Our Strategy
Equinix is committed to addressing the urgency of global climate change within its operations, its value chain and the broader industry. In 2015, we signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge voicing our commitment to the aims of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees °C. In the past year, we have demonstrated our commitment to action through a range of initiatives including target setting, leveraging green finance and continuing to prioritize transparency around the impacts of our business.
Science-Based Targets and Climate-Neutral Goal
Equinix established its 100% renewable energy target in 2015 as a first step in our climate change reduction strategy. In 2021, we expanded the scope of our commitment to include both a science-based target and climate neutrality, furthering our alignment with the aims of 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Our ambitious climate targets will demonstrate our leadership to our stakeholders – our investors, our customers, regulators, our communities and our employees.
While our renewable energy is notable – Equinix is currently over 95% renewable globally – we’re also committed to addressing our Scope 3 value chain emissions through supplier engagement and green building design.
Science-Based Target
|
|---|
|
Global Climate-Neutral Target |
|
EU Climate Neutral Data Center Operator Pact
In January 2021, Equinix drove the development of and was a founding signatory of the newly formalized Climate Neutral Data Centre Operator 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 in the following areas:
- Achieving Climate-Neutrality by 2030.
- Improving the efficiency of energy use.
- Purchasing 100% carbon-free energy.
- Prioritizing water conservation through the selection of efficient and appropriate cooling solutions.
- Increasing the reuse, repair and recycling of servers, electrical equipment and other related electrical components.
- Reusing data center heat where practical, environmentally sound and cost-effective.
Green Bonds
Expanding Equinix’s Commitment to Sustainability
Green bonds provide Equinix with access to favorable financing rates to invest in and prioritize projects across multiple areas of innovation including green buildings, renewable energy, energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste reduction, and clean transportation. Since the launch of our inaugural green bonds of approximately $3.7 billion from 2020 to 2021, Equinix has allocated these funds to $2.9 billion of Eligible Green Projects.
Eligible Green Projects are described in our Green Finance Framework, based on the Green Bond Principles 2018 and the Green Loan Principles 2020. The framework is a voluntary set of guidelines promoting transparency, integrity, and advancement of the standardization of disclosures in the development of green debt. A Second-Party Opinion on the environmental benefits of Equinix’s Green Finance Framework and alignment with the Green Bond Principles has been issued by Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of ESG research, ratings, and data.
More information on our progress can be found in our 2021 and 2022 Green Bond Allocation and Impact Report. We are committed to publishing these reports on an annual basis to provide transparency on our progress.
“Issuing our inaugural green bonds demonstrates Equinix’s continued long-term commitment to green our data center footprint, delivering wide-reaching environmental benefits for not only ourselves and our communities but also our global customers.”
– Keith Taylor, Chief Financial Officer, Equinix
Equinix’s green bonds are as follows:
Green Bond Results
Equinix’s first Allocation and Impact Report was published in September 2021, allocating $2.9B of $3.7B green bonds.
| Category | Impact |
|---|---|
| Green Buildings $2.85 billion |
Investments in green data centers resulted in 526,000 MWh of energy savings through improved PUEs. |
| Renewable Energy $55 million |
937,000 MWh of renewable energy is procured through VPPAs annually, resulting in a 401,000 mtCO2e avoidance in Scope 2 emissions. |
| Energy Efficiency $4 million |
Investments in energy efficiency projects resulted in 31,000 MWh of energy savings. |
The annual total emissions avoided from the eligible projects included in the allocation are equivalent to:
Metrics and Progress
Equinix discloses its carbon emissions and progress against our science-based targets annually. A significant element of our carbon reduction strategy is our renewable energy procurement efforts. These efforts have contributed to an overall 61% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions since 2015, even as our business and energy consumption has grown on average of 10% per year. The table below shows some of the highlights of our progress towards decarbonizing our business.
| Scope 1 | Scope 2 | Scope 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Emissions are Significant | Direct emissions from data center onsite diesel 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 data center value chain including construction activities |
| What Is Our Commitment*? | Science-based target of 50% reduction by 2030 without offsets and climate-neutral across Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 | 66% of suppliers by emissions** engaged to set science-based targets | |
| Where Are We Towards our Goals? | 305,500 metric tons CO2e (-12% since 2019 baseline) |
1,504,000 metric tons CO2e (+15% since 2019 baseline) |
|
| What Did We Do in 2021? | Aligned to install HVO capable generators to enable 90% reduction in onsite diesel emissions Announced Prime Power hydrogen fuel cell project and joined Clean Hydrogen Partnership in Milan, Italy (December 2021) |
Achieved 1.48 annual average PUE or 5.5% reduction YOY
Signed 35 MW wind in Finland (January 2022), joined load aggregation in Australia (August 2021), added I-RECs to bring global renewable energy coverage to 95% in 2021 |
Developed supplier engagement strategy and selected key suppliers |
| What Are the Next Steps? | Piloting HVO at multiple sites and qualifying the supply chain to evaluate transition away from diesel
Operations trialing low GWP refrigerants and reviewing leakage protocols |
Energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements set within 2022 Executive Compensation
Evaluating operational best practices and additional PPAs in new markets |
Leveraging ‘best practice’ CDP Climate Change survey to collect supplier data
Enhancing competitive business award process with climate and diversity criteria |
*All targets are against a 2019 baseline.
**Suppliers in the Categories of “Purchased Goods and Services” and “Capital Goods”, Equinix also has a 50% reduction in FERA target to be covered by renewables.
Scope 1
Direct emissions from diesel, refrigerants and natural gas
50,700
mtC02e
Scope 2
Indirect emissions from electric power, chilled water, fuel cells
254,800 mtC02e
Market-Based
2,307,600 mtCO2e
Location-Based
Scope 3
Indirect emissions that occur in the value chain
1,504,400
mtC02e
| Americas | 2,990GWhElectricity Consumption |
100%Renewable Energy |
35,700mtC02eCarbon Footprint |
| Asia- Pacific | 1,470GWhElectricity Consumption |
76%Renewable Energy |
253,000mtC02eCarbon Footprint |
| EMEA | 2,680GWhElectricity Consumption |
100%Renewable Energy |
16,800mtC02eCarbon Footprint |
Includes all relevant Scope 3 emission categories for Equinix’s business.
Carbon Trends
2021GHG emissions
Location-based
(mtCO2e)
50,700
2%
2,307,600
98%
Scope 1
Scope 2
2021GHG emissions
Market-based
(mtCO2e)
254,800
83%
254,800
83%
Scope 1
Scope 2
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 305,000 | 382,800 | 346,700 |
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 2,358,300 | 2,335,300 | 2,119,700 |
| 2019 | 365 5,700 54 |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 355 6,430 51 |
| 2021 | 323 7,140 36 |
400-
300-
200-
100-
0
-8,000
-7,000
-6,000
-5,000
-4,000
-3,000
-2,000
-1,000
0
Electricity (GWh)
Carbon Intensity (market-based)
Carbon Intensity (location-based)
| 2019 | 381 $5,562 62 |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 389 $5,999 64 |
| 2021 | 355 $6,636 46 |
400-
300-
200-
100-
0
-$8,000
-$7,000
-$6,000
-$5,000
-$4,000
-$3,000
-$2,000
-$1,000
$0
Revenue($ million)
Carbon Intensity (market-based)
Carbon Intensity (location-based)
Operational carbon emissions scope 1 & 2 location-based
Avoided emissions from renewables
Net carbon emissions scope 1 & 2 market-based (after avoided)
Our Renewable Energy Progress
Equinix is making progress toward our long-term goal to use 100% clean and renewable energy.