Climate-focused organization Corporate Leaders Group (CLG) announced that Microsoft has joined the initiative as its latest member. In joining the group, Microsoft joins other leading businesses including Unilever, Coca Cola European Partners, and Salesforce.

Casper Klynge, Vice President of European Government Affairs, Microsoft, said:

“Our collective mission towards reaching net zero emissions requires more collaboration and new approaches, in particular as we seek to achieve a green recovery from COVID-19. Technology companies have a key responsibility to empower more sustainable solutions while making the use of technology more sustainable. We’re thrilled to join the Corporate Leaders Group and to work alongside businesses that are sharing our climate ambition, jointly advocating for progressive public policy that supports Europe’s vision to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent.”

The CLG is a consortium of leading businesses, aimed to support the transformation to competitive, sustainable, inclusive economies that will deliver net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Specifically, the initiative lists its desired outcomes as:

• help achieve the goal of net zero emissions in the UK and Europe by 2050 at the latest
• ensure cumulative global carbon emissions do not exceed one trillion tonnes
• limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, aiming for 1.5°C
• build an economy that supports and enables the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Earlier this year, Microsoft set for itself a “moonshot” climate goal of becoming “carbon negative” by 2030, and removing by 2050 all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975. The company also launched a $1 billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture, and removal technologies, and committed to make carbon reduction an explicit factor in supply chain procurement processes.

Eliot Whittington, Director, CLG Europe, said:

“Microsoft has set out a powerful climate leadership story with a clear-sighted vision of a carbon neutral future for the company as part of a wider net zero economy. I’m pleased to welcome Microsoft into CLG Europe and look forward to working with them to champion action on net zero technology and digitisation across the EU.”