Tencent becomes latest data center company to announce carbon-neutral pledge

Tencent has announced its plans to become carbon neutral by 2030. It is the latest to join the global movement pushing towards a more sustainable future. By the end of the decade, it has pledged carbon neutrality across its operations and throughout its supply chain, powering its operations entirely by renewable energy.

Pony Ma, chairman and CEO of Tencent, commented that it is the company's "responsibility" to help push the world towards a greener future and achieve carbon neutrality as a global technology leader. Adding that it's an essential part of the company's vision to "use 'tech for good'." Further to this, Ma outlined: "Not only do we believe this is the right thing to do for society, but we are eager to play our part as the global community progresses towards a carbon-neutral and more sustainable future." Last year, the company's total emissions were equivalent to 5.111 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

To help it deliver on its pledge, the company has joined the Science-Based Carbon Targets initiative (SBTi) and announced that it plans to join RE100, too. Likewise, the company has committed to buying 504 million kWh of renewable energy this year and has also secured six wind and solar projects' annual partial generation capacity.