Is Sustainability Possible in Technology Companies?

As of January 2022, there were 4.95 billion internet users globally. Three in every five people worldwide use the internet today. More than half of the world’s population is now online.

The internet has revolutionized how we live our lives but powering and enabling life online comes with a catch. There are thousands of data centers (many as big as football fields) that are estimated to account for approximately 1 percent of global electricity demand. This highlights a less-discussed impact of the internet: environmental. It is estimated that by 2025, up to one-fifth of the world’s electricity will be needed to power information communications technology (ICT), and comprising up to 5.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. That’s more than most countries’ total emissions, with the exception of China, India, and the US.

According to Statista, Mexico in 2020 surpassed 1.2 million tons of e-waste, which represents an increase of 17.9 percent since 2015, and we definitely can expect an increase in recent years due to the current situation.

There is a bright side: Companies and countries alike are taking a stance on climate change. More than 200 of the largest companies have taken The Climate Pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, and more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 nonbusiness participants have embraced the commitments of the UN Global Compact.

Of the more than 2,000 companies working with the Science Based Targets initiative to reduce their emissions in line with climate science, more than half have committed to the Business Ambition 1.5°C initiative, including Akamai. We have been working since 2009 to create a more sustainable enterprise.

Some of the actions that companies are taking to achieve sustainability are renewable-source energy, more energy-efficient platforms, platform emissions mitigations, responsible supply chain management and e-waste recycling.

Renewable-Source Energy

Companies can achieve renewable-source energy by procuring clean and renewable power sources by themselves, with their suppliers and those interested in the aggregate to put net-new renewable energy on the grid whenever possible.

As an example, in 2021, Akamai added a fourth renewable energy project to its portfolio. Together with MilliporeSigma, Synopsys, and Uber, Akamai signed a vPPA (Virtual Power Purchase Agreement.

More Energy-Efficient Platforms

When we say more efficient, we mean less energy-intensive to minimize our emissions output. Efficiency is measured by the amount of power a platform uses in comparison with network capacity, also known as MWh to Mbps of platform capacity. As part of this measure, these figures also include average data center power usage effectiveness (PUE) to determine how well we use all companies’ power.

Platform Emissions Mitigations

Akamai has an additional goal to mitigate 100 percent of our platform greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Achieving a net-zero emissions goal is especially challenging for Akamai, as we have widely distributed operations in more than 830 cities globally. This means we must neutralize any residual emissions at the net-zero target year and any GHG emissions released into the atmosphere afterward.

To establish a concrete pathway to achieve our goal and measure our progress, we joined the Science Based Targets Business Ambition for 1.5°C initiative. For us it is important to achieve our goal, so then our customers can rest knowing that their usage impacts are being mitigated in the most responsible way possible.

Responsible Supply Chain Management

Since businesses today are so interconnected, it's critical to look beyond a company's own operations and take a holistic approach to responsible sourcing throughout its supply chain.

Akamai helped create a best-in-class guideline focused on defining the most beneficial practices in the corporate colocation and cloud procurement space. As a signatory of FoIP’s (FoIP is the acronym for The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) Corporate Colocation and Cloud Buyers' Principles, Akamai has agreed to the following:

1. Options: Provide options for cost-competitive services powered by renewable resources that reduce emissions beyond business as usual
2. Data: Deliver monthly data on the colocation customer's direct and indirect energy consumption, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental data
3. Incentives: Align the partnership between customer and service provider, so both parties have an incentive to reduce energy consumption
4. Collaboration: Provide options for customer collaboration on efficiency and renewable energy enhancements
5. Disclosure: Disclose individual sites and total global corporate footprint, as well as site-specific energy sources
6. Advocacy: Engage in policy advocacy efforts that support the use of renewable energy

In the end, at Akamai, we like to follow our philosophy, which is to educate when necessary, contribute where we can, reinforce when possible to ensure we are doing our best, and do our part to help reduce the global GHG footprint.

E-Waste Recycling

We know that the e-waste problem isn't going away. At Akamai, we are committed to continue recycling 100 percent of our e-waste. Today, we ship all our e-waste — including servers around the world — to e-Stewards-certified facilities in the US for appropriate processing. It allows us to ensure the highest standards for the security of customer data, the effective downstream management of all toxic materials, and responsible and legal exporting. We have arrived at a pivotal moment in time, where it is vital to recycle if you are already doing it, and if not, it is never too late to start.

Involve Employees and Customers

Employees, both individually and collectively, play a crucial role in enabling the company to achieve these goals and fulfill our purpose.

Employees who participate learn about ways to reduce their environmental impact, connect with local communities, or volunteer with their favorite charity. They can learn, engage, and be inspired to take action today to care for the planet of tomorrow.

Besides working on this with employees, it is also important to work together with clients. I've seen a change in buyer behavior over the past five years, and have been working on how we can accomplish our goals together to build a sustainable future

At Akamai, if we are not sourcing renewable energy to power operations, we are optimizing our network to use only the resources we need. Environmental sustainability is not new to Akamai and we still have a long way to go but we are already making progress on our ambitious 2030 goals.

About Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the company in the cloud that empowers and protects life online

Akamai empowers and protects life online. Leading companies around the world choose Akamai to create, deliver and protect their digital experiences, helping millions of people live, work and play every day. Powered by the world's most distributed computing platform, from cloud to edge, our customers can easily build and run applications, while bringing experiences closer to users and keeping threats at bay. For more information on Akamai's IT, security, and delivery solutions, visit akamai.com y akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter y  LinkedIn.