Bangalore: Atlassian has released its second annual Sustainability report for year 2020 with ambitious plans to reach net zero emission by 2050.
This report details Atlassian’s progress and trajectory across four sustainability pillars: planet, customers, people, and community.
Atlassian said that as part of its commitment to combat climate change, it had set a goal to reach 100% renewable power across all operations by 2025. But it already achieved five years ahead of schedule in 2020.
“We are setting ambitious climate goals because we believe in matching our words by stepping up and taking action, said Jessica Hyman, Head of Sustainability, Atlassian.
“It’s what our staff want. It’s what our customers expect. It’s what our politicians should be doing. And it’s what we must do for the future sustainability of our business,” Hyman.
In September 2019, at UN Climate Week, Atlassian committed to set a target to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
“We aligned our goals with a 1.5°C trajectory as part of our commitment to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, reflecting the most ambitious objectives of the Paris Agreement,”
“We had recently announced that these goals have been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative steering committee,” added Hyman.
“We congratulate Atlassian Corporation for setting emissions reduction targets consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, said Alexander Farsan, Global lead for Science Based Targets, World Wide Fund for Nature.
“By setting targets that are grounded in climate science, Atlassian is setting themselves up for success in the transition to a net-zero economy,” added Farsan.
SBTi validation is an important step in Atlassian’s climate leadership and commitment to science. Here are the key ways that the company believes can get there by 2050:
Scope 1-2 – Absolute Emissions Reduction of 50% by 2025: This will mostly be achieved through procurement of 100% renewable energy and is therefore directly aligned with the company’s RE100 commitment.
The other critical element is ensuring any of the buildings the company own and operate run on electricity for heating and cooling (as opposed to natural gas or diesel).
Scope 3 – Reduce absolute emissions from business travel 25% by 2025: This will be achieved by reducing emissions from business travel, with a big focus on air travel.
Scope 4 – 65% of suppliers by emissions will have SBTs by fiscal year 2025: This will be achieved through supply chain management.
The company will engage with top suppliers and encourage them to set science-based climate targets. It is mapping out priorities with internal teams, and looking forward to the opportunity for innovation in this space.
“Our hope is that more companies see this is possible, and take the leap, said Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO.
“The latest climate science says we need reductions to keep warming to 1.5 degrees to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. Australia needs to do its part. Our future depends on it,” added Cannon-Brookes.