Microsoft Plans to be Carbon Negative by 2030
- Paul Thurrott
- Jan 16, 2020
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19
Microsoft plans to be carbon negative by the end of this decade, but it has even bigger sustainability plans for the future.
“Today we are making the commitment that by 2030, Microsoft will be carbon-negative,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed in a series of tweets. “Not just across our direct emissions, but across our supply chain too. We must take responsibility to address the carbon footprint of our own technology and company.”
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Another tweet in the series further notes that Microsoft plans to remove from the environment all of the carbon that it has emitted directly or by electrical consumption since its founding in 1975. “We need to cut the cord on carbon,” Microsoft senior vice president Brad Smith added.
For those more familiar with the term carbon-neutral, Microsoft explains that that term means offsetting emissions, while carbon-negative means having a net positive impact on emissions. That is, it will remove more carbons than it emits.
In a related blog post, Microsoft further explains the impetus behind this change.
“The scientific consensus is clear,” the firm notes. “The world confronts an urgent carbon problem. The carbon in our atmosphere has created a blanket of gas that traps heat and is changing the world’s climate. Already, the planet’s temperature has risen by 1-degree centigrade. If we don’t curb emissions, and temperatures continue to climb, science tells us that the results will be catastrophic.”