Logicalis is pursuing a new travel policy – and turning the screws on its suppliers – as part of efforts to reduce its emissions.
Having committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in December, the global Cisco partner yesterday released its first environmental statement.
It sets out 10 sustainability pledges (see bottom) and expressed an aim for Logicalis to become carbon neutral on scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025 and a net zero carbon organisation by 2050.
New travel policy
Having deepened the scope of its emissions reporting, Logicalis pegged total emissions across its global organisation last year at 356,670 tCo2e (see p10 here).
Almost 99% of that total (namely 352,119 tCo2e) came from the ‘scope 3’ emissions that lie outside its direct control, however.
Employee commuting is a sizeable scope 3 emission category in Logicalis’ sights. It estimated that this activity generated 12,750 tCo2e of emissions in 2022.
The Datatec-owned firm said it will encourage low-carbon alternatives for commuting through a new travel policy, revealing it has partnered with climate group RouteZero to this end.
Turning the screw on suppliers
Logicalis is also committed to ensuring that “80% of its suppliers spend and users of sold products” will have science-based targets in place by 2026, the $1.7bn-revenue firm added (see p13 here).
It will engage with its top 10 suppliers and develop procurement policies that “assist in selecting low-emission alternative suppliers” to aid that goal. Logicalis’ key vendors include Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, HPE, Palo Alto, NetApp and VMware.
When it comes to scope 1 and 2 emissions, Logicalis has committed to having 75% of its operations powered by renewable energy by 2025 (see p12 here).
All its operations will have switched to renewable energy by 2030, it pledged, with the UK and Spain slated to be the first to achieve this in 2024.
‘Logicalis must play a significant role’
Logicalis is among a growing number of large IT solutions providers that have committed to SBTi, with publicly listed UK giants Softcat and Computacenter having their targets approved by the organisation in July 2022 and July 2023, respectively. SHI and WWT are among its US-based peers that have signed up to SBTi.
“I’ve spent a lot of time considering the impact we have as an organisation,” Logicalis CEO Bob Bailkoski (pictured above) said in his introduction to the environmental statement.
“There is no doubt in my mind that organisations, like Logicalis, must play a significant role in addressing climate change and making the world a better place.
“We are openly committed to becoming carbon neutral on scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025, and already working hard to make radical, proactive changes to achieve our goal. Longer-term we are aiming to become a net zero carbon organisation by 2050.
“However, in a world as interconnected as our own, cross-collaboration is crucial to powering progress. As sustainability initiatives continue to move at pace, so Logicalis will push forward with urgency, shaping not only our own efforts but supporting everyone in our orbit to make a positive impact on the planet.”
Logicalis’ 10 sustainability pledges
We will set a clear sustainability agenda and be transparent about how we are moving towards it through our company’s actions and messaging.
We will set a science-based carbon reduction goal that will get us to net zero.
We will transparently report on our scope one, scope two and scope three emissions as a global organisation.
We will help our customers identify ways to incorporate environmental sustainability practices into their business.
We will partner and collaborate with others within our orbit (including customers, partners and competitors) to promote and support better sustainability practices.
We will encourage lowcarbon alternatives for commuting through our new travel policy.
We will work towards sustainable workplaces that make Logicalis a great place to work and support our employee actions that reduce their own and our company’s carbon footprint.
We will continue to champion local in-country sustainability projects through our annual sustainability challenge.
We will provide our managed services customers with an environmental impact score to help them understand their IT emissions, alongside recommendations on how to improve.
To provide objective evidence of the above commitments being met.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
