3 Mar 2014 -- IBM received a 2014 Climate Leadership Award for its Excellence in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Management from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Climate Leadership Award is co-sponsored by three nongovernmental organizations, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, The Climate Registry and the Association of Climate Change Officers. This is the third consecutive year IBM has been recognized with a Climate Leadership Award -- every year since the launch of the award program in 2012 -- a unique achievement by IBM.
IBM earned this year's award for exceeding its GHG reduction goal in 2012. The company had set a seven percent absolute GHG emissions reduction goal for its global operations between 2005 and 2012. At the end of 2012, IBM reduced its GHG emissions by 14.2 percent, or 404,000 metric tons (MT) of emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This significant accomplishment was achieved through aggressive energy conservation and efficiency projects, and renewable energy purchases.
- IBM's energy conservation efforts reduced or avoided an average of 5.7 percent each year of annual operational energy use, between 2005 and 2012, through a broad use of energy conservation best practices, the virtualization of its server systems, and the installation of monitoring and management analytics based systems for data center, building and chiller efficiency.
- The company is also a large-scale user of renewable energy; almost 10 percent of IBM's 2012 global electricity consumption was generated from renewable sources.
IBM set and achieved several GHG emissions reduction goals prior to 2005 which avoided CO2 emissions equivalent to 40 percent of its 1990 operational CO2 emissions inventory from 1990 to 2005.
The Climate Leadership Award is a national program that recognizes and incentivizes exemplary corporate, organizational and individual leadership in response to climate change. Recipients, who come from the public and private sectors, have demonstrated leadership in managing and reducing GHG emissions in internal operations and through the supply chain, as well as integrating climate resilience into their operating strategies.
"IBM has made great strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "Their commitment to reducing carbon pollution demonstrates that efforts to address climate change are repaid by saving money and energy, while supporting more livable and resilient communities, and a healthier, better protected environment."
IBM was recognized with a 2013 Climate Leadership Award for its supply chain leadership in setting requirements for its suppliers to measure, disclose and reduce their operational GHG emissions. The company also was honored in 2012, the first year of the award program, for its organizational leadership in energy and GHG emissions management and goal setting, and for achieving sustained results in energy conservation and GHG emissions reductions across its operations.
Learn more about IBM's comprehensive and multifaceted programs focused on energy efficiency and climate protection by visiting the company's Climate protection web page. For more information about the Climate Leadership Awards, visit the Climate Leadership Awards web page.