Facebook announced yesterday that it had exceeded one of its biggest environmental goals by managing to slash 94% of its greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2020.
The company had pledged to cut planet-heating emissions by 75% and indeed they have done more than this. The company said in addition to this, it had also achieved its goal of ‘net zero emissions by not producing more emissions in the atmosphere that it can take out.
Facebook also announced that it now purchases enough renewable energy to cover 100% of its global operations including offices and data centers. But not yet all of its operations are powered by renewable energy.
The company invested in 63 new renewable energy projects located on the same electrical grids as its data centers in order to boost the production of renewable energy.
The company has a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030 for its entire supply chain and other indirect emissions from things like employee travel. Facebook developed environmental standards for its suppliers in order to hit this goal and plans to rely more on emerging technologies that draw carbon dioxide out of the air.
In support of the move towards climate change, the company has also tried limiting misinformation about climate change on its platform.
“We know the next 10 years will be defining time for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and that we have a role to play in this effort, both as a platform that connects people to information and as a global company that supports climate action,” Facebook’s director of renewable energy, Urvi Parekh, wrote in a blog.
