BlackBerry becomes carbon neutral

BlackBerry today announced it has achieved carbon neutrality across Scope 1, Scope 2 and material Scope 3 emissions, the three groups that categorize the emissions a company creates, as classified under the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Corporate Standard.

Launched in 1998, the standard provides principles and guidance for companies and other types of organizations preparing a GHG emissions inventory. It covers the accounting and reporting of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

Deloitte explains the three categories thusly:

• Scope 1: This one covers the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that a company makes directly, for example, while running its boilers and vehicles.

• Scope 2: This accounts for its indirect emissions, for example, the electricity or the energy it buys for heating and cooling buildings that is being produced on its behalf.

• Scope 3: In this category go all the emissions associated not with the company itself, but those that the organization is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. For example, emissions resulting from production of products bought from its suppliers, and from its products when customers use them.

BlackBerry also announced that it has invested in carbon removal, to generate a net effect of the company removing carbon from the atmosphere. 

How the company achieved these environmental sustainability milestones

• The company says it has moved and is moving customer workloads to the cloud. BlackBerry customers are deploying its cloud-based solutions, including BlackBerry UEM Cloud, BlackBerry Optics 3.0, and BlackBerry Workspaces.
• The company has reduced direct and indirect emissions across its operations by 88 per cent since 2013, across company facilities, energy consumption, business travel, waste management, and more. 
• The company formed a partnership with the Restore the Earth Foundation in the U.S. to help reforest the Mississippi River Basin, North America’s Amazon.       
• The company invested in advanced wastewater treatment technology in Canada, which eliminates the environmental impacts of, and consumes less energy than, traditional systems.
• It partnered with school boards in Canada to implement energy efficiency measures.  The partnership also includes enabling climate change-related education and programs.
• The company has invested in innovative cookstove technology in Rwanda, which reduces non-renewable fuel consumption and relieves deforestation pressures.
• The company is committed to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), whose purpose is to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders.