Sustainability
CAN YOU REALLY GO NET ZERO WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE IT?
By Steve Haskew, head of sustainability and social leadership at Circular Computing.
A
chieving net zero is now a top priority for a growing number of UK businesses, but the road to
carbon neutrality is littered with obstacles, difficult decisions and the odd wrong turn. It’s not easy knowing what to do, and I have a lot of sympathy for business leaders who are trying to do the right thing while juggling countless competing demands for their time, intellect, and investment. Depending on the sector, achieving net
zero might be relatively easy, or seemingly impossible. Some businesses will require only small operational or behavioural changes, while others will need to go through significant upheaval, investment, and strategic realignment before they even get close. Whichever end of that scale a business might be on, one thing
is certain, if it uses IT in any way shape or form, it’s going to be extremely difficult to achieve net zero without addressing the footprint of its IT infrastructure. Te good news is that it’s usually one of the easiest areas to address.
Time to roll up your sleeves We live in the age of the net zero commitment. Almost two-thirds of the UK’s largest companies have pledged to reach net zero by 2050, and 87 of the 100 largest listed companies have signed up to the BRC Roadmap to reach net zero by 2040.
40 | March/April 2024 Yet despite this pledge, only 29% of
UK businesses have a strategy in place to reach their net zero goal. Two in five (42%) business leaders say they feel overwhelmed by the steps they need to take to reach that goal. Fewer still have plans to reduce their scope three emissions. While it’s naturally great that business
leaders are facing up to the environmental challenges facing our society, there are signs that many, if not most, will fail to cross the net-zero finish line in time. Tere’s a sense that too many people in leadership positions don’t know what to do, and don’t know where to start. Business leaders in this position,
searching the horizon for a quick win that
makes commercial as well as environmental sense should start by looking carefully at their IT estate.
Can businesses achieve net zero without sustainable IT? Strictly speaking, yes, it is possible to achieve net zero while still maintaining an environmentally expensive IT infrastructure, but only if a company invests in a carbon offsetting programme to balance out its emissions. It’s technically possible, but in a world of readily available renewable energy, and circular programmes to cut the carbon cost of acquiring hardware, it’s hard to imagine a world in which it would make sense to do so.
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