Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will be carbon negative by 2030, and by 2050 remove from the environment all the carbon the company has ever emitted since it was founded.
Global tech giant Microsoft has announced the company’s most ambitious climate plan to date.
In a post on the company’s website, Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the company plans to be carbon negative by 2030. Even more ambitious is the announcement that by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has ever emitted – directly or by electrical consumption – since it was founded in 1975.
“While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so,” wrote Smith when explaining the company’s “new plan to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s carbon footprint”.
To achieve this, Microsoft will cut its carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, both for its direct emissions and for its entire supply and value chain. It will fund this plan by expanding its internal carbon fee, which has been in place since 2012 and was increased last year, to start charging not only its direct emissions but also its supply and value chains.
Microsoft also announced a new $1 billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture and removal technologies, as well as an initiative to use Microsoft technology to help its suppliers and customers around the world reduce their own carbon footprints.
“It won’t be easy for Microsoft to become carbon negative by 2030. But we believe it’s the right goal. And with the right commitment, it’s an achievable goal,” wrote Smith. “It’s time to get to work.”
Image credit: Efes Kitap via Pixabay
