Tech giant Microsoft has appointed a dedicated team to work on tackling emissions from its supply chain operations.
The announcement came from Microsoft’s Sustainability Director Charlie Sellars, who shared the news in a LinkedIn post.
The company will now have a top-notch decarbonization team made up of Tim Hopper, a long-time Microsoft sustainability expert, former head of sustainable procurement at Google and responsible sourcing manager at WeWork Ray Waweru, and Sofia Khan, former net-zero lead at Meta.
The team will be entrusted with the task of curbing Microsoft’s Scope 3 emissions.
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While Microsoft has been very active and committed to supporting decarbonization initiatives, making major investments in offsets as a way to reduce its carbon footprint and working on sustainability improvements, the company still faces struggles with reducing its Scope 3 emissions.
In 2020, the company laid out an ambitious plan to become a carbon-negative, water-positive, zero-waste company that protects ecosystems by 2030.
A report published by Microsoft in May 2024 showed that their CO2-cutting efforts were showing results in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions—the ones related to the company’s direct operations, like the electricity used to power office buildings.
However, the report also revealed an alarming 30% increase in Scope 3 emissions when compared to 2020 levels, a spike brought on by Microsoft’s energy-intensive AI data centers and goods and services purchased from third parties in its supply chain.
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Dedicated to being transparent on their path to lower CO2 emissions, Microsoft representatives acknowledged that the company is “not yet on track” but continues trying to “identify and pursue additional breakthroughs.”
The newly appointed team of skilled experts will fortify Microsoft’s strategy for achieving the company’s bold climate goals.
Carrying strong backgrounds in supply chain sustainability, responsible sourcing, ESG management, and net-zero planning, Tim Hopper, Ray Waweru, and Sofia Khan bring along a solid knowledge base on which to build on and develop strategies to successfully cut down Microsoft’s Scope 3 emissions.
