Google has eliminated its carbon footprint, plans to be completely carbon-free by 2030

CEO Sundar Pichai outlines the company's sustainability commitments for the next decade

When it went carbon neutral in 2007, Google cemented its place at the top of the tree when it comes to major global companies and sustainability. It has also been matching its energy use with 100% renewables since 2017 — of which it is the largest corporate purchaser — and runs the cleanest global cloud infrastructure. CEO Sundar Pichai is as committed to the cause as ever: he's announced that Google's carbon legacy has been eliminated and that it plans to be entirely carbon-free by 2030.

Through the purchase of high-quality carbon offsets, Google has ensured that its lifetime net carbon footprint is now at zero, including all of its energy usage before it went neutral in 2007. Once again, Google is the first major company to do this, but it's not stopping there. By 2030, the Mountain View corporation plans to run its entire global business on completely carbon-free energy, every second of every day. That's a monumental promise, one that Pichai refers to as the company's "biggest sustainability moonshot yet, with enormous practical and technical complexity."

The carbon-free push will start with Google's data centers and campuses and will naturally require huge investment in green energy solutions. These efforts will also create around 12,000 jobs by 2025, according to Pichai, who says 5 GW of new carbon-free energy will be enabled across Google's key manufacturing regions. Furthermore, Google is helping 3,000 cities worldwide track and reduce their carbon emissions, 500 of which should be able to shave off 1 gigaton of emissions annually by 2030. Through various new initiatives, Google also hopes to encourage its partners to make similar sustainability headway, too.

Find out more about Google's sustainability commitments on its dedicated site.

Source: Google