Microsoft partners commit to 2050 net zero target

Microsoft has announced that the vast majority of its UK partners plan to be Net Zero by 2050, in line with the target set by the UK Government.

The Redmond giant has released an update to its sustainability research conducted back in October, revealing that 89% of partners said they are working to ensure that they do not add to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by, or before, the target date.

The “Partnering on the road to net zero” study has dived into the role that the Microsoft UK Partner Network, which makes up almost 1% of all UK VAT registered companies, can play in accelerating the country’s journey to net zero.

It also found that 94% of these businesses believe that technology will be critical to helping organisations reach the target.

“Today’s research shows that Microsoft’s UK partners are eager to play their part in the UK’s transition to a greener and more prosperous future,” explained Orla McGrath, Global Partner Solutions lead at Microsoft UK.

“With their deep expertise in delivering innovative technology and consulting solutions, Microsoft partners are well placed to accelerate both their own journey to net zero and that of their customers.”

The new study is an update to Microsoft’s sustainability research last year, entitled “Accelerating the Journey to Net Zero – A UK Blueprint for Carbon Reduction”. Those initial findings revealed that most organisations in the UK are set to miss the Government’s target for net zero carbon emissions.

It also found that the majority of organisational leaders are struggling to know how to make their businesses more sustainable – partly due to a failure to turn strategy into action and a scarcity of in-house skills, Microsoft said.

In this latest update, 44% of partners said their customers are already asking for technologies that will help reduce their own impact.

Microsoft said that the findings also revealed the key areas in which it can support its partners as they work with UK organisations to reach net zero targets – which include: connected sustainability, decarbonisation, innovation, funding and skills, supply chain and collaboration, as well as solutions.

“Partners should deploy cutting-edge sustainability technologies, including Cloud for Sustainability, Emissions Impact Dashboard and Microsoft AppSource, which offer organisations tested, repeatable, transformative solutions that enable them to meet their sustainability targets – all in one place,” Microsoft elaborated in a blog post.

The update follows a commitment from Microsoft on carbon, waste, water, and biodiversity. The company has announced that, by 2050, it will remove from the environment all of the carbon it has emitted – either directly or by electrical consumption – since it was founded in 1975.