Microsoft plans to establish a $1 billion fund dedicated to “carbon reduction, capture, and removal technologies,” amid a broader commitment to clean up the software giant’s emissions across its corporate history by 2050.
Speaking at the company’s headquarters in Washington State, chief executive Satya Nadella said: “If the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that technology built without these principles can do more harm than good. We must begin to offset the damaging effects of climate change.”
In order to do so, the company is launching a $1bn (£800m) climate innovation fund using its own capital to accelerate the development of sustainability solutions, including carbon reduction and removal technologies.
In order to cut half of its emissions, Microsoft will use proceeds from its carbon fee, which has been in place since 2012, and will now be applied to both direct emissions and those from supply and value chains.
In a blog post, company president Brad Smith expanded about how the company would achieve its sizeable commitment.
He said that the firm would drive down scope one and two emissions – direct emissions created by operations, and indirect emissions from heat and light use – by switching to a 100 per cent renewable electricity supply by 2020, and electrifying its whole vehicles fleet by 2030.
