Sustainability report Analysis

 Sustainability report Analysis

1. Table of content

2. Sustainability in the industry

3. Good practice in the specific industry

4. short presentation of the company

• sustainable strategy, Policy/ Corporate strategy on sustainability

• Sustainable Policy

• Developed, Application, Stakeholders & Organization

• Specific fields of sustainability

5. Analysis of Microsoft sustainability Practices

• Results, How are they measured, Indicators used (uses sources)

• Company Achievements

• Indicators used

• Approach and process of collecting data and information

• External Audit & ranking

• Is the info provided reliable?

6. conclusion

• Achievements of the company & specific sector in the field of sustainability

Microsoft Commitments to sustainability

Lastly, Microsoft has set out its commitments as follow:

7. Bibliography

8. Working links to the sustainability report & Online material used

Solution

1. Table of content

	Page
Sustainability in the industry	2
Good practice in the specific industry	2
short presentation of the company	2
Analysis of Microsoft sustainability Practices	3
conclusion	7
Bibliography	9
Working links to the sustainability report & Online material used	10

2. Sustainability in the industry

Corporate sustainability requires a corporation to pursue social goals relating to sustainable development in terms of environmental protection, social wellbeing, and economic development (Wilson et al., 2017). Companies show care about the environment, society, and economic development by implementing strategies, evaluating outcomes, and reporting to the public. Generally, The sustainability report gives accountability to the organization’s environmental and social performance and it is used to assist the organization to implement its long-term strategies sustainably (youmatter, 2020).

This paper will critically analyze the sustainability report of one of the most successful companies in the technology industry where software and hardware are manufactured for both individuals and businesses (Liu & Racherla, 2019, p.4). The main competitors in this industry include but are not limited to Apple, IBM, Oracle, and Google (Jones, 2021) . This industry faces challenges relating to addressing climate change in terms of carbon emissions, water proper utilization, resource waste, and proper protection of the ecosystem.

3. Good practice in the specific industry

Corporations in the technology industry are expected to take care of the environment and society in which they take their factors of production from, operate, serve and get profits. They are expected to commit 100% renewable energy, protect the land, become carbon negative, not waste resources, Become water positive, and carbon emissions.

4. short presentation of the company

Microsoft is one of the largest corporations in the world which manufactures licenses and supports a range of software for computer hardware. According to Bigelow (2017), Microsoft specializes in software development, consumer electronics, social networking, gaming, and cloud computing. It is also well known for its computer operating system - Microsoft Windows - and gaming console Xbox.

sustainable strategy, Policy/ Corporate strategy on sustainability

Sustainable Policy -

According to its the 2020 Microsoft sustainability report, Microsoft supports carbon, clean energy, and sustainability policy efforts at the state and national level in the US, the European Union, and elsewhere. Microsoft’s current sustainability report is the 2020 Environmental Sustainability Reports on its progress on its actions towards the environment in terms of becoming a carbon negative, water positive, zero-waste company, and being ecofriendly. It also has a devices Sustainability report, showing its efforts and partnerships in areas of human rights, environment, environmental health and safety, and ethics (Microsoft, 2020,p.5).

Developed, Application, Stakeholders & Organization

the report from Microsoft Microsoft (2020,p.6) states that it applies its sustainability by:

• Using technology to minimize the environmental impact of its operations and climate change

• Using its influence on other stakeholders like customers, suppliers, investors, employers to take care of the environment while partnering with customers, organizations, and institutions around the world.

• Committing to increasing the sustainability of its products and the supply chain. While creating technologies that help people and the planet achieve more

Specific fields of sustainability

In its 2020 Environmental Sustainability Report Microsoft (2020,p.10), is focusing on the following fields to achieve its goals of taking care of the environment and society, as it pursues its mission.

1. Carbon - Intends to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove from the environment the equivalent of all the carbon the company has emitted since its founding by 2050 by reducing its carbon footprint, investing in carbon removal, and making new partnerships to accelerate decarbonization everywhere.

2. Water - Plans to become water positive by 2030 by taking responsibility for water use, increasing replenishment, and developing technology to help others do the same.

3. Waste - intends to be zero waste across its direct footprint by 2030. With 60,000 metric tons of waste diverted from landfills over the last fiscal year, and reducing waste and improving packaging while launching new approaches, such as Circular Centers, and accelerating progress with technology.

4. Ecosystems - Protecting more land by 2025 and building a Planetary Computer. With 10 petabytes of environmental data now available, the Planetary Computer provides access to critical environmental datasets and AI.

5. Analysis of Microsoft sustainability Practices

Results, How are they measured, Indicators used (uses sources)

According to the Microsoft (2020, p13) report, Microfost has taken steps and will become carbon-negative by 2050, they will remove from the atmosphere all the carbon dioxide the company has emitted either directly or by our electricity consumption since it was founded in 1975. They are doing this by their contribution to carbon reduction from the company itself and by helping its customers, partners, and suppliers reduce their carbon footprints through learnings and with the power of data, AI, and digital technology.

Water positive - Microsoft is working on reducing the water intensity of its direct operations while replenishing in water-stressed regions where it works, and enable access to 1.5 million people—becoming water positive by 2030.it is achieving this by digitizing water - using its technology to generate actionable insights, increase awareness of water issues, and optimize water replenishment (Microsoft, 2020, p.31) .

Zero Waste - Microsoft is reducing waste across its direct operations, products, and packaging according to its predictions it will become zero waste by 2030. It does this by looking at the waste footprint in facilities and data centers, cutting waste in devices, and engaging employees. It is also Making fully recyclable Surface devices that are 100 percent recyclable in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries by 2030. It will Eliminate single-use plastics by 2025, in all Microsoft primary product packaging and all IT asset packaging in our datacenters(Microsoft, 2020, p.45) .

Ecosystems - Microsoft aggregates environmental data from around the world and puts it to work through data, AI, and technology with the Planetary Computer. Takes responsibility for land footprint and ecosystem impacts of its direct operations by protecting land than they use by 2025. Uses its voice on ecosystem-related public policy issues, supports, and advocates for public policy initiatives that measure and manage ecosystems at the national and global scale(Microsoft, 2020, p.58) .

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Achievements

According to its 2020 Microsoft Sustainability report (2020, p11) in the report, Microsoft has achieved the following:

• Carbon, water, and waste - Invested $129 million across funds and organizations innovating in carbon reduction, water management, and circular economy.

• Carbon negative - Secured 1.3 million - metric tons of carbon removal via projects from the RFP process for FY21.

• Carbon negative - Top suppliers reduced their collective footprint by 21 million metric tons CO2e as reported by CDP.

• Carbon negative - Delivered the first tool to provide CO2 transparency for the cloud via the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator.

• Carbon negative - All suppliers must report their GHG emissions through the updated Supplier Code of Conduct.

• Carbon negative - PPA with Sol Systems will advance clean energy and environmental justice.

• Zero waste - Over 10,500 employees engaged in Eco challenge to reduce personal waste footprints.

• Zero waste - Achieved Zero Waste Certification of datacenters in Dublin, Ireland, and Boydton, Virginia.

• zero waste - Invested $30 million in Closed Loop Partners’ funds to help build a circular economy.

• Carbon negative - Reduced emissions across all scopes by 586,683 metric tons CO2 e in FY20.

• Zero waste - Circular Centers, piloted this year, can contribute to increased reuse of servers by 90 percent by 2025.

• Zero waste -In FY20, diverted over 60 000 metric tons of Carbon negative waste from landfills.

• Water positive - Invested $10 million in the Emerald Technology Ventures’ Global Water Impact Fund to support innovative technologies for water conservation, access, and quality.

• water positive - Increased our replenishment project portfolio by nearly 700 percent from FY19.

• water positive - To date, funded nearly 20 replenishment projects in six states and two countries.

• water positive - Launched water accessibility work to provide 1.5 million people access to safe drinking water and sanitation

• ecosystem - Grew the AI for Earth grantee community to over 700 grantees in over 100 countries.

• ecosystems - On-boarded 10 petabytes of environmental and Earth observation data to Azure that is now freely available for the conservation community.

Indicators used

The environmental data used to come up with the data and information was made got from the actual study of the environment and feedback from all stakeholders. - As part of its commitment to disclose information about its impact on the environment, it listed tables on pages 73–81 of the report with environmental indicators including its greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water consumption and discharge, and waste(Microsoft, 2020, p.73) .

Approach and process of collecting data and information

Microsoft states in its report, that it worked with external agencies to carry out a materiality assessment and the material issues articulate what matters most to its business and stakeholders (Corporate Citizenship, 2020). It also states that this awareness is crucial to identify and manage risks and opportunities and to respond effectively to our stakeholders(Microsoft, 2020, p.82) .

External Audit & ranking

Microsoft (2020, p.71) was been recognized by several reputable sustainability auditors and industrial players such as:

• EcoAct Dow Sustainability Ranking rated where Microsoft as the highest performing company across all indices.

• In 2020, Micosoft was rated by CDP as A-List for Climate Change and Water Security.

• Microsoft won the top award for Sustained Excellence in Green Power use from EPA Green Power, commitments to green power, innovation, and direct project engagement.

• In 2021, Microsoft was named the America΄s Most Responsible Companies and ranked third by Newsweek΄s assessment of companies.

Is the info provided reliable?

Yes, the information reported in the Microsoft sustainability report is reliable because of the following:

Microsoft uses recommended reporting standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards. aligns with the Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. These standards relate to climate risks and opportunities assessment. Microsoft manages and intents to always publish its disclosure every year for all interseted parties to be aware of its commitment to sustainability. Microsoft also supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and publicly reports its contributions to the global effort to achieve them. Lastly, efforts were made to get feedback from all stakeholders like customers, partners, shareholders, suppliers, and communities, and we take their voices into account.

6. conclusion

Achievements of the company & specific sector in the field of sustainability

Awards obtained according to the Microsoft website (2020) include:

1. From ISS Environmental and Social QualityScore which uses its scores to Identify the best-in-class sustainability disclosure practices and Microsoft received a number 1 rating in both and Social scores and Environmental scores when corporate performance on over 200 factors where meassured.

2. Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Micorsoft was included in the Carbon Disclosure Project in the A List for climate performance leadership.

3. In 2019, RobecoSAM (Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes) named Microsoft in the World and North America indexes where it celebrated its 10th consecutive year on the World Index.

4. In 2019, EcoVadis Supplier Sustainability Rating gave Microsoft Gold recognition thereby placing the company in the top five percent of performers evaluated by EcoVadis.

Microsoft Commitments to sustainability

Lastly, Microsoft has set out its commitments as follow:

• Operate with 100% renewable energy by 2025

• To Protect more land than Microsoft uses by 2025

• Become carbon negative by 2030

• Become zero waste by 203

• Become water positive by 2030

• Remove all historical emissions by 2050

As stated in its report (Microsoft, 2020, p.70) .

7. Bibliography

• Wilson, M., Wilson, M., & Bio, V. (2017). CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: WHAT IS IT AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? Ivey Business Journal. https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/corporate-sustainability-what-is-it-and-where-does-it-come-from/ (Accessed 9 September 2021)

• youmatter. (2020, June 3). CSR Report - Definition, Meaning, Benefits & Examples Of Companies. https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-csr-report-important-examples/ (Accessed 9 Septemeber 2021)

• Liu, K. C., & Racherla, U. S. (2019). Innovation, Economic Development, and Intellectual Property in India and China. Springer Publishing.

• Jones, E. (2021, September 8). Cloud Market Share – a Look at the Cloud Ecosystem in 2021. Kinsta. https://kinsta.com/blog/cloud-market-share/ (Accessed 9 Septemeber 2021)

• Microsoft. (2021). Microsoft 2020 Environmental Sustainability Report | Microsoft CSR. Microsoft Sustainability. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/sustainability/report

• Bigelow, S. J. (2017, March 28). Microsoft. SearchWindowsServer. https://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/definition/Microsoft (Accessed 9 september 2021)

• Microsoft. (2021a). Devices Sustainability at Microsoft report. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/devices/sustainability-report

• Sanchez, K. (2020, November 10). E&S Disclosure QualityScore. ISS. https://www.issgovernance.com/esg/ratings/environmental-social-qualityscore/

• Corporate Citizenship. (2020, July 23). Materiality. https://corporate-citizenship.com/service/materiality-2/

• Clay, Montarius. (2018). Microsoft CIS Essay.

8. Working links to the sustainability report & Online material used

- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/sustainability/report

- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/devices/sustainability-report

- https://www.issgovernance.com/esg/ratings/environmental-social-qualityscore/