration with our staff, prospects, suppliers, business friends, companions, and with policymakers to maximise our influence in pursuit of our shared objectives.