IBM aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
IBM has laid out its plan to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 to do its part in the computing industry's efforts to tackle climate change crisis.
The company said it will have reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2025 compared to its emissions in 2010 and will also procure 75% of the electricity it consumes worldwide from renewable sources by 2025, and hit 90% renewable consumption by 2030.
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It plans to use technologies such as carbon capture by 2030 to remove emissions in "an amount which equals or exceeds the level of IBM's residual emissions" or those emissions IBM still produces after exhausting all avenues to reduce is greenhouse emissions.
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"The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time," said Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM.
IBM's latest environmental report said that in 2019 its operational CO2 emissions were reduced by 11.1% versus 2018 to 1,222,000 metric tons. That figure includes IBM's co-location data centers where it's not responsible for the purchase of electricity. IBM's use of electricity in IBM-managed locations was its biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
However, as The Verge notes, some tech companies do include the supply chain in their measurements of greenhouse emissions. IBM does not and outlines its reasons here.
IBM notes its net-zero target is "based on the energy the company can actually consume, not on the purchase of unrelated, unbundled renewable energy certificates."
Microsoft has also reported that net carbon emissions from it and its supply chain would be negative by 2030. Facebook says it will reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2030, too.
Amazon say it will reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2040. It's on track to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. Google has been carbon neutral since 2007, and it's aiming to run its whole business carbon free by 2030. Meanwhile, Apple is aiming for it and its supply chain to be carbon neutral by 2030.