Microsoft has set an ambitious goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 and removing all the carbon its company has ever emitted from the atmosphere by 2050.
Companies and governments around the world are currently working toward ambitious sustainability targets of becoming carbon-neutral by various target dates. This will require that power generation be switched from fossil fuels to renewable sources, but also that programmes be put in place to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
Energy-intensive company Amazon has already pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2040, with its goal being to switch to 100% renewable energy supply by 2030. The firm is a major producer of CO2 currently due to its global delivery network and power-hungry data centres around the world, and joins other global tech giants such as Google and Facebook in their plans to transition to renewable energy.
Microsoft has now announced that it's going one step further than its global tech rivals with plans to become 'carbon negative' by 2030, removing more CO2 from the environment than it emits. The company has also made an incredible pledge to remove all the carbon it has emitted since its founding in 1975 from the environment by 2050.
On the industry's ambitious carbon neutrality goals, company president Brad Smith commented that "neutral is not enough to address the world’s needs" and that there is "an acute need to begin removing carbon from the atmosphere." The company aims to shift to 100% renewable energy by 2025 across our data centers, buildings, and campuses, and electrify its global vehicle fleet by 2030.
To support the ambitious goal, Microsoft is setting up a $1bn US Climate Innovation Fund that will develop technologies to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. "We understand that this is just a fraction of the investment needed," Microsoft commented, "but our hope is that it spurs more governments and companies to invest in new ways as well."
Source: Microsoft Blog
