Microsoft Sustainability News, Milestones, Partnerships and Net Zero Timeline

Here are more updates....

September 2023: Sustainability Strategy, Milestones, Partnerships and Investments

Multiple updates...

• Green Data Center Hub: Danfoss, Google, Microsoft and Schneider Electric launched the Net Zero Innovation Hub For Data Centers. The hub, based in Fredericia, Denmark, will "bring together the data center sector across Europe to find concrete solutions to accelerate the green transition," the founders said.
• ESG and Sustainability Training: KPMG, leveraging Microsoft Cloud, launched the ESG and Sustainability Training And Education Platform.
• Singapore: Microsoft and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced digital sustainability guidelines to "accelerate education and awareness among businesses and developers, as they build sustainable applications by design." The guidelines were created with support from the Green Software Foundation (GSF).
• Data Centers - Nuclear Power: Microsoft wants to integrate advanced nuclear technology into powering its data centers, according to a job posting from the cloud services and software giant.
• Data Centers: ENGIE Energy Marketing inked an agreement to provide renewable energy to cover the consumption of select Microsoft data centers in Texas. The collaboration will accelerate Microsoft’s mission to transition to 100% carbon-free energy on an hourly basis by 2030, the companies said.
• AI and Data Center Water Consumption: Microsoft consumed 6.4 million cubic meters of water in 2022, primarily for its cloud data centers. That represents a 34 percent jump over the year before, with generative AI workloads believed to be at least partially to blame, Data Center Dynamics reported.
• Partnership - Cloud Services and Artificial Intelligence:  G42 and Microsoft announced plan to offer sovereign cloud services, AI capabilities and data center infrastructure in the UAE. Much of the announcement focused on sustainability. G42 is a technology holding group focused on AI technologies. The partnership surfaces a few months before COP28 starts in the UAE.
• Cloud Application Partnership: Global IT consulting firm Accenture, working closely with Microsoft, has developed a cloud-based application for energy companies that are seeking to manage methane gas emissions.

August 2023: Microsoft Sustainability Strategy, Milestones and Investments

Multiple updates...

• Microsoft Backs Startups: Microsoft is launching a GrowthX Accelerator for B2B technology startups that address sustainability in the Middle East. The latest effort, known as GrowthX cohort 4, is an eight-week, equity-free accelerator program that aligns with the COP28 climate conference -- which is set for December 2023.
• Patent: The company is seeking a patent for a sustainability platform that coordinates and optimizes power consumption between computing devices and the associated energy grid.
• Funding: Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund invested in  Rondo Energy, a provider of zero-carbon industrial heat and power. The overall round, backed by multiple investors, raised $60 million. The funding will help to "speed the rollout of Rondo Heat Batteries (RHBs) worldwide and to transform the global energy storage market," Rondo asserted.
• Decarbonizing the Power Sector: In a blog, the company described how it is working with energy organizations to decarbonize the power sector, and to leverage 100% clean energy for its data centers, buildings and campuses by 2025. Michelle Patron, senior director of global sustainability policy, described recent Microsoft meetings with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member energy ministers and their delegations.

July 2023: Sustainability Strategy Milestones

Multiple updates...

• Earnings Call: Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability is helping customers like Costco, Land O'Lakes and REI take action to meet their environmental goals, CEO Satya Nadella said during the company's earnings call on July 25, 2023.
• Cloud for Energy Companies: The company announced general availability of Azure Data Manager for Energy. The application allows enables energy companies to manage "compute-intensive workloads at global scale, and quickly ingests data for analytics and decision-making."
• Partner Guidance: During Microsoft Inspire 2023, a virtual conference for partners, Group Product Manager Brandon Potter and Worldwide Sustainability Partner Strategy Leader Alec Saunders are expected to describe how partners can navigate the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will also impact thousands of U.S.-based companies.
• Energy Partnership - Data Centers: Constellation Energy has inked an agreement with Microsoft to "significantly reduce the carbon footprint of one of Microsoft’s data centers in Boydton, Virginia." Under the agreement, the facility will receive up to 35% in environmental attributes from nuclear power, complementing Microsoft's new wind and solar purchases, the companies said. The agreement puts Microsoft "very close to its goal of operating the data center on 100 percent carbon-free electricity around the clock," the companies said.

June 2023: Cloud Milestones

Multiple updates...

• Microsoft Partners of the Year 2023: The company recognized nVisionIT, WPP and EY for various social impact and sustainability awards.
• Microsoft Sustainability Partners: Evercomm, WeavAir and ReClimate won the Singapore GreenTech Challenge 2023, a collaboration between Microsoft, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and SGTech. Each winner will receive up to USD$350,000 in benefits and will be onboarded to the Microsoft Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Success Program, where they will be recognized as Microsoft ISV partners.

• Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability will soon support Scope 3 reporting capabilities, General Manager Shefy Manayil Kareem disclosed in a blog. The support may help technology partners and customers with their carbon reporting initiatives.

See next page for earlier updates...