Microsoft’s chief sustainability officer, Melanie Nakagawa, has argued although the companies 2022 emissions ‘can be counted as progress’ it’s ‘not happening fast enough’
Featuring in a recent LinkedIn article titled “Removing Roadblocks in the Race to Net Zero,” Nakagawa, who joined the company in January, explained how important a carbon-free energy system is in the global pursuit of reaching net zero, especially for companies like Microsoft.
The article comes on the heels of the tech giant’s 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report, which revealed an 18% year-over-year growth, along with a 0.5% reduction in emissions. While Nakagawa admits this progress may seem commendable, she believes “it’s not happening fast enough.”
Highlighted in the report, and echoed by Nakagawa, the main obstacle for Microsoft lies in the fact that a staggering 96% of its emissions stem from “a global energy grid and supply chain”, commonly known as the scope 3 emissions. Last year, its scope 3 saw an increase of 0.5%, a significant improvement from the increase of 23% the year before.
For Microsoft, these emissions included:
- Xbox consoles powered by different electricity grids around the world
- The manufacturing of silicon chips that underpin its cloud and devices
- Steel and concrete used to construct our offices and data centres
“Meeting our company’s carbon negative commitment is intricately interdependent on the world transitioning to clean energy infrastructure.” she said. “Our paths will be similar, and progress will appear slow until the foundations are set in place. Like training for a marathon, it will take focus, planning and perseverance to reach the finish line.”
Nakagawa underscores the urgent need for Microsoft to address and tackle its scope 3 emissions head-on, but she also believes governments play a pivotal role in that challenge.
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A surge is needed in the energy transition
The CSO believes a clean energy infrastructure is essential to accelerate progress and called for governments to “adopt firm carbon and electricity policy positions”, including carbon reporting, reduction policies, removal, and more. Furthermore, Nakagawa argued that implementing cleaner energy infrastructure can also bring economic benefits.
“The countries that build and operate the cleanest grids will have a competitive differentiator for 2030 and beyond, and these are the countries where Microsoft and others will want to invest.”
But, that isn’t to say the responsibility lies only with governments, stating that in a world where energy usage and emissions are on the rise, “we ALL need to mobilise”.
Microsoft has taken steps to this end, including setting commitments to become carbon negative, water positive, zero waste, and protect more land than it uses by 2030. To achieve these goals, the company says it aims to achieve 100% coverage of its electricity consumption with renewables by 2025.
In line with its commitments, Microsoft announced a partnership with Qcells, a global solar leader, in January. The collaboration will support the production of green energy equipment in the regions where it operates.
Microsoft also joined the Climate Pledge in 2020, a climate initiative founded by Amazon. The collective effort calls for signatories to achieve net zero by 2040 at the latest and to actively monitor and disclose their emissions regularly, while also striving to adopt reliable decarbonisation strategies. Furthermore, should the need arise, the Climate Pledge encourages the use of credible offsets as a means to address any remaining environmental impact.
