Microsoft has outlined radical plans to entirely reverse its carbon footprint by 2050. The tech giant said those who could afford to move faster and go further on reducing carbon emissions should do so.
The US tech giant has pledged to remove all the carbon it has emitted since it was founded in 1975 within the next 30 years.
While other tech firms have been applauded for moving towards carbon-neutral energy sources; Microsoft is the first to pledge to remove carbon it has already emitted from the atmosphere.
Microsofts Chief Executive Satya Nadella made the announcement at the companies HQ in Redmond, Washington explaining that “if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that technology built without these principles can do more harm than good[.] We must begin to offset the damaging effects of climate change” because as global temperatures continue to rise “the results will be devastating”.
In the short term the company plan to cut its carbon emissions by more than 50% by 2030 across its supply chain.
How will Microsoft reduce their emissions?
Microsoft plan on creating a a “Climate Innovation Fund” to invest $1 billion US dollars over the coming four years. The company think that this will allow them to speed up the development of carbon removal technology which they will have to rely on to hit their 2030 target.
Alongside this, the firm will also increase the fee charged internally to its own business groups to account for their carbon emissions. Up to now, that has only accounted for direct emissions resulting from power consumption and travel but it will now count all related emissions. That money will then be used to invest in reducing carbon emissions in other areas of the company.
