As digital infrastructure capacity continues to increase exponentially, doubling or potentially tripling over the next decade, will carbon emissions follow suit? This time of rapid growth coincides with commitments from the world’s biggest companies to decarbonize and, ultimately, achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Our industry’s collective power represents an opportunity both to reduce our collective carbon footprint and to deliver on the unprecedented demand. It shapes purchasing behavior, decarbonization markets, voluntary and regulatory policies, and construction and operation best practices.
As noted in the SOTI, we are at an inflection point: Digital infrastructure’s growth trajectory and decarbonization are diametrically opposed. Indeed, the industry has publicly reported increasing carbon emissions over 2020 baselines due to this growth. The iMasons Climate Accord (ICA) and its member companies are focused on decarbonization, as the planet cannot lose out to the demand for digital services and shareholder value. Incentivizing carbon avoidance projects, cost-efficient carbon sequestration, and holistic carbon accounting are key components. The process starts with budget tracking for carbon. We need to know our carbon debt and planned increases to develop and deliver on actions to reduce that debt rapidly to zero.
In 2022, iMasons recognized our responsibility to a sustainable future with the launch of the iMasons Climate Accord (ICA)—a coalition united on carbon reductions in digital infrastructure. Today, over 270 companies, representing more than eight trillion USD in market capitalization, are signatories. Our focus is net-zero carbon emissions, with a mandate to achieve global carbon accounting of digital infrastructure to influence market-based decisions and drive the industry to achieve carbon neutrality. Participating companies agree to an open standard and governance to report carbon impact in three key categories: materials, equipment, and power. Materials include the concrete, copper, steel, wood, and other resources used to build the core and shell of our data centers and other facilities. Equipment comprises mechanical, electrical, and plumbing as well as computer servers, storage systems, racks, and other information technology hardware housed in the data centers. Power includes the energy sources that enable the equipment in these data centers (i.e., digital infrastructure) to run.
To enable carbon accounting, we are developing a maturity model—a framework developed by our members, for our members—to track carbon across the ICA’s three focus categories. It will allow companies to understand their individual decarbonization journey better and compare to peers as well as the larger industry through feedback mechanisms. With every member company at a different point in their decarbonization journey, the maturity model is intended to keep us on track with our ICA commitment by providing insights to drive collaboration and the development of informational publications and tools.
One such tool is an environmental product declaration (EPD). An EPD is a standardized, third-party verified document that reports the embodied emissions of a product or material. It reflects vendor emissions reductions in reporting to key stakeholders, including regulators, and provides buyers a means to procure lower-carbon products or materials. In July 2024, the ICA’s Governing Body issued a call to action on EPDs with an intent to improve the transparency of embodied emissions, support GHG estimation and reporting, and help meet climate goals with more informed green procurement.
Emissions related to materials and equipment can be classified as Scope 3—indirect emissions that occur in an organization’s value chain and may account for more than 80 percent of its carbon footprint. Currently, less than one quarter of digital infrastructure industry companies report their Scope 3 emissions. To facilitate more reporting and carbon tracking, the ICA has proposed the concept of a carbon disclosure label; it’s similar to a nutrition label that informs shoppers about food nutrients. This carbon label would provide an accounting of the embodied carbon from materials and equipment as well as the operation carbon emitted from power generation. To facilitate the rollout and industry collaboration, iMasons and the ICA have partnered with the Open Compute Project to develop a standardized taxonomy for supplier carbon disclosures related to data center materials and equipment.
It’s encouraging to see our industry aligning on requirements and actions as an acknowledgement and recognition of the responsibility to support a sustainable planet and future. With upcoming changes expected due to European Union regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently implemented carbon disclosure rules, the ICA is primed to support informed decision making through our engaged member companies and their collective expertise in the development of resources needed for the entire industry to improve together.
