Microsoft Sustainability News, Milestones, Partnerships and Net Zero Timeline

Microsoft expects to be carbon negative by 2030, and by 2050 the company will remove from the environment all the carbon the firm has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975, the cloud and software giant said in 2020.

Melanie Nakagawa (pictured above), chief sustainability officer, is leading those efforts. But the software company's sustainability goals don't end there.

Microsoft, led by CEO Satya Nadella, also develops cloud-based sustainability software tools for partners and customers to leverage. And the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund continues to invest in sustainable startups.

The timeline below, updated regularly, further explains Microsoft's sustainability strategy, key milestones, customer engagements, partner integrations and more. Check back regularly for updates.

October 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Cloud Services: Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability has gained several updates, including enhancements to (1) AI-powered analytics and reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, (2) the general availability of what-if analysis and intelligent insights, and (3) updates to Project ESG Reporting, according to a blog from Brandon Potter, director for Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.
• Partnership - IT Consulting and Cloud Services: Infosys and Microsoft expanded their existing cloud partnership. Among the key areas of focus: The Infosys Energy Management Solution, coupled with Microsoft's commitment to sustainability, will "accelerate the net zero journey for customers," the two companies said.

September 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Green Hydrogen Data Centers: Microsoft will leverage zero emissions green hydrogen in its data center power control and administration building in Dublin, Ireland, the software company said. The pilot project taps ESB Hydrogen Fuel Cells for power.
• Talent - Carbon Removal Expertise: Microsoft has hired Shell veteran Jessica Hinojosa as carbon removal program manager. On LinkedIn, she wrote: "I’m doubling down on my belief that the VCM [Voluntary Carbon Market] is critical to reaching any of our climate targets, and we need more ambitious movement in this space. Though it might be a little trite, I think the quote that sums it all up is the old proverb about tree planting: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
• Lessons Learned: Microsoft has introduced the Leader’s Guide to Sustainable Business Transformation, which offers "practical tips" on building a "culture and infrastructure around ESG data," and provides context for taking the Microsoft ESG Data Readiness Assessment, according to a blog from Sadie Williams, senior director of product marketing for sustainability.
• Data Centers and Gas Power Debate: Microsoft is being urged to ditch plans to power its new Wisconsin data center with gas amid fears that work on the facility could lock the US state into “30 more years of fossil fuels," Data Center Dynamics reported.
• Data Centers and Nuclear Energy: Constellation Energy and Microsoft have signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart of its kind, Reuters reported. Microsoft, rivals and tech investors are exploring various nuclear energy options to power AI data centers.
• Funding: BlackRock is planning a more than $30B artificial intelligence investment fund with Microsoft to build data centers and energy projects to fill the growing demand for AI, SeekingAlpha reported.
• AI and Energy Consumption: In a blog, Microsoft CTO Mark Russinovich, CTO and technical fellow for Microsoft Azure, describes how Microsoft is "advancing the power and energy efficiency of AI."
• Funding - Water Resilience: WaterEquity has raised more than $100 million for its Water & Climate Resilience Fund. The fund will invest in businesses focused on water stewardship, sustainable development, and climate resilience. Key investors include the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Starbucks and Xylem also are strategic investors, alongside Ecolab, Reckitt, Gap Inc., and others, WaterEquity said.
• E-Waste Reduction: Microsoft is using robots to recycle hard drives and reduce e-waste.
• Talent: Microsoft has introduced a new supplier decarbonization team focused on addressing the growing carbon footprint of its cloud and AI operations, ESG Today reported. Key names to know, according to the report, include:
  • Tim Hopper, Cloud Supply Chain Sustainability Manager;
  • Ray Waweru, Senior Program Manager, Cloud Services Sustainability; and
  • Sofia Khan, Scope 3 Decarbonization.
• Data Centers and Renewable Energy Concerns: Tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta say they buy enough wind, solar or geothermal power every time a big data center comes online to cancel out its emissions, The Washington Post reports. But critics see a shell game with these contracts: The companies are operating off the same power grid as everyone else, while claiming for themselves much of the finite amount of green energy, the Post asserted. Utilities are then backfilling those purchases with fossil fuel expansions, regulatory filings show, the report claimed.

August 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Cloud Services for Energy Companies: Microsoft GM Sverre Brandsberg Dahl is touting various cloud services to help energy companies reduce their carbon emissions.
• Singapore - Solar Power: Microsoft has agreed to buy solar power generated by panels on hundreds of public housing and government-owned buildings in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.
• India - Renewable Energy Partnership: Microsoft signed a 437.6 MW green attribute contract with Indian renewable energy company ReNew, SeekingAlpha reported.
• Data Centers and Green Concrete: The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) -- collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta and Microsoft -- will test green concrete for data center floors.
• GenAI Data Centers and Carbon Footprints: Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are concealing their actual carbon footprints, buying credits tied to electricity use that inaccurately erase millions of tons of planet-warming emissions from their carbon accounts, a Bloomberg Green analysis alleges.
• Cloud Services and Agriculture: Microsoft is touting Azure Data Manager for Agriculture as a tool that helps farmers adopt smarter, more sustainable farming practices.
• Partnership - Solar Power: Pivot Energy will develop up to 500 megawatts (MWac) of community-scale solar energy projects across the United States between 2025 and 2029. The effort involves a renewable energy credit (REC) project with Microsoft.
• Cloud Services: Microsoft Azure Carbon Optimization, a new software tool now in preview, "equips Azure developers and IT professionals with the data and insight to optimize the carbon footprint of their cloud consumption," Microsoft said.

July 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Earnings - AI Cloud Trends: Microsoft's fiscal Q4 results beat Wall Street's expectations, but Azure cloud revenue growth was slightly weaker than expected. Total cloud-related revenue was $36.8 billion for the period, below Microsoft's previous $36.84 billion estimate, SeekingAlpha reported. Azure growth included 8 points from AI services -- where "demand remained higher than our available capacity," Microsoft said.
• Funding: Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund invested in Cyclic Materials, a startup that improves hard drive recycling processes. Target customers include IT asset disposition (ITAD) companies, data center operators and cloud service providers. A financial figure and business valuation were not disclosed.
• Partners of the Year: The 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards honored dozens of business and technology partners worldwide -- including a handful of partners focused on sustainability, carbon reduction and net-zero business strategies. On the global front, Microsoft named EY United States as its Sustainability Changemaker of the year. Additional honorees included BDO Digital, Fellowmind Company BC, and Kin+Carta.

June 2024 Updates: Microsoft Sustainability Milestones

Multiple updates...

• Integration - Microsoft Teams: Keep an eye on Viro for Microsoft Teams, which allows "every team member to contribute to their company’s sustainability goals." Some information about Viro for Microsoft Dynamics 365 is already published...
• AI and Energy Efficiency: Microsoft invested in Touchcast, a generative AI and cloud caching startup that improves AI's energy efficiency, Bloomberg reported. Early Touchcast partners include global IT consulting firm Accenture.
• Partnership - AI and Energy Software: A Hitachi-Microsoft partnership will extend beyond AI to include sustainability projects, the two companies said. Hitachi will train more than 50,000 GenAI Professionals on such platforms as GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service. The companies also will help customers with their energy transitions -- from energy generation to transmission, distribution and customer delivery. That focus involves Hitachi Energy's Enterprise Software Solutions platform. Plus, Hitachi and Microsoft will work toward zero carbon initiatives -- starting with a data center project in Europe -- though timing and specific details of that project were not disclosed.
• Azure Cloud Layoffs: Microsoft layoffs will impact hundreds of Azure cloud services employees, Business Insider reported. We don't know if the job cuts involve Microsoft's SaaS-based sustainability software applications. The layoffs surfaced within days of job cuts at rival Google Cloud.
• Datacenter Commitments: Microsoft announced a Datacenter Community Pledge -- which calls for the company to "design and operate our datacenters to support society’s climate goals and become carbon negative, water positive and zero waste before 2030," Corporate VP Noelle Walsh (pictured above) wrote in a blog.

May 2024 Updates: Sustainability Initiatives

• Conference Recap: At Microsoft Build 2024, the company showcased various Cloud for Sustainability software enhancements.
• AI PCs: Microsoft, Qualcomm and multiple PC partners unveiled Copilot+ PCs -- which are designed to run "AI-intensive" applications. The PCs feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series processor -- known as a neural processing unit (NPU).
• Supply Chain Partners, Scope 3 and Renewable Energy: Microsoft needs partner help to achieve its net-zero goals, the company said.
• India - AI and Sustainability: While 86% of organizations in India recognize the significance of sustainability in shaping business strategies, only 16% have prioritized sustainability goals and built them on real facts and data, a Kyndryl and Microsoft survey found. Moreover: 79% of organizations use AI to monitor energy usage and emissions, but only 20% use it to predict future energy consumption, 26% for predicting and preparing for natural disasters, 26% to recognize inefficiencies and 28% to identify risks.
• Carbon Removal Agreement: Microsoft has signed a massive carbon removal agreement with Stockholm Exergi. The 10-year deal kicks off in 2028.
• Power Purchase Agreement: Microsoft has signed a global power purchase agreement (PPA) with Brookfield Asset Management. The initial engagement involves renewable energy supplies in the United States and Europe. The relationship can potentially expand to involve additional capability across the U.S. and Europe, and potential expansion into Asia-Pacific, India and Latin America. Microsoft is striving to achieve "100% of our electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases by 2030," the company reiterated.

See next page for earlier updates...