Environment
Our Strategy
While digital transformation at scale provides incalculable benefits to society, including accelerating adoption of climate solutions, data centers consume an estimated 1% to 1.5% of all the world’s electricity. We recognized our responsibility to reduce our climate impact in line with the Paris Agreement’s objective to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, by signing the American Business Act on Climate Pledge in 2015.
Since 2015, Equinix has been committed to the use of renewables. Our climate impact reduction strategy drives our renewables sourcing and uncompromising commitment to energy efficiency.
Monitoring a comprehensive range of sustainability metrics ensures our sustainability solutions and areas of focus are specific to each geography and account for the interdependency of critical resources such as power, water and carbon. Measuring our greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint is one key mechanism that helps us identify areas for improvement and understand how initiatives influence emissions.
Sustainable Development Goals
Our impact is larger than just our operations—by addressing our emissions and procuring renewable energy, we support achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 & 13.
We live by the principle that transparency is vital to accountability. Consequently, we publish our GHG inventory annually and report in alignment with CDP and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). We also align our reporting with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which have now been incorporated into the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
In 2023, we accelerated our sustainability program by:
- Driving progress toward our 2030 science-based GHG emissions reduction goals
- Quantifying embodied emissions from construction materials to inform future designs
- Putting waste heat back to use in our communities, via heat export
- Continuing to expand and accelerate progress in our Supplier Engagement Program
- Accounting for Waste from Operations, which includes our Responsible Electronics Disposal Program (RED)
- Reporting and integrating sustainability metrics into our business case approvals process for all new builds and expansion projects
- Passing our initial Circularity audit as we continue advocating for climate policies that align with the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact
- Optimizing operating temperatures in alignment with ASHRAE A1 Allowable standards
Our Targets
Reducing emissions throughout our value chain is a top priority. Each year, our teams innovate methods for driving energy efficiency and improving facility design guidelines to lower our carbon footprint. We also work in our supply chain to reduce upstream emissions.
In 2021, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) verified our emissions reduction and supplier engagement targets.
Our Near-Term Science-Based Targets
Near-term Emissions Reductions
By 2030, reduce absolute Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50% compared to our 2019 baseline
- 2023 progress: 24% reduction from 2019 baseline
Fuel-and-Energy Related Activities
By 2030, reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel- and energy-related activities by 50% compared to our 2019 baseline
- 2023 progress: 25% increase from 2019 baseline
Supplier Engagement
By 2025, engage 66% of suppliers by qualified emissions within the categories of purchased goods and services and capital goods (Qualified Emissions) to set their own science-based targets
- 2023 progress: 25% of suppliers by Qualified Emissions have set science-based targets
We continue to pursue additional targets in key areas to help us meet our overall sustainability ambitions:
Renewable
Energy
By 2030, achieve 100% renewable energy
- 2023 progress: 96%
Climate
Neutrality
By 2030, become climate neutral1 across Scopes 1 and 2 emissions
1 We define climate neutrality as achieving an 100% reduction in operational emissions.
Our goals dictate the activities we prioritize, focusing our efforts on high-impact areas where we can make meaningful change. As we progress toward our goals, we also help our customers reduce their footprints and promote the development of a low-carbon economy.
Read about our efforts to achieve our operational goals in Operational Sustainability.
Engaging our Supply Chain
Just as we support our customers’ Scope 3 GHG reduction goals, we look to our suppliers to reduce our Scope 3 footprint. To achieve this, we share best practices with our suppliers and help them set emission reduction targets. In 2023, 25% of qualified Scope 3 emissions2 were covered by suppliers with science-based targets. In order to increase transparency in our supply chain, we also engaged our suppliers to disclose their sustainability efforts through the CDP. That effort saw a 91.5% increase in Equinix total suppliers reporting on sustainability efforts to CDP year over year, an important step as we continue to evaluate our supply chain climate impact.
See our Governance webpage for an overview of our approach to supply chain management.
2 Suppliers in the Scope 3 Categories of “Purchased Goods and Services” and “Capital Goods.”
CDP Supplier Engagement Leader
In 2023, Equinix was named a CDP Supplier Engagement Leader for the third year in a row.
European Union (EU) Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact
Equinix is highly engaged with the European Data Centre Association, collaborating within our sector to promote a more sustainable future. As part of our involvement, we helped develop the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP, “the Pact”) in 2021 and became a founding signatory.
Our participation in the CNDCP is ongoing, with Equinix employees contributing to working groups on energy efficiency and water. The Pact commits participating data center operators to:
- Achieve climate neutrality by 2030
- Improve the efficiency of energy use
- Purchase 100% carbon-free energy
- Prioritize water conservation through the selection of efficient and appropriate cooling solutions
- Increase the reuse, repair and recycle of Equinix owned servers, electrical equipment, and other related electrical components
- Reuse data center heat where practical, environmentally sound and cost-effective
Beyond committing to the Pact for our own operations, we also help drive climate legislation in the EU as a member of the Pact’s policy working group. For example, we are actively contributing to the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive workstream to create a data center sustainability reporting scheme.
Visit our Operational Sustainability and Innovative Building Design webpages for more details on how we adopt the Pact’s criteria.
Metrics and Progress
In 2023, our Scope 1 emissions amounted to 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e), Scope 2 emissions (market-based)3 to 234,100 MTCO2e and Scope 3 emissions to 1,249,000 MTCO2e. This represents a 2% decrease in Scopes 1 and 2 emissions compared to 2022 and a 24% decrease compared to our 2019 baseline. Our net 2% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2022 was driven by targeted efforts to reduce refrigerant leakages and diesel consumption in addition to increasing emissions intensity of electricity purchased in Australia, where we continue to increase our renewable energy coverage. In 2023, we consumed 8,170 GWh of electricity globally, with 96% covered by renewables—nearly achieving our goal to source 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
3 Market-based emissions account for renewable energy procurement decisions such as the purchase of EACs, whereas location-based emissions are calculated by multiplying consumption with the average grid intensity.
Americas
3,400 GWh
Electricity Consumption
100%
Renewable Energy
21,800
mtCO2e
Carbon Footprint
Asia-Pacific
1,660 GWh
Electricity Consumption
81%
Renewable Energy
235,000
mtCO2e
Carbon Footprint
EMEA
3,110 GWh
Electricity Consumption
100%
Renewable Energy
6,300
mtCO2e
Carbon Footprint
Scope 1
Direct emissions from diesel, refrigerants and natural gas
29,000
mtC02e
Scope 2
Indirect emissions from electric power, chilled water and fuel cells
234,100
Market-Based
2,610,200
Location-Based
Scope 3
Indirect emissions that occur in the supply chain*
1,249,000
mtC02e
*Includes all relevant Scope 3 emissions categories for Equinix
The table below summarizes our emissions sources, commitments and reduction initiatives.
| Scope 1 | Scope 2 | Scope 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What emissions are significant? | Direct emissions from data center on-site diesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) emissions, refrigerants and natural gas for heating | Indirect emissions from data center electricity usage, including fuel cells under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and chilled water from leased assets | Indirect emissions from our supply chain, including construction activities |
| What is our commitment?4 | Approved science-based target to reduce absolute emissions by 50% across Scopes 1 and 2 by 2030 | Engage 66% of suppliers by Qualified emissions5 to set science-based targets by 2025 | |
| Reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel-and-energy related activities by 50% | |||
| How are we tracking toward our goals? | Reduced Scopes 1 and 2 absolute emissions by 24% compared to 2019 | Engaged 80% of top suppliers by emissions as of 2023 | |
| increased Scope 3 fuel-and-energy related emissions by 25% | |||
| What did we do in 2023? | Successfully tested engines covering 40% of our global installed base for HVO feasibility | Achieved 96% global renewable coverage
Achieved 1.42 annual average PUE, an 8.8% improvement from 2022 Signed nine wind PPAs and seven solar PPAs, bringing total PPAs under contract to 1,063 MW |
Provided targeted training for supplier skill development, resulting in a 90% increase in our suppliers reporting on sustainability efforts to CDP year over year.
Recognized for a third consecutive year by CDP as a Supplier Engagement Leader |
4 All targets are against a 2019 baseline.
5 Suppliers in the Scope 3 categories of “Purchased Goods and Services” and “Capital Goods.”
Carbon Trends
Clean and Renewable Energy
Equinix drives energy efficiency and makes progress toward our goal to use 100% clean and renewable energy.