Governance
Equinix has strong corporate values and a passion for building trust and connectivity among our stakeholders. We prioritize contributing to solutions that support these values while, at the same time, helping others achieve their own goals.
Public Policy and Government Affairs
We believe our responsibility as a good corporate citizen includes active engagement to advance progress on our key public policy priorities. These include increasing access to clean energy, improving resilience in the energy sector, enabling a more connected and secure world and advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace and communities. Our Public Policy and Government Affairs team is committed to working alongside a wide range of stakeholders at all levels of government across our platform, including local, regional, federal, and international governments, as well as non-governmental and civic organizations in the communities in which we operate.
Equinix has established a cross-functional Public Policy Council comprised of executives with global responsibility to provide oversight and advice on relevant public policy concerns. Equinix’s public policy function reports into Equinix’s Chief Compliance Officer and all activity in this area is reviewed and governed by our Chief Compliance Officer in consultation with the Chief Legal Officer and the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee.
Our Public Policy Activities Policy defines our approach to trade association engagements, political contributions, and issue advocacy efforts.
Political Contributions Policy and Disclosure
In 2021, our score on the CPA-Zicklin Index improved by 20%, showing a significant improvement in our political transparency. The improvement demonstrates our dedication to transparency and building trust.
Equinix prohibits independent expenditures by the company on behalf of candidates at any level of government. This includes political contributions made in support of, or against, a candidate that are not made through a Political Action Committee (PAC) or to a candidate’s campaign and are made without a candidate’s request or coordination. Equinix does not have a PAC. Under the Equinix Code of Business Conduct, company employees are prohibited from making or committing to political contributions on behalf of Equinix.
Equinix discloses the details of contributions—including identification of the organization or candidate, and amount contributed—in a political contributions report on a semi-annual basis. As required by the Lobby Disclosure Act, Equinix files quarterly reports on its federal lobbying activities and expenditure. These reports can be accessed through the Lobby Contribution Filing Search page on the Lobbying Disclosure page of the U.S. Congress website.
In 2021, we lobbied both directly and through our involvement in trade associations such as the EUDCA, DCC, and ITI. Learn more about our public policy activities here on our website.
Collaborating with our Peers
Equinix belongs to trade and industry associations in the United States and abroad. These organizations help Equinix stay informed of emerging issues and industry standards, analyze policy and political information, and provide educational opportunities for Equinix employees. In 2021, we joined the US India Business Council and US Colombia Business Council. Through these organizations, we can better interact with policy makers and establish ourselves within these regions.
Early in 2021, Equinix had success in educating members of the U.S. Congress on the meaning of interconnection and the role that data centers play in the digital economy. These conversations lead to Congress issuing a strong endorsement of the use of interconnection within the U.S. Department of Defense.
Equinix’s membership in any trade association does not indicate our agreement with all views and positions taken by the association. As of December 31, 2021, we were active members of the following sample list of organizations:
Trade Organizations
- Asia Cloud Computing Association
- Data Center Coalition (DCC)
- Dutch Data Centre Association
- European Data Centre Association (EUDCA)
- France Datacenter
- German Datacenter Association
- Host in Ireland
- Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)
- National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit)
- Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC)
- TechUK (United Kingdom)
- US Colombia Business Council
- US India Business Council
Other Priority Groups
- Nareit ESG Forum
- Clean Energy Buyers Alliance (CEBA)
- RE100
In 2021, we continued to strengthen our engagement with several trade associations, with a goal to help shape the future of a more sustainable data center industry. Through various forums, we are actively advocating for policies that promote the generation and use of renewable energy and other low-carbon alternatives. We also seek to support change that will build strong and thriving communities and will enable our data centers to play an integral role in the development that maximizes environmental and social benefits.
Several members of our leadership team have taken active leadership roles in key trade associations. They are focused on being proactive on behalf of Equinix while pushing to strengthen the overall representation of the industry.
- Asia Cloud Computing Association — Eric Hui, Business Development Director, Chair, ACCA Board
- CEBA — Bruce Frandsen, Director Global Renewable Energy and Cleantech, CEBA Board Member
- DCC — Chris Kimm, Senior Vice President at Equinix, Vice Chair for Board of DCC Dutch Data
- EUDCA — Michael Winterson, Vice President, Business Development at Equinix, Chair for EUDCA. Michael Winterson was critical to the design and launch of the EUDCA-supported Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact and currently chairs the Pact’s Efficiency Metric Workgroup.
- France Datacenter — Regis Castagne, Managing Director, France, FD Board Member
- Host in Ireland — Maurice Mortell, Managing Director, Ireland, Host in Ireland Board Member
- ITI — Paul Brownell, Public Policy Director at Equinix, ITI Board Member
Case Study: Working with EUDCA to change the industry
Throughout 2021, Equinix has deepened our engagement with the European Data Centre Association (EUDCA). We play an instrumental role within the EUDCA, driving the goal of data center carbon neutrality by engaging with policy makers on sustainability, energy, and climate issues, in addition to other areas of policy.
The EUDCA has been very active in responding to over 50 of the public consultations held by the European Commission on the development of policy and legislation. Our Equinix representatives play a key role in meeting with EUDCA staff to determine which consultations the association will engage in. They then work with peer member companies to review, revise, and finalize feedback on legislation.
Early in 2021, Equinix, as a board member of EUDCA, spearheaded the development of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (“The Pact”). The Pact establishes a Self-Regulatory Initiative for cloud service providers and data center operators, which commits Equinix, and other data center signatories, to set measurable and ambitious targets for 2025 and 2030 in the following areas:
- Carbon 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
- Reuse, repair and recycle servers, electrical equipment, and other related electrical components
- Reuse data center heat where practical, environmentally sound, and cost-effective.
The Pact, with the support of Equinix, established the following three working groups to help them achieve their targets:
- Water Conservation Workgroup: This group will develop a proposal for the correct water metric and associated target for water conservation.
- Circular Economy Workgroup: This group will gather input and data from signatories and establish appropriate reuse and repair targets for equipment.
- Monitoring and Certification Workgroup: This group, chaired by Equinix’s Michael Winterson, will develop processes for signatories to certify adherence to Pact commitments.
Science-Based Targets and Climate Neutral Goal
Equinix has set science-based targets and climate neutral goal