ENVIRONMENT

Climate Commitments and Carbon Emissions

Our Strategy

Equinix recognizes the urgency of the climate crisis and is working to build resiliency through our operations while driving change in the industry. Since signing the American Business Act on Climate Pledge in 2015, we remain aligned with the Paris Agreement and the ambitions of a 1.5°C future. In 2022, we introduced new management systems to further integrate sustainability into our daily functions, engaged in global policy advocacy and continued to innovate toward a cleaner economy by leveraging opportunities enabled by our green bonds. Furthermore, Equinix is committed to transparency by publishing our greenhouse gas emissions and progress towards our science-based target and climate-neutral goals annually. We also report in alignment with CDP, TCFD, SASB and SBTi frameworks.

Logo for Science Based Targets.

Science-Based Targets and Climate Neutral Goal

Equinix established its 100% renewable energy target in 2015 and set its near-term science-based target and climate neutral goal in 2021. Our ambitious science-based targets heavily inform our design standards and energy efficiency programs while demonstrating our leadership to our stakeholders.

We are leading the way to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, including through our seasoned renewable energy procurement programs. Equinix has 96% renewables coverage and has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the top colocation data center company using renewable energy. To address our Scope 3 emissions, we engage suppliers to set their own science-based targets and are actively measuring and evaluating the embodied carbon of our data centers to inform our strategy. We also continually innovate our green building design and work with our suppliers to identify low-carbon materials and engage with them on innovation.

Graphic summarizing Equinix's climate commitments. First, renewable energy, by 2030 Equinix will achieve 100 percent renewable energy. Second, emissions reduction, by 2030 Equinix will reduce its absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse emissions by 50 percent, from a 2019 base year. Third, climate neutrality, by 2030 Equinix will become climate neutral across global Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Fourth, supplier engagement, by 2025 Equinix will engage 66 percent of its suppliers by qualified emissions within the categories of purchased goods and services and capital goods to set their own science-based targets. Fifth, fuel and energy related activities, by 2030 Equinix will reduce absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from fuel and energy related activities by 50 percent from a 2019 base year.

“At Moody’s, we strive to partner with suppliers like Equinix who make our value chain more sustainable. We are grateful for their commitment and excited that they have adopted science-based targets. Our partnership with Equinix helps us meet our own net-zero goals, as we continue working toward decarbonizing our supply chain and creating a more sustainable future.”

– Moody’s Corporation

Engaging our Supply Chain

As industry leaders, we are in a unique position to share our expertise with our suppliers and engage them to set near-term science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions. For more information on how we work with our suppliers to reduce emissions in our supply chain, see Supply Chain Sustainability.

In 2022, Equinix was recognized as a CDP Supplier Engagement Leader

In 2022, Equinix made progress towards its goal of engaging 66% of its suppliers by qualified emissions settings to set a Science-Based Target (SBT), with 17% of suppliers qualified emissions setting their own SBT.

EU Climate Neutral Data Centre Operator Pact

As a highly engaged member of the European Data Centre Association (EUDCA), Equinix identifies collaborative opportunities to move the industry toward a more sustainable future. In 2021, we drove the development of and were a founding signatory of the newly formalized Climate Neutral Data Centre Operator Pact (Pact) and Self-Regulatory Initiative alongside 31 other data center operators and 20 trade associations. The Pact marked the industry’s intention to play a leading role in transitioning Europe to a climate-neutral economy, in support of the European Data Strategy and the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. As part of the Self-Regulatory Initiative, Equinix and other operator signatories commit to measurable and ambitious targets set for 2025 and 2030 covering multiple aspects of sustainability. In December 2022, the Pact announced the launch of an audit framework to independently verify compliance with these targets.

The Pact is also seeking to improve global water use efficiency for its signatories by proposing a new water metric that provides a limit of 0.4 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of IT power by 2040. For members, such as Equinix, this also means identifying regional water stress levels and percentage of non-potable water used. Further, Equinix joined two new working groups created by the Pact to define targets of a circular economy.

Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact Sustainability Criteria:

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 reuse, repair and recycling servers, electrical equipment and other related electrical components.
Reuse data center heat where practical, environmentally sound, and cost-effective.

Metrics and Progress

Equinix discloses our GHG emissions and progress against our climate commitments annually. Despite Equinix’s expansion in 2022 (+9% global electricity consumption), we reduced our overall Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 23% from a 2019 baseline.

Graphic showing climate commitment progress. Renewable energy at 96 percent. Science-based target (Scope 1 and 2) at 45 percent. Climate neutral at 23 percent.

*Includes all relevant Scope 3 emission categories for Equinix.

Americas

3,200 GWh

Electricity Consumption

100%

Renewable Energy

24,900

mtC02e

Carbon Footprint

Asia-Pacific

1,640 GWh

Electricity Consumption

81%

Renewable Energy

231,600

mtC02e

Carbon Footprint

EMEA

2,910 GWh

Electricity Consumption

100%

Renewable Energy

12,000

mtC02e

Carbon Footprint

The progress we made in 2022 can largely be attributed to our advanced renewable energy procurement efforts and our operational efficiency strategy. In addition to annually publishing our carbon emissions and progress toward our science-based target, we also report in alignment with CDP, TCFD and SBTi frameworks. The table below gives an overview of our commitments, progress, and next steps toward achieving climate neutrality.

	Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3
What Emissions are Significant	Direct emissions from data center on-site diesel and HVO emissions, refrigerants and natural gas for heating	Indirect emissions from data center electricity usage including fuel cells under PPAs and chilled water from leased assets	Indirect emissions from our supply chain including construction activities
What Is Our Commitment*?	Science-based target of 50% absolute reduction by 2030 and climate neutral across Scope 1 and 2 by 2030		66% of suppliers by Qualified emissions** engaged to set science-based targets by 2025
Where Are We Toward our Goals?	268,500 metric tons CO2e (-23% since 2019 baseline)		Engaged 17% in FY22
What Did We Do in 2022?	Successfully tested HVO at select sites with existing generators. Where deployed, projected up to a 90% reduction in on-site diesel emissions Installed free-cooling air-cooled chillers using natural refrigerants in new build projects in EMEA Announced Prime Power hydrogen fuel cell project and joined Clean Hydrogen Partnership in Milan, Italy (December 2021)	Achieved 96% global renewables coverage Achieved 1.46 annual average PUE with an annual 5.5% reduction Signed 3 wind PPAs in Finland and 5 solar PPAs in Spain, bringing total PPAs under contract to 595 MW	Developed and launched our supplier engagement strategy, improving our SBT coverage over the prior year. Recognized for a second year by CDP as a Supplier Engagement Leader
What Are the Next Steps?	Continue testing existing generators and finalize our strategy based on supply availability and test results, forming the foundation for our transition to low-carbon fuels Trial low-GWP refrigerants and review leakage protocols on existing sites, using natural refrigerants as the default for new build sites with dry cooling	Continue our investments in energy efficiency and resource conservation Expand upon current PPA portfolio, particularly in new markets, and evaluate opportunities for on-site solar installations across our global portfolio Link energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy coverage to 2023 Executive Compensation, driving operational best practices across the organization	Continue engagement with employees and suppliers, provide targeted training for supplier skill development and expand incentive mechanisms for suppliers

*All targets are against a 2019 baseline.
**Suppliers in the Scope 3 Categories of “Purchased Goods and Services” and “Capital Goods.” In addition, Equinix is committed to a 50% reduction in FERA.