Microsoft announces plans to be carbon negative by 2030

Microsoft has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030.

The Microsoft Corporation has announced an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce and remove its carbon footprint.

By 2030, Microsoft will be carbon negative. By 2050, they will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.

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.

Brad Smith, Microsoft President, said: “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.”

Microsoft has detailed an extensive plan to cut carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, both for direct emissions and for their entire supply and value chain.

By 2025, they will shift to 100 percent supply of renewable energy, meaning they will have power purchase agreements for green energy contracted for 100 percent of carbon emitting electricity consumed by all data centres, buildings, and campuses. By 2030, they will electrify their global campus operations vehicle fleet.

The company also announced a new 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. They will also publish an annual Environmental Sustainability Report which will detail thier carbon impact and reduction journey.

Find out more about Microsoft’s plans to be carbon negative here.