Microsoft is "…making the commitment to become carbon neutral beginning with our Fiscal Year 2013 (which begins July 1st [2012])." Top-down enterprise initiatives can founder on local accountability, as when IT departments do not pay their data centers' electric bills. Microsoft is trying to avoid such pitfalls with the internal equivalent of a carbon tax. the 'tax' money is being invested in carbon offset and renewable energy initiatives.

"The model of accountability is based on an internal carbon fee administered through our corporate finance department and cascaded globally to our business groups. This charge-back model will place a price on carbon and make the company’s business divisions responsible for the cost of offsetting the carbon emissions associated with their electricity use and air travel…We will quantify the carbon impact of our operations and drive responsible business decisions around energy use and air travel by setting an internal price on carbon, measuring our actual emissions, and then charging the teams responsible for those emissions."

More enterprises should consider Microsoft's approach!

It is not a surprise that Microsoft places a emphasis on ICT operations in its quest to be carbon neutral. "This commitment will apply to our internal operations across more than 100 countries associated with our data centers, software development labs, offices and air travel. Our strategy is based on driving company-wide accountability resulting in greater efficiencies, increasing our purchase of renewable energy, improving data collection with IT, and a continued acceleration of our R&D and datacenter operations efficiency investments."

Microsoft reported in February 2013,"We collected the first quarter funds in October 2012 and subsequently invested in carbon offset and renewable energy projects, including wind, hydro and biomass."

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Images courtesy Microsoft