Beijing – The international environmental organization Greenpeace released the report “Towards Carbon Neutrality: A Roadmap for China’s Internet Technology Industry to Achieve 100% Renewable Energy”, proposing that Chinese internet technology companies should play a leading role in low-carbon transformation by setting ambitious and far-sighted renewable energy goals and achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030 at the latest, not later than 2050. Against the background of large-scale development of renewable energy and deepening reforms in electricity marketization in China, internet technology companies urgently need to seize the opportunities for low-carbon development and actively procure renewable energy, taking practical actions to help China achieve carbon neutrality.
In the global context of addressing climate change, the growth in carbon emissions from the internet technology industry has attracted much attention. The carbon emissions of internet technology companies mainly come from electricity use, with large internet infrastructure such as data centers and cloud computing centers being the main sources of energy consumption. With China proposing to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, transitioning to 100% renewable energy has become an inevitable trend for the technology industry. Adopting zero-emission renewable energy is one of the most important means for companies to move towards carbon neutrality. Greenpeace Project Director Rebecca Ye said: “Decarbonization in areas like data centers and cloud computing is an important part of China achieving carbon neutrality. China’s internet technology industry has great potential for low-carbon transformation. It should give full play to its potential for technological and business model innovation, actively transition to 100% renewable energy, and become a pioneer in achieving China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.”
Three major factors have brought China’s internet technology industry to an important green transformation turning point. One is that the cost of renewable energy continues to decrease, and procuring renewable energy has become an important means and long-term strategy for companies to control electricity costs. Two is that global investors are increasingly concerned about companies’ ability to address climate risks, and comprehensive use of renewable energy is an important means for companies to reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their market competitiveness. Three is that against the backdrop of China moving towards carbon neutrality, proactively managing carbon emissions is a choice for companies to hedge against long-term policy risks.
In the past decade, international companies like Google, Apple and Facebook have become leaders in the 100% renewable energy transformation. The report summarizes 41 global tech companies that have taken the lead in setting long-term goals of 100% renewable energy. Among them, about 20% have already achieved 100% renewable energy goals, another 50% have set the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy before 2030, and 44% reached over 60% renewable energy utilization in 2019.
At present, only Qiniu Cloud in China has set the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030. The report calls on Chinese companies to set the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030 at the latest, not later than 2050, with reference to China’s climate ambition goals and international corporate cases, in order to fully demonstrate the leading role of enterprises in low-carbon transformation.
Greenpeace Project Director Rebecca Ye said: “Against the backdrop of China raising its climate ambitions and goals, China’s renewable energy market will move from an initial stage to a development stage, with costs continuing to decrease and renewable energy procurement becoming more diversified. Internet technology companies should seize the opportunities for low-carbon development and actively procure renewable energy.”
