Fighting Climate Change

The tech industry remains committed

The tech industry is making headway on climate change and CTA member companies are leading the way. Whether it’s individual companies pledging to meet environmental milestones or industry groups establishing independently audited energy efficiency agreements, the technology industry is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and innovating a more earth-friendly path forward.

CTA just released its third annual Industry Report on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, which highlights the collective and individual accomplishments of member companies in reducing GHG emissions year-over-year — both globally and in the U.S. The 2021 report is part of CTA’s pledge to encourage its members to calculate and publicly disclose their emissions while also recognizing individual company programs and initiatives.

CTA Members Reducing U.S Emissions

The findings show significant year-over-year strides between 2018 and 2019, specifically a 3.3% reduction in U.S. owned or controlled emissions. Compared to baseline data from 2016, the emissions reduction here is an impressive 24%.

Looking at the industry’s global emissions impact, CTA members decreased worldwide owned and controlled emissions in 2019 by 6.7%, even while the industry experienced 3.5% economic growth. The industry did see a slight increase in worldwide emissions when factoring in value chain emissions — the broadest and most complex category — of 2.6% from 2018 to 2019, due to factors like mergers and acquisitions, increases in outputs and other variables. While value chain emissions are an area to focus future efforts, it is not an insurmountable obstacle and member companies remain committed to progress through annual measurement, reporting and goal setting.

Companies Set Science-based Emissions Reduction Targets

CTA members are also tackling the challenge via comprehensive and science-based approaches. CTA is proud to recognize 42 CTA member companies with emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), an organization working towards the Paris Climate Agreement goal of keeping global temperature increases below two degrees Celsius. This is a significant accomplishment, and we applaud all these industry leaders

To learn more about the industry’s efforts and access the full report, visit CTA.tech.