Sustainability has become the year’s topic, and company executives and the board of directors are more attuned to its reporting. Investor’s portfolio decisions are increasingly revolving around environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics. With technological advancements in the last decade, the carbon footprint of the cloud has more carbon emissions than the airline industry. There is a greater urgency for cloud computing, data and AI to source for greener energy sources to reduce carbon emissions.

Carbon Footprint

The carbon footprint of software refers to the number of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted during its production, use, and disposal. These emissions come from various sources, including the energy required to power servers, data centres, and other infrastructure; the manufacturing and transportation of hardware; and the disposal of electronic waste.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, the carbon footprint of software is becoming an increasingly important issue. Given the significant impact of software on GHG emissions, the time is now to consider the carbon footprint of the software we use and develop. Businesses and individuals can reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to the global effort to achieve carbon neutrality by choosing carbon-aware software.

The development of green technology and sustainable development has become important for the future. Innovation is changing the world, the way we work, the way we live, the way we connect with people and the way we consume energy. Our society has become so interconnected and interdependent that it is impossible to ignore the impact of business on the environment. Green technology and sustainable development are two areas that are taking off. As a result, we have seen the emergence of new technology, helping companies reduce their carbon footprint. Some of these companies are investing in green technology and sustainable development.

There are two main ways to view software: as a contributor to climate change or as a solution. The Green Software Foundation aims to create a trusted ecosystem of individuals, standards, tools, and best practices to build more environmentally friendly software on a large scale. The foundation focuses on reducing the carbon emissions caused by software rather than neutralizing them. This requires investment and risk-taking to encourage using fewer physical resources, less energy, or energy from low-carbon sources. The foundation’s mission is to encourage the software industry to take action to reduce its carbon emissions.

Sustainability and Leadership

Sustainable Software Engineering is an emerging discipline. Leaders must understand the emerging discipline at the intersection of climate science, software, hardware, electricity markets, and data centre design. The role of the CTO must not be underestimated. Leading the front to enable organizational sustainability empowers the Technology division to be changemakers in this green revolution.

Migrate to the Cloud

The digital imperative to “migrate to the cloud” is a start. The imperative does not only align IT investments to scale with demand or convert spending from CapEx to OpEx, and it’s a step closer to reducing your carbon footprint. Data centers are carbon intensive as it requires massive electricity to power the racks of servers, let alone the computing power to process data and AI. Microsoft’s commitment to focus on four key areas of environmental impact back to local communities — carbon, water, waste and ecosystems. First, the commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2025. Second, carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. Moving to Azure can reduce your carbon footprint as Microsoft Cloud services are up to 93% more energy efficient and up to 98% more carbon efficient than traditional enterprise data centers¹. The sustainability benefits are clear.

Learn more about the report here: The Carbon Benefits of Cloud Computing: A Study on the Microsoft Cloud