It’s an ambitious – even daring – goal, but science tells us it’s a goal of vital importance for every person who lives today and for any generation to follow.” Microsoft President Brad Smith explains on the company’s blog.

Microsoft is the first of the tech giants to tackle the climate crisis, announcing an operational plan to reduce its carbon footprint. This was announced on Thursday by Microsoft President Brad Smith, CFO Amy Hood and CEO Satya Nadella.

Carbon Footprint is a total of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming (through direct emission or through land use) caused by a company, event, product, country or person. Greenhouse gases are emitted during the use of fossil fuel for transportation, during electricity generation, in forests, as well as in the production and consumption of food, raw materials, timber, houses, roads and other products and services. For simplicity of reporting and comparability, most carbon footprints are measured in units of the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to the size and strength of the greenhouse gas emitted.

The name “carbon footprint” originates from the concept of ecological footprint. The carbon footprint is part of the ecological footprint calculation as well as part of product and activity life cycle analysis.

When you know the carbon footprint of a person, organization or state, a plan can be built to reduce the number of emissions. Through technological changes, changes in consumer choice, changing economic incentives by changing taxation and subsidies or by legislation and more.

Microsoft has announced that it will have a negative carbon footprint of its operations and supply chain operations by 2030. Microsoft will also set up a $ 1 billion fund to join the effort to develop atmospheric carbon removal solutions.

In a Microsoft blog explanation, Smith writes: “The scientific consensus is clear. The world is facing an urgent carbon problem. Our carbon in the atmosphere has created a heat trap and is changing the climate in the world. To rise, science tells us the results will be catastrophic. ”

As the scientific community warns, human activity has released more than two trillion tons of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere since the beginning of the first industrial revolution in the mid-1700s. More than three-quarters of the gases are carbon dioxide, with most of that carbon emitted since the mid-1950s . It is more carbon than nature can re-absorb, and every year humanity throws more than 50 billion tons of additional greenhouse gases into the air. This is not a problem that lasts for several years or even a decade. As soon as the excess carbon enters the atmosphere, it can take thousands of years to fade away. ”

“Climate experts in the world agree that the world must take urgent action to reduce emissions. In the end, we must reach ‘zero’ emissions, which means humanity must remove the amount of carbon it emits each year. It will require aggressive approaches, new technology that does not exist today and innovative public policies. It’s an ambitious – even daring – goal, but science tells us it’s a goal of vital importance for every person who lives today and for any generation to follow. ” Smith adds.

“While the world will need to reach a net-zero, those of us who can afford to move faster should do so. So we are announcing an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce and eventually remove Microsoft’s footprint. By 2030, Microsoft will be negative in terms of carbon emissions, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove all the carbon that the company has emitted directly or by electricity since its inception in 1975. ”

“We recognize that progress requires not only a bold goal but a detailed plan. As outlined below, we are launching an aggressive program today to reduce our carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, both our direct emissions and those of our supply chain and value. We will fund this in part by Expanding our internal carbon commission, imposed in 2012 and increased last year, to begin charging not only our direct emissions, but also the clear scientific consensus, the world is facing an urgent carbon problem. The carbon in the atmosphere has created a heat-trapping blanket of gas and is changing the climate. Already in the world, the temperature of the Earth has risen above one degree Celsius we will stop emissions and temperatures continue to rise, science tells us the results will be catastrophic. ”

“As the scientific community has concluded, human activity has released more than two trillion tons of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere since the beginning of the first industrial revolution in the mid-18th century, more than three quarters of which is carbon dioxide, with most of that carbon emitted since the mid-1950s. Carbon from what nature can absorb, and every year humanity releases more than 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the air. This is not a problem that lasts for several years or even a decade. As much as carbon enters the atmosphere, it can take thousands of years to fade away. ”

“Climate experts in the world agree that the world must take urgent action to reduce emissions. In the end, we must reach ‘zero’ emissions, which means humanity must remove the amount of carbon it emits each year. This will require aggressive approaches, new technology that does not exist today and innovative public policy. It’s an ambitious – even daring – goal, but science tells us it’s a goal of vital importance for every person who lives today and for any generation to follow. ” Smith explains.

Microsoft: Negative Carbon Footprint by 2030
“While the world will need to reach zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and need to do so are announcing an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s footprint.”

“By 2030, Microsoft will be carbon-negative, and by 2050, Microsoft will remove all the carbon that the company has emitted directly or by electricity since its inception in 1975.”

“We recognize that progress requires not only a bold goal but a detailed plan. As outlined below, we are launching an aggressive program today to reduce our carbon footprint by more than half by 2030, both for our direct emissions and for our entire supply chain and value. By expanding our internal carbon commission, which has been in place since 2012 and increased last year, to begin balancing not only our direct emissions, but also those of our supply chains and value. ”

“We are also launching an initiative to use Microsoft technology to help our suppliers and customers around the world reduce their carbon footprints, as well as set up a $ 1 billion fund to accelerate the evolution of carbon removal technology. From next year, we will also make carbon reduction an explicit aspect of procurement processes For our supply chain, our progress on all these fronts will be published in a new annual environmental sustainability report that will detail our carbon footprint and carbon reduction journey. And finally, all of this work will support our voice and advocates who support a public policy that will accelerate opportunities for carbon reduction from our supply chains and value.

And of course, we cannot talk about Microsoft trying to promote a cleaner planet, without also talking about Bill Gates.

Solutions to the climate crisis:
In early September 2019, Ban Ki-moon, former U.N. Secretary-General Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and Christina Georgieva, chief executive of the IMF, signed the first report of the World Commission on Adaptation, headed by them. They were joined by more than 30 other leaders, such as the Mayor of Paris, the Canadian Environment Minister, and the President of the Marshall Islands, in a call for investment in climate change mitigation measures, which the report says are expected to yield a huge economic return.

The initiative was established in October 2018 to drive climate change crisis management through technology, investment and planning and to explore how social and economic systems can be better adapted to the realities of the climate crisis. The guiding understanding is that the Paris Agreement’s goals of slowing global warming and stopping it below the threshold of an average rise of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the current century will probably no longer be achieved. In contrast, a 3 or 4 \u00b0 C rise will lead to a turning point that will change the life-supportive natural systems beyond recognition. According to the new research, a $ 1.8 trillion investment in adaptation measures over the next decade – according to all studies, the critical decade to succeed in mitigating the climate crisis to live with – will yield at least $ 7 trillion.

The new report highlights five key areas to invest in (ranked according to the expected return on investment): early warning systems against extreme weather events, infrastructure (buildings, roads, bridges) better adapted to changing climatic conditions, agriculture suitable for hot and dry conditions More, restoration of mangrove coastal ecosystems that provide shore protection against wave energy thus reducing coastal erosion (erosion) and risk of flooding during storms, and protecting water supply systems from pollution and leaks.

In the case of extreme weather alert, for example, it is estimated that one day earlier to prepare for an extreme event (such as a hurricane) is enough to subtract up to 30 percent of the economic damage. In the area of \u200b\u200binfrastructure that will generate a $ 4 trillion refund, white roofing has significantly reduced the number of deaths in the city of Ahmedabad in India, as it moderated the impact of heat waves on residents’ homes and built-up space (reducing urban heat). In the field of agriculture, dividing genetically adapted seeds into dry conditions – as is already done with corn in Zimbabwe – raises the yield per unit of land in dozens of counters.

Triple Yield
These investments are characterized by a triple return: they prevent future losses (property damage, health, etc.), have positive economic benefits (such as the return on sale of more agricultural produce), and lead to more social and environmental achievements (reducing hunger, for example); According to the World Bank, investing in the climate crisis is part of the quest for a more equitable world and without it at least 100 million more people will be part of the global cycle of poverty at the end of the current decade.

A possible source of funding for such investments could be a diversion of capital currently invested in the fossil fuel energy industry for the benefit of a low-carbon economy. According to a report by the American Thinking Institute, about 110 institutions that manage about $ 11 trillion have stopped investing in this segment. Another source is choosing innovative investments: for example, rather than investing in engineering-based solutions such as the construction of flood dams – which are projects Energy-intensive and cement-free greenhouse gas emissions – Invest in natural capital-based solutions, such as restoring mangrove forests, which live on salt-water-soaked beaches, and absorb carbon dioxide and provide a host of ecological benefits, such as creating a unique, protected environment for young fish (using their roots) ) Another example of this approach is the Dutch project “Mac And to the stream, “which replaces artificial engineering interventions with measures based on natural principles,

A possible source of funding for such investments could be a diversion of capital currently invested in the fossil fuel energy industry for the benefit of a low-carbon economy.
But in some cases, the report warns, it will not be possible to invest in coping and the preferred alternative is the relocation of communities whose resilience is not guaranteed, such as seaside settlements and especially in island states that are only slightly higher than the sea level, such as the Maldives.

And there are also public measures: In Fiji, the “environmental tax and climate change” is levied on certain services and products (plastic bags, luxury cars, or yachts) as well as high revenue and directed toward community resilience projects, especially in infrastructure. In Miami, a $ 400 million fund was set up from City Hall to fund the city’s adaptation to rising sea levels.

Investment mix

However, it is not enough to increase the volume of investments in the climate sector, but their character must also be changed. According to a review by the OECD, less than 20 percent of investment in the sector is directed toward adaptation, while the vast majority is directed toward reducing emissions. This investment policy is risking poorer countries, already suffering from the effects of the climate crisis. According to the report, only a similar and parallel investment in mitigation and adaptation will also balance current resilience alongside the longer-term crisis recession.

Incidentally, the gap between adaptation and adulthood is particularly large in private sector investments devoted almost entirely to emissions reduction. According to this report, total investment in 2017 was about $ 71 billion, with at least $ 100 billion needed by 2022 to help developing countries, especially island nations, find the path to resilience.

The report was released ahead of the UN Climate Summit held in September 2019 at the summit itself, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together with the World Bank and several governments, announced the initial investment in line with the report’s recommendations. The $ 790 million investment will be directed mainly to improving farmers’ ability Small farms add and produce food under changing climatic conditions.