I have known for years that the there is overwhelming evidence that the carbon we pump into the atmosphere appears to be causal in increasing the planets temperature. However, I was today years old when I found out that the carbon I emit will remain in the atmosphere for 200 years!
I was fascinated to listen to Microsoft announce its plans to be carbon negative by 2030! Here is the plan:
Based on this science and math, we’re launching today an aggressive plan to reduce Microsoft’s own carbon emissions. It has three broad components.
First, we will drive down our scope 1 and 2 emissions to near zero by the middle of this decade through the following steps:
By 2025, we will shift to 100 percent supply of renewable energy, meaning that we will have power purchase agreements for green energy contracted for 100 percent of carbon emitting electricity consumed by all our data centers, buildings, and campuses.
- We will electrify our global campus operations vehicle fleet by 2030.
- We will pursue International Living Future Institute Zero Carbon certification and LEED Platinum certification for our Silicon Valley Campus and Puget Sound Campus Modernization projects.
Second, we will reduce our scope 3 emissions by more than half by 2030 through new steps, including the following:
- In July 2020, we will start phasing in our current internal carbon tax to cover our scope 3 emissions. Currently this fee is $15/metric ton and covers all scope 1 and 2 emissions, plus scope 3 travel emissions. Unlike some other companies, our internal carbon tax isn’t a “shadow fee” that is calculated but not charged. Our fee is paid by each division in our business based on its carbon emissions, and the funds are used to pay for sustainability improvements.
Highly profitable companies that take bold business focused actions on carbon emissions can, hopefully, grant permission to our elected officials to do the same thing without being encumbered by political baggage.
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