Logitech plans to reach zero-night emissions by 2030 and be “positive for the climate” from then on by removing more carbon from the air than it emits, Bracken Darrell told British network Thursday.
“We will reduce our carbon production as a company (and all of its suppliers and customers) by 50% by then, so it’s a big commitment,” Darrell said in an interview with TechCheck.
“A tree removes about two carbon people from the air, so it’s a pretty efficient technology, but we don’t think it’s very enough,” Darrell said. “Until there are technologies that can completely reduce carbon production to zero, we are very aggressively redesigning our products for sustainability.”
Logitech’s announcement on Thursday represents the latest corporate environmental promise, as concerns about climate change and its impacts on the planet and the economy grow. Still, many activists and climate experts say companies need to be more aggressive and transparent in their plans to reduce their carbon footprint.
Logitech, which manufactures computer peripherals such as keyboards, webcams and mice, is already “carbon neutral” this year, according to Prakash Arunkundrum, the company’s head of global operations and sustainability. He said Logitech achieved this goal by investing in programs such as reforestation efforts to offset its existing carbon emissions.
However, the company’s net target is the next most ambitious step and focuses on reducing its base emissions by at least half by 2030.
“The compensations themselves aren’t good enough,” Arunkundrum said in a telephone interview with CNBC. “What we need to do is fundamentally reduce our footprint” by using more sustainable materials and more renewable energy throughout the supply chain, he said.
A man walks alongside a panel depicting the logo of Logitech, a Swiss-American supplier of personal computers and mobile peripherals, on the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL in French) on November 27, 2019 in Lausanne.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
According to the company’s website, the largest chunk of Logitech’s carbon footprint is generated in the sourcing and production of its products and packaging. This is where you try to change first.
By the end of this year, for example, half of Logitech’s keyboards and mice will include recycled plastic for the consumer and “we’re taking it out,” Darrell said. “We’re also looking for alternative materials, but until they’re really available, we try to take what we’re using today and put it back into our products.”
Arunkundrum said Logitech’s sustainability promises extend to its entire supply chain and to consumers who use its headphones, mice and keyboards.
“In the entirety of our footprint, not just what’s on our four walls, we’ll take responsibility for it and figure out how to remove more” carbon than the company creates, Arunkundrum said. “We believe it’s feasible, that’s why we’re committed to it.”
“We need to get to zero. We need to get to a positive climate quickly, and if we, the small mouse company Logitech, can do that, I’m sure many others can do that too,” he said. “Hopefully this is the other aspiration we have, which is to get other people to really join us, because if we can do that, I’m sure there are a lot of other people with a much deeper pocket who could do that. easily “.