SAP has made a strong commitment to combating climate change by setting an ambitious goal of becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030.
Leading enterprise software company SAP has undertaken various sustainability initiatives to minimize its environmental impact and contribute to global sustainability efforts. These initiatives include achieving carbon neutrality in its operations and cloud offerings, sourcing renewable energy for its operations, promoting a circular economy for its products and materials, ensuring sustainable procurement, and supporting social impact programs such as aiding refugees in integrating into new communities and collaborating with the World Economic Forum to advance sustainable development. SAP’s sustainability endeavors highlight its dedication to reducing environmental impact, fostering sustainability, and supporting social and economic progress.
Joining Forces with EKOenergy Towards Net-Zero Emissions
The German tech giant’s ambitious goal of becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030 is a major step towards combatting climate change. As part of this goal, SAP has announced its commitment to achieving 100% renewable electricity for all its data centers and offices by using the internationally recognized EKOenergy label.
EKOenergy is an ecolabel created by numerous NGOs to promote sustainable energy consumption. It serves as an easy way for businesses to demonstrate their commitment towards renewable energy sources and is recognized by leading organizations such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, LEED for green buildings, CDP, and RE100 as reliable solutions.
The EKOenergy label ensures that labeled megawatt hours are tracked accurately and that production and consumption of energy take place in the same market. It also requires yearly audits based on reliable proofs issued by public authorities or third-party certification organizations, which guarantees the credibility of the label. Furthermore, each purchase of EKOenergy-labeled electricity helps contribute 0.10€ towards EKOenergy’s Climate Fund, which uses the money raised to finance renewable energy projects in developing countries, combating both energy poverty and climate change simultaneously.
SAP’s partnership with EKOenergy began in 2016 when EKOenergy became available in China. SAP started working closely with EKOenergy to identify renewable energy solutions in the country and to translate parts of their text into Chinese and other Asian languages to reach more local companies. Since then, their collaboration has developed into a strong partnership that allows them to make significant progress towards achieving their net-zero emissions goal.
“In many countries, EKOenergy was amongst the first to endorse renewable energy solutions to businesses that are looking for sustainable solutions. SAP is a good example of this. In 2016, when EKOenergy became available in China, EKOenergy worked with SAP to identify renewable energy solutions in China. This, in turn, helped and encouraged us to focus more on Asia, to translate parts of our texts to Chinese and other Asian languages, and to reach out to more local companies,” EKOenergy Program Manager Steven Vanholme explained.
Reinforcing Sustainable Practices
Sustainability is at the heart of SAP’s strategy as they have already identified initiatives that align with all 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the United Nations. SAP has also signed up for the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which requires them to reduce emissions across their entire Scope 3 value chain, including products-in-use emissions at customers, by 85% before 2050 compared to the 2016 base year level. By utilizing globally recognized labels such as EKOenergy, SAP is building trust among customers that their product is genuinely helping combat climate change, giving them an edge over competitors who do not prioritize sustainability.
SAP’s dedication towards their net-zero emissions goal is admirable, and their partnership with EKOenergy is expected to further solidify their determination while opening up new opportunities for companies worldwide to embrace sustainable solutions. As climate change becomes an increasingly pressing issue, it is crucial for businesses to take meaningful action towards combatting it, and SAP is leading the way in this regard.
