Bill Stein, CEO

December 3, 2020

At Digital Realty, we believe that being conscious about our environmental impact—and acting on those convictions—is central to our mission. As we continue to expand the global reach and coverage of PlatformDIGITAL™, sustainability is an integral part of our strategy to help our customers harness the power of data gravity.

It’s a responsibility we take seriously—which, like with everything else at Digital Realty, includes metrics and accountability. Accordingly, I am proud to announce that we have set new, ambitious climate impact reduction targets with a goal of bringing our carbon emissions in line with a 1.5-degree climate change scenario by 2030. In support of this goal—and our industry-leading commitment to sustainability—we have joined the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

We are pleased to join Microsoft, Amazon, Walmart, and more than a thousand other like-minded organizations in committing to the SBTi. We do so with the knowledge that our data centers form a vital part of the digital economy’s central nervous system. While we are proud to deliver an essential service to so many businesses during these challenging times, we also recognize the importance of remaining focused on long-term sustainability. Our companywide response—and ambitious goals—will help reduce our carbon footprint, even as we continue to grow.

As the first data center operator of our size and global reach to join the SBTi, we have committed to reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (direct and indirect company emissions) by area by 68% and Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions in our value chain) by area by 24% by 2030. Achieving these goals will expand our focus on renewable and clean energy initiatives and low-carbon development and supply chain sustainability. As we enable new business outcomes by removing data gravity barriers and scaling digital business, our commitment is to support our customers in achieving their goals in a sustainable manner.

In 2020, we’ve already made significant strides forward toward achieving our goals, including:

Entering two renewable energy agreements in Texas for wind and solar power supplying clean, renewable energy for our data centers throughout the greater Dallas area
Sustainably powering our growth by issuing €2.1 billion in green Euro bonds, our third and fourth green bond issuances, maintaining Digital Realty’s position as the largest U.S.-based REIT green bond issuer
Pioneering sustainable technologies through Interxion: A Digital Realty Company, such as using underground aquifers to reduce our carbon footprint and reducing our cooling system energy consumption at a key London site by 20% during the first year of an ongoing project with EkkoSense
Using carbon-free energy to power 88 facilities across EMEA. We also announced this week that Interxion France is on target to be carbon-neutral for both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by the end of 2020—and is committed to remaining so through 2030 even as data center demand grows in France

Closing Out 2020 Strong and Making Further Positive Impacts in 2021

As 2020 comes to a close and we gear up for 2021, we are excited to redouble our efforts to address climate change by reducing carbon emissions. We look forward to working with our partners, vendors, customers, and employees to build toward a cleaner, carbon-neutral future.

For more information on our sustainability practices.

Aaron Binkley on the Role Data Centers Play in Sustainability