New report identifies the world leading digital infrastructure company as making ‘significant progress’ on its ambitious ESG goals.
The Equinix FY22 Annual Sustainability Report shows the company on course for climate neutral operations by 2030.
Climate neutral operations by that year are the key goal of the company’s Future First strategy, focusing on issues that have the greatest impact on customers and key stakeholders.
Equinix, pitched as the world’s digital infrastructure company, has released the report which outlines progress toward the company’s key environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
Focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) that are most aligned with its business -Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure; Climate Action; Affordable & Clean Energy; Decent Work & Economic Growth; Reduced Inequalities and Gender Equality – Future First is driven by its resolve to set ambitious targets, measure and transparently report progress, lead with ethics and integrity and engage with stakeholders to drive change.
Most notably, Equinix has extended its industry leadership by achieving 96% renewable energy coverage of its operational load for 2022, marking the fifth consecutive year with over 90% renewable energy coverage, reflecting a 10% year-over-year increase in procurement of renewables on a GWh-basis.
The company continues to make significant progress on its sustainability goals across all areas, including:
Environment
• Achieved the highest ranking of the CDP’s prestigious 2022 Climate Change A List for the first time
• Made progress toward its goal of engaging 66% of its suppliers by qualified emissions to set a Science-Based Target (SBT) by 2025, with 17% of Scope 3 emissions now covered by supplier-set targets
• Became the first digital infrastructure company to commit to optimizing operating temperature ranges within its data centers to improve efficiency and power usage effectiveness (PUE)
Social
Launched the Equinix Foundation with a financial contribution of $50 million aimed at advancing digital inclusion globally – from providing access to technology and connectivity, to fostering the development of the skills needed to thrive in a digitally driven environment.
• Continued progress toward the company’s aspirational five-year diversity goals, including a 13% increase in the number of women employees globally as well as a 20% increase in Black/African American employees in the US. in the last year
• Achieved a 37% increase in employee volunteering globally, tracking 22,760 employee volunteer hours across the regions
Governance
• Recognized for the second year in a row by the CDP for its supplier engagement practices
• Became one of the first digital infrastructure companies to tie executive compensation to ESG performance by implementing a modifier to short-term incentives for VP-level employees and above including executive officers. As part of this initiative, the company aims to hold its leaders accountable for achieving both environmental and diversity objectives.
• Increased diverse representation on the corporate Board of Directors with three out of the four most recent additions self-identified as women and/or ethnically diverse
“We believe the opportunity for our company remains strong as we continue to see our customers look to Platform Equinix as a key partner in advancing their Digital Transformation agenda – sustainably.
“We are proud of what we’ve achieved thus far and look forward to continuing to make further progress in 2023 and beyond as we press our competitive advantage,” said Keith Taylor, Chief Financial Officer, Equinix.
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