Decarbonization Progress Measured in Real Time Microsoft Services

SILICON VALLEY, China — Microsoft had unveiled a trial version of a cloud service to help companies manage greenhouse gas emissions. It will be used to understand the current situation, prepare external reports, and set future targets on climate change. As the movement to seek out decarbonization efforts intensifies, we will facilitate measurement, which was a challenge.

The company will be able to grasp carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from corporate activities such as plant operations, transportation, and product design changes in near real time. The aim is to make it easier to make reports and make new reduction plans by automatically capturing data that is the source of calculations by connecting with the company and the systems of business partners. For the time being, you can try it for free. 

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In addition to the indirect emissions associated with the use of greenhouse gases and electricity directly emitted by the company, co2 emissions across the supply chain (supply network) called "Scope 3" will be easier to manage. For example, in the case of coffee shops, it is possible to grasp the environmental impact not only at the roasting place but also for bean producers and logistics companies, and to check the usage of renewable energy.

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage the problem," Microsoft President Brad Smith said at an online meeting Thursday. There is a growing momentum for greenhouse gas emissions to seek management and disclosure equivalent to corporate financial results, but at present, there are many companies that respond manually using spreadsheet software. "We need to create a system that can establish standards and understand, record, and report CO2 emissions," Smith says.

In developing the service, the company made use of his knowledge of measurement methods and partner companies through Microsoft's own activities. In early 2020, the company set a goal of achieving a "carbon negative" that would effectively reduce CO2 emissions by 2030. One of the largest buyers of renewable energy is working to improve data center efficiency and reduce server waste.

With the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) discussing global warming countermeasures coming up at the end of October, major U.S. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) companies operating large-scale data centers have shown outstanding environmental initiatives. Apple had announced that it now has a total of 175 suppliers that use renewable energy to provide all the electricity used to produce components.