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Microsoft makes 'carbon negative' pledge Microsoft makes 'carbon negative' pledge
(about 1 hour later)
Microsoft has pledged to remove "all of the carbon" from the environment that it has emitted since the company was founded in 1975.Microsoft has pledged to remove "all of the carbon" from the environment that it has emitted since the company was founded in 1975.
Chief executive Satya Nadella said he wanted to achieve the goal by 2050. Chief executive Satya Nadella said he wanted to achieve the goal by 2050 .
To do so, the company will become "carbon negative" by 2030, removing more carbon from the environment than it emits. To do so, the company aims to become "carbon negative" by 2030, removing more carbon from the environment than it emits.
It goes beyond a pledge by cloud-computing rival Amazon, which intends to go "carbon neutral" by 2040. That goes beyond a pledge by its cloud-computing rival Amazon, which intends to go "carbon neutral" by 2040.
"When it comes to carbon, neutrality is not enough," said Microsoft president Brad Smith."When it comes to carbon, neutrality is not enough," said Microsoft president Brad Smith.
"The carbon in our atmosphere has created a blanket of gas that traps heat and is changing the world's climate," he added in a blog.
"If we don't curb emissions, and temperatures continue to climb, science tells us that the results will be catastrophic."
Carbon neutral v carbon negativeCarbon neutral v carbon negative
When a business says it is carbon neutral, it aims to effectively add no carbon to the atmosphere.When a business says it is carbon neutral, it aims to effectively add no carbon to the atmosphere.
It can do this by:It can do this by:
Until now, most companies have focused on offsetting emissions to achieve neutrality.Until now, most companies have focused on offsetting emissions to achieve neutrality.
This often involves funding projects in developing economies to reduce carbon emissions there, for example building hydroelectric power plants, encouraging families to stop using wood-based stoves, and helping businesses make use of solar power. These reductions are then deducted from the main company's own output.This often involves funding projects in developing economies to reduce carbon emissions there, for example building hydroelectric power plants, encouraging families to stop using wood-based stoves, and helping businesses make use of solar power. These reductions are then deducted from the main company's own output.
The result of this slows carbon emissions rather than reversing them.The result of this slows carbon emissions rather than reversing them.
To be carbon negative a company must actually remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.To be carbon negative a company must actually remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.
Microsoft says it will do this using a range of carbon capture and storage technologies.Microsoft says it will do this using a range of carbon capture and storage technologies.
The announcement was largely welcomed by environmentalists, who said it showed Microsoft was thinking about the bigger picture around climate change and not just its own role. The announcement was largely welcomed by environmentalists, who said it showed Microsoft was thinking about the bigger climate change picture and not just its own role.
But Elizabeth Jardim, a senior campaigner with Greenpeace, warned that Microsoft still needed to address its ongoing relationship with oil and gas companies. "It's a hat trick of sustainability leadership," said Elizabeth Sturcken from the Environmental Defence Fund.
"While there is a lot to celebrate in Microsoft's announcement, a gaping hole remains unaddressed: Microsoft's expanding efforts to help fossil fuel companies drill more oil and gas with machine-learning and other AI technologies," she said. "But to really shift the needle on climate change, we need 1,000 other [companies] to follow-suit and turn rhetoric into action."
Microsoft's plan is still more aggressive than those taken by other tech firms. It puts Microsoft 20 years ahead of its previous plan to become carbon neutral. However, Greenpeace warned that Microsoft still needed to address its ongoing relationship with oil and gas companies.
"While there is a lot to celebrate in Microsoft's announcement, a gaping hole remains unaddressed: Microsoft's expanding efforts to help fossil fuel companies drill more oil and gas with machine-learning and other AI technologies," said senior campaigner Elizabeth Jardim.
Microsoft's plan is still more aggressive than those taken by other tech firms, including Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon, which have not made "carbon negative" commitments.
How will Microsoft achieve its goal?How will Microsoft achieve its goal?
Microsoft has suggested a range of ways it could remove carbon from the atmosphere, including:Microsoft has suggested a range of ways it could remove carbon from the atmosphere, including:
Tech companies' manufacturing and data storage centres create large amounts of carbon emissions. Tech companies' manufacturing and data-processing centres create large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Microsoft said it planned to halve emissions created directly by the company and across its supply chain by 2030. By one estimate, the sector will account for up to 3.6% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions this year, more than double the level in 2007. And it has been forecast that in a worst-case scenario, this could grow to 14% by 2040.
The company will still be creating carbon emissions, but the firm said it would invest in technology such as carbon capturing to offset the problem. Microsoft has said it plans to halve emissions created directly by itself and those involved in its supply chain by 2030.
Microsoft said its data centres and other facilities would use 100% renewable energy by 2025. One way the company intends to do this is by increasing the carbon fees it charges its internal business groups.
Since 2012, Microsoft has forced its divisions to set budgets that take account of the cost of emissions created through electricity use, business travel and other activities.
Now that charge will incorporate indirect emissions such as those created by customers using electricity to power the divisions' products.
And since Microsoft cannot avoid producing CO2 altogether, it will invest in technologies to capture and store the gas to reduce the amount in the atmosphere.
Mr Smith said this would involve tech "that doesn't fully exist today".
The firm added that its data centres and other facilities would use 100% renewable energy by 2025.
How do Microsoft's plans compare to rivals?
Software-maker Intuit has also pledged to be carbon negative by 2030.
The Californian company has said it will reduce emissions by 50 times more than its 2018 carbon footprint.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos announced in September 2019 that his company would be carbon neutral by 2040.
His pledge included plans to buy 100,000 electric vehicles for the online retailer's delivery fleet.
Google has launched a set of digital tools to allow cities to track and reduce emissions. The search giant also offsets its own emissions by investing in green projects.