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Microsoft: Climate law is "just part of doing business now"

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Microsoft: Climate law is "just part of doing business now"

The rising number and rapid change of climate laws no longer affects the cost of doing business, says Microsoft's Alberto Arribas-Herranz

The use of legislation to slow or stop climate change is growing worldwide: the EU alone has published 51 different laws and policies in the last two decades, covering everything from renewable energy to vehicle emissions. It is increasingly difficult to operate anywhere in the world without investing time and money into green credentials.

"This is just part of business now," says Microsoft's Alberto Arribas-Herranz. "In the same way that you comply with other laws and we do other things because they are essentially what you need to have a functioning human society, it is the same with sustainability."

Arribas-Herranz is Microsoft's Sustainability Science Lead for Europe. Although the EU is one of the most regulated areas of the world - unsurprisingly, for a trade bloc covering almost 30 different countries - he expects we will see even more climate legislation in the future, here and elsewhere.

"I really think that we have we have turned a corner here and...we have to be very conscious that there is a very strong push, particularly from the European Union, [to combat climate change,] and we're going to see more legislation."

Anybody that thinks that there is not a market in sustainability is not seeing the reality of where we are today

Spain has the most climate rules and regulations of any country in the world - 54 - with the UK a close second, at 43. But that doesn't mean the cost of doing business in either location is any higher - from a climate point of view - than tiny Comoros or Equitorial Guinea, with just one policy apiece. Thanks to massive investment in environmentally friendly solutions, it's no longer a case of planet versus profits.

"I don't think there is a conflict in there, it is not one or the other. There are, of course, new markets that are being created on this [drive for sustainability], so it's not an activity that happens in the fringe: this is essentially mainstream.

"Anybody that thinks that there is not a market in sustainability and that people don't want to see solutions and that there is no legislation coming is actually not really seeing the reality of where we are today."

The writing on the wall

Microsoft can certainly see the way the future is headed. The company has implemented many environmental policies and processes - up to and including redesigning its data centres to raise efficiency and make them compliant with coming legislation - and appointed its first Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa, in 2018.

Importantly, though, Arribas-Herranz says that things will continue to change, and the most important thing is to be ready:

"This is not something that we have gone into having all of the answers. This is something that we have gone into having the full commitment and the knowledge that it was difficult, and then setting up teams like the Sustainability Science team, so we can address these challenges and make it happen."

Many companies - and shareholders - would balk at the idea of establishing a team with unknown costs, which is why a commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and the corporate culture that goes with it, is important.

"One of the good things in Microsoft is that there is a huge level of commitment at all levels, from the top leadership to any employee. In that sense it is not a question of commitment or resistance; the challenge is the challenge of doing anything that is difficult."

Becoming carbon neutral is difficult, and becoming carbon negative - as Microsoft intends - is even more so, but the results pay for themselves. The company is investing money now to avoid high costs, in both financial, physical and human terms, later. Arribas-Herranz stresses the importance of a shared commitment to stopping climate change:

"This is the thing that we have to keep in mind. Becoming carbon negative is something that is complicated and is something that we have never done before, in the in the history of humanity. And it's not only that is complicated and difficult and unprecedented, it is that we're trying to do it very quickly.

"So, the challenge is, how do you do the science, do the technology and do the policy? How do you interact with all these moving pieces? But in terms of commitment and support, the support and commitment within Microsoft is huge."

When it comes to the planet, the time for short-term thinking is over; we must act now.

Computing will run the Tech Impact Conference this year, exploring the relationship between tech and the climate - including case studies about the road to net zero, how to go green in your data centre and supply chain, and how to make small changes with a big impact. For those who are passionate about the planet - and those who are more wary - there has never been a better time to get involved.

Microsoft: Climate law is "just part of doing business now"

The rising number and rapid change of climate laws no longer affects the cost of doing business, says Microsoft's Alberto Arribas-Herranz

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