The Governing Body of the iMasons Climate Accord, a program of Infrastructure Masons in Beaverton, Ore., is calling on all suppliers serving data centers to support greater transparency in (GHG Protocol-defined) Scope 3 emissions as part of broader efforts to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. Scope 3 emissions are not produced by the company itself; rather, they include the indirect emissions throughout the value chain.
Governing Body members include AWS, Digital Realty, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Schneider Electric. In an open letter, they explain the importance of widespread adoption of standardized, third party-verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), outlining the greenhouse gas emissions of a product through its entire lifecycle—from raw materials extraction and processing to manufacturing, transportation, use, and product end-of-life. Climate Accord signatories have net-zero carbon emissions commitments to address their responsibility in mitigating data center carbon emissions. As they seek to reach benchmarks in the coming years, the next piece of the sustainability puzzle lies in reducing Scope 3 emissions, which can represent anywhere from 38-69 percent of data centers’ total carbon footprint. While an increasing number of local, state, and federal procurement policies stipulate submittal of EPDs across multiple industries, Climate Accord contends, there is not widespread adoption of such documents in data centers. The open letter demonstrates a significant push from top stakeholders “to drive meaningful change across the industry, working in partnership with their trusted suppliers.”
“EPDs are crucial in transforming the future of digital infrastructure to be more resilient and climate positive. The adoption of EPDs within the global supply chain fosters both sustainable and accountable outcomes. This initiative supports a collective approach to reducing our carbon emissions and environmental footprints,” says iMasons Climate Accord Executive Director Miranda Gardiner.
“We are committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040 by investing in carbon-free energy, scaling solutions, and collaborating with partners to broaden our impact,” adds AWS Vice President of Data Center Engineering Eric Wilcox. “We support the iMasons call for all suppliers to adopt the use of Environmental Product Declarations to accelerate these efforts. By doing so it will provide greater transparency in Scope 3 emissions and help accelerate the overall industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.”
“In line with our commitment to open standards and company-wide goal to achieve net-zero emissions across all our operations and value chain, we support industry-wide adoption of Environmental Product Declarations as a crucial lever in low-carbon procurement of digital infrastructure,” notes Google Vice President, Global Data Centers Joe Kava. “As a member of the Governing Board of iMasons Climate Accord, Google is excited to help accelerate solutions that drive progress toward a more sustainable, transparent data center industry.”