US computing giant announces ambitious headline goal alongside a series of interim environmental targets for 2025
IBM will aim to reach net zero emissions by 2030, the firm announced today, as it outlined a series of climate targets intended to eliminate the tech giant's contribution to climate change.
Under the new strategy, interim targets for 2025 aim to see the firm slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 65 per cent against a 2010 baseline and procure 75 per cent of the electricity it consumes worldwide from renewable sources. The targets are intended to put the company on track to source 90 per cent of its power from renewables by 2030, by which point the company will also have deployed "feasible technologies" - such as carbon capture systems - to remove any of its residual emissions and secure net zero status.
"The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time," said IBM chairman and chief executive officer Arvind Krishna. "IBM's net zero pledge is a bold step forward that strengthens our long-standing climate leadership and positions our company years ahead of the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement."
IBM's new climate goals come as the company also pursues a new initiative named Future of Climate, which sees the US firm turn its computing expertise to designing solutions to address the impacts of climate change. By combining artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud, and quantum computing, IBM researchers in the programme are exploring complex climate-related problems such as the growing global carbon footprint of cloud workloads and data centers, the firm said.
IBM's announcement comes in the same week as it joined 20 major companies in signing up to the Amazon-backed Climate Pledge initiative, which sees firms commit to reaching net zero by 2040, a full decade ahead of the Paris Agreement's 2050 goal.