Microsoft Azure: Carbon accounting standards in the industry

A number of organizations and companies have come together to form an initiative called the Carbon Call, which is seeking to achieve "reliable and interoperable" carbon emissions accounting to ensure the world reaches net-zero by midcentury. Among the twenty organizations launching the call is Microsoft. 

Hosted by ClimateWorks Foundation, other members include the Linux Foundation, Capricorn Investment Group, Climate Change AI, Corporate Leaders Group Europe, Global Carbon Project, Global Council for Science and the Environment, International Science Council, LF Energy, Mila, Skoll Foundation, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, United Nations Environment Programme (collaborating organization), and United Nations Foundation.

A statement released by the newly formed group said: "Reliable measurement and accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is critical to climate accountability and attribution." Research shows that currently, there is a big gap in underreported GHG emissions, a gap that ranges from "at least 8.5 billion to as high as 13.3 billion tons a year." Moreover, a lack of transparency around real efforts to cut carbon emissions is something that permeates the data center industry, and was recently highlighted by the NewClimate Institute's report, covered by Baxtel. 

Speaking about this, and the greenwashing unfortunately present within many company's pledges, Lucas Joppa, Microsoft's Chief Environmental Officer, said: "With so many organizations now committing to net zero, one key piece is still missing: a transparent and interoperable system to track, report and compare GHG emissions and removals. Carbon Call is a collaboration to enable reliability among the multiple, different GHG accounting ledgers – from the corporate to the national to the planetary. We encourage all organizations committed to net zero to join us."