Equinix has released its 2023 Integrated Sustainability Report reflecting progress towards its environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. Equinix’s approach to sustainability is rooted in ambitious targets, transparency in reporting progress, upholding ethical principles and integrity, and actively collaborating with stakeholders to foster transformative change.
The world’s digital economy is generating larger volumes of data across sectors like healthcare, finance and manufacturing, resulting in increasingly complex data sets that necessitate higher-performance computing, increased power demands, and a greater focus on global accessibility and enhanced security measures. The data center industry is under pressure to deliver unprecedented levels of performance while minimizing its environmental impact. Equinix is addressing these ever-increasing demands with a commitment to sustainability-guided innovation, improving efficiency, increasing its use of renewable energy, optimizing performance in its supply chain, and reducing emissions. At the same time, Equinix continues to nurture an inclusive culture and workforce.
“The advancements in the digital world are quickly outpacing the world’s existing power grids required to support it,” stated Christopher Wellise, VP of Sustainability, Equinix. “We need to remain focused on delivering the digital infrastructure to meet the demands of society while not compromising sustainability goals. As the world’s digital infrastructure company, Equinix views every aspect of its operations through the lens of sustainability. If we expect digital infrastructure to continue to meet performance expectations of rapidly evolving technologies such as AI, we should not compromise sustainability in the process.”
Equinix continues to make meaningful progress toward its long-term goal to achieve 100% renewable energy coverage by 2030. For 2023, it maintained 96% renewable energy coverage across its portfolio, marking the sixth consecutive year of greater than 90% renewable energy coverage across its global footprint. It also remains highly focused on improving the energy efficiency of its facilities as measured by power usage effectiveness (PUE), which improved 8%+ compared to the prior year. In addition, Equinix was recognized for its climate performance and transparency in 2023 by achieving the highest ranking of the CDP’s prestigious Climate Change A List for the second consecutive year. Of 23,000+ companies that disclosed environmental data to CDP in 2023, less than 2% received the top score.
Additional highlights of the report include:
Environment
- Reduced Scope 1/Scope 2 operational emissions 24% from the company’s 2019 baseline, furthering progress toward its goal of cutting that baseline number in half by 2030
- US$4.9 billion in green bonds issued and fully allocated to date, resulting in annual energy savings of ~1,800 GWh and annual avoided emissions of over 669,000 mtCO2
- Signed 15 wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) across the European Union, bringing Equinix’s global facilities to over 1 GW or approximately 25% PPA coverage once operational
Social
- Provided funding through the Equinix Foundation to 47 organizations focused on progressing digital inclusion, from providing access to technology and connectivity to developing the skills required for technology careers
- Continued progress toward the company’s aspirational five-year diversity goals, including a 17% increase in the number of women employees globally as well as a 14% increase in Black/African American employees in the U.S. in the last year
- Achieved an 11% year-over-year increase in employee volunteer hours globally, tracking 25,300 employee volunteer hours across the regions
- Donated over US$1.9 million from employee donations and company match, benefitting more than 1,600 charities globally
Governance
- Became a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Data Center Association
- Recognized for the third year in a row by the CDP for its supplier engagement practices, with 25% of Equinix’s Qualified Scope 3 emissions covered by supplier-set science-based targets
- Conducted its first supply chain-facing Human Rights Impact Assessment to identify inherent and potential risks across the supply chain
- Achieved a decade of 100% completion of employee ethics and compliance trainings
