Microsoft to erase its entire carbon footprint by 2050

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on January 16, 2020 - Duration: 01:43s

Microsoft to erase its entire carbon footprint by 2050

Microsoft said on Thursday it aims to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030 and that by 2050, it hopes to have taken out enough to account for all the direct emissions the company has ever made.


Microsoft to erase its entire carbon footprint by 2050

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA SAYING: "We're announcing an ambitious new plan to help address the sustainability of our planet." Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet on climate change.

The world's largest software company on Thursday pledged that by 2050 it will have removed from the atmosphere the entire amount of carbon the company has emitted since it was founded in 1975.

The first step to getting there, said CEO Satya Nadella, is by going "carbon negative" - removing more carbon than it currently emits, which he said the company will achieve in ten years.

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA SAYING: "This is THE decade for urgent action - for Microsoft and for all of us." To achieve its ambitious goals, the tech giant said it has created a "Climate Innovation Fund," which will invest $1 billion over the next four years to speed up the development of carbon removal technology.

Co-founder Bill Gates was an early backer of Canadian-based Carbon Engineering, one of a handful of companies developing direct air capture technology.

The announcement is the latest in a flurry of corporate climate goals unveiled since President Trump announced in 2017 his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, a global pact to fight climate change.

But many companies have still faced criticism from their employees for doing too little.

Amazon last year pledged to be "net carbon zero" by 2040 and to buy 100,000 electric delivery vans after employees pushed the online retailer to take a tougher stance.

Microsoft on Thursday also said that it will be powered 100 percent by renewable energy sources in five years.

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