Commitment to "good tech" solutions helps clients address
environmental challenges
ARMONK, N.Y., July 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM's (NYSE:
IBM) operational CO2 emissions have been reduced by
39.7% since 2005, according to IBM's 30th annual
IBM and the Environment Report, released today. The
achievement puts IBM well ahead of schedule in reaching its current
goal of a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025.
In addition, Forty-seven percent of the electricity IBM consumed
in 2019 came from renewable sources, keeping the company on track
to get 55% of its electricity from renewables by 2025.
"IBM was instrumental in establishing corporate environmental
reporting three decades ago because we saw that embracing openness
drives results," said Wayne Balta,
vice president of environmental affairs and product safety. "Our
continual and dependable progress throughout the years has been
underscored by our dedication to transparent reporting and IBM's
values."
Other highlights from the report; in 2019:
- IBM implemented 1,660 energy conservation projects at nearly
230 locations globally. These projects delivered annual energy
savings of 136,000 MWh, equal to 3.2% of the company's total energy
use during 2019 and surpassing the corporate goal of 3%. IBM has
sustained a goal for energy conservation since 1975 and began
reporting annual energy conservation savings in 1992. Getting the
same work done with less energy has long been a top priority at IBM
for addressing climate change.
- IBM became a Founding Member of the Climate Leadership Council
and supports its bipartisan roadmap for a carbon tax with
corresponding carbon dividend.
- Technical experts at IBM across the company's business units
and research division continued to develop new ways of helping to
solve difficult environmental problems based upon data and today's
exponential information technologies -- including AI, analytics,
IoT and blockchain, which have the power to change business models,
reinvent processes, and reimagine work.
These solutions demonstrate "good tech" and the art of the
possible. For example, IBM Research developed an AI-based
forecasting and control system that improves electricity storage in
photovoltaic systems. And IBM created a digital farming platform
that will provide farmers with hyperlocal weather forecasts in
addition to offering real-time recommendations tailored to the
specific needs of individual fields and crops, helping to increase
crop production, save water and decrease the need for fertilizers
and pesticides.
Transparency in Carbon Reporting
The
report codifies IBM's longstanding practice of transparency in
carbon reporting to ensure that IBM's disclosure of energy
consumption, CO2 emissions, and renewable energy be done
in a way that is clear.
"Climate change represents a serious threat to our planet that
must be addressed right now," Balta continued. "Transparent
communications are essential to secure popular support for
action."
A long history of excellence
In addition to being one
of the first multinational companies to produce its own
environmental report, IBM also led the creation of the first
cross-industry guidelines for voluntary corporate environmental
reporting back in the early 1990s. Upon working with industry
peers, learning from business associations, and with input from the
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), IBM
and nine other companies published the Public Environmental
Reporting Initiative (PERI) Guidelines in 1994. These guidelines
marked a beginning of what has since become a common business
practice for many companies.
Read the report and a related blog from IBM President
Jim Whitehurst.
Contact: John Buscemi,
203-252-9377, jbuscemi@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM