My learnings from Infosys’ journey to Carbon Neutrality, and how it inspires me

In 2020 Infosys became carbon neutral – a full 30 years ahead of the Paris agreement. This was no small feat – it has been an ongoing journey over the years; a fact that the figures make plain:

●    26 million square feet of workspace has been LEED Platinum certified.

●    Half of all electricity across Infosys campuses are from renewable sources.

●    Infosys’ Scope One, Two and Three emissions have been brought down by 46% across an employee base of 279,000+

The organisation’s efforts were recognised in 2019, when it was awarded the prestigious UN Global Climate Action Award in the ‘Climate Neutral Now’ category at COP 25, UN’s annual climate change conference. Infosys was also inducted into the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), on being verified against the PAS2060:2014 standard at the end of the 2021 fiscal year. This was the second consecutive year of carbon neutrality, adding to Infosys’ ongoing commitment to enable sustainable operations.

Before I share my learnings from Infosys’ journey to carbon-neutrality I would like to reminisce on how or why the concept of circular-economy and therefore Sustainability.

Growing up in rural India, having a cow in the house was quite common – and there were plenty of benefits to it. Ask a child back then and they would rattle at-least 10 of them off the cuff from the most obvious one – that of the milk (which in and of itself lends to a whole chain of commerce both in household and commercial kitchens) to the less evident ones such as the fertiliser benefits from the waste it produced.

I deliberately use the term waste here – as that was another concept that we were less familiar with because every byproduct invariably found use somewhere. This applied to food that eventually found its way back to cows, to crows to other friendly scavengers that formed a menagerie of stray animals that would take food. This also applied to clothes, books and toys that were preserved for use by the younger siblings – I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the better grades the younger ones got on the back of notes from the elder ones.

At a more personal level, I believed in less consumption of fuel and came up with more creative ways of getting to work – jogged to office, cycled to office and then of course I drove to office all the while thinking how I could make it more effective – which is when I came up with my app for carpooling. I was an avid proponent of the shared-economy and while I always managed to drive to office and back with friends and constantly equated empty seats in my car to wasted transport potential – I wanted to have a more industrious approach that suited the zeitgeist of the early 2010s. This was also one of my commitment to the nature and carbon neutrality.

My takeaways from Infosys’ approach to carbon-neutrality

Sustainability is part of the ethos at Infosys and any successful sustainability program is built on three key pillars:

Renewable energy

In 2021 Infosys managed to generate ~50% of its electricity from renewable sources by investing in solar photovoltaic (PV) plants. The first solar PV plant was commissioned back in 2011 at the Infosys Jaipur campus. Following this initial success, Infosys has increased its renewable investments across the country, and between on-site and off-site systems the organisation now has approximately 60 megawatts of capacity. There’s a significant difference in the long-term when it comes to investing in renewables. 

Carbon offset

Addressing carbon utilisation within Infosys campuses proved comparatively easier to address emissions in the form of employee commutes and business travel. Infosys made the decision to avoid buying carbon credits to offset these emissions, instead choosing to invest in projects that would provide broader social and economic benefits to the community.

Infosys worked with Indigenous communities of Vidarbha, reducing their reliance on firewood cooking methods by offering them efficient cookstoves. The organisation help set up a rural carbon offset program based on household biogas. These projects have so far reached no fewer than 119,000 families, while creating over 2,600 jobs.

Energy efficiency

Infosys’ approach to energy efficiency is based on constructing buildings that are efficient from the ground up, conducting comprehensive green retrofits on existing buildings, and using smart automation to reduce energy needs. This approach has been applied to its campuses across the globe, which are designed to conserve energy and water and responsibly treat waste.

In the last fiscal year Infosys implemented over 15 energy efficiency projects across HVAC and lighting spaces, and deployed smart automation across 30 million square feet of office space, enabling remote operations, optimisation, and insight into asset health that allows us to take corrective action whenever needed.

Lighting the path to carbon neutrality

Having achieved carbon neutrality 30 years ahead of the Paris agreement, Infosys continues to improve its sustainability practices and help inspire its partners and the broader community along this journey.

Infosys launched a REF-OR-M Eco Watch - Sustainability Solution that enables our teams to guide our partners across different aspects in their journey to enable a more sustainable community including decarbonisation, PLM circularity, ESG finance among others. Built on the Microsoft stack, this service already grants institutions the opportunity to monitor, track and collect energy, water, waste and GHG data within institution-owned facilities and spaces, and the tool’s functionality will only expand into the future.

Our broader emissions efforts can also be seen through a wealth of strategic partnerships. Infosys signed a memorandum of understanding with bp to develop an integrated Energy as a Service platform. Infosys will leverage its technology and carbon reduction expertise, while bp has committed its renewable energy expertise.

Infosys is also the Digital Innovation Partner for The Economist Group’s global initiative to advance discourse and unlock long-term thinking on sustainability amongst world leaders and businesses.

How everyone can make a difference

While nations and organisations work towards a carbon neutral future, individuals have an important role to play. There are some simple yet effective ways in which we can all help reduce carbon footprint. Below are some conscious changes you can make:

●    Consider a one-in-five plan: Use public transport once a week; and have one night a week where you choose a book or board game over electronic entertainment, which majorly reduces carbon footprint

●    Consider buying local produce wherever possible, as an apple delivered from half a world away has a far greater carbon footprint than an apple sourced locally.

●    Consider switching from red meat to white, better yet, meat to veg; and check for ethically sourced seafood.

●    Help inspire the next generation of leaders. For instance you could discuss the 17 Sustainability Development Goals with kids, and teach them about ways to offset carbon emissions.

When undertaken en masse, these seemingly small and incremental changes certainly add up to make a bigger impact, and could potentially bring about a seismic shift in the global warming equation. Governments and large organisations like Infosys undoubtedly have an outsized responsibility for combating climate change, but if every person plays their part, we can make a difference to the world that we’ve borrowed from our children.