On March 19th 2016 from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm all lights all across the world will go out. It’s not a scene from an apocalypse movie – this global blackout is in honor of Earth Hour, the annual World Wildlife Fund (WWF) event that brings attention to the health of our planet, and specifically climate change. Earth Hour started as a grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet on a broad range of environmental issues. It started in 2007 as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia and has since expanded to more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide across 170 countries. This event goes beyond turning off the lights in solidarity; it’s about encouraging individuals and communities to think, talk, and act on the environmental challenges and opportunities we face. Climate change is one of the biggest environmental threats our planet faces today and Earth Hour is about shining a light on climate change.
Prior to the landmark COP21 climate negotiations that took place in early December 2015, Symantec joined the Obama Administration and 140 other companies in the American Business Act on Climate Pledge in support of a climate agreement that would take a strong step forward toward a low-carbon, sustainable future. As part of our commitment, we pledged to play our part and set a science-based goal early in 2016 to guide our energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction efforts. We are excited to announce that Symantec’s new 10 year goal is to reduce GHG emissions by 30% by FY25 (compared with FY15).
This is an intentionally ambitious goal, as we believe that it is necessary to take aggressive steps for substantive change. The scope of our new goal includes energy consumed at our data centers and offices as well as smaller emission sources such as refrigerant gases used in air conditioning equipment and company owned and leased vehicles. Electricity used in data centers and offices is responsible for 90% of the emissions captured by our goal and is the primary focus of our reduction efforts.
We intend to pursue a 3-pronged strategy to achieve our goal. We will optimize the use of our spaces, implement energy efficiency projects and engage our employees in energy conservation, and we will investigate opportunities to use clean & renewable energy sources. Setting this goal has aligned us well among our peers and will address a gap in our environmental performance. It will also promote increased visibility of our impacts and foster accountability for reducing our impacts.
At Symantec, we believe that the transition to a low-carbon economy is important for sustainable economic growth. We believe that company action, in partnership with stakeholder collaboration, is key to both mitigating risk and finding opportunity during this transition. Since 2009, Symantec has reported publicly on our GHG emissions since 2009, including through the CDP, an investor and corporate customer-led initiative to rate companies for their emissions transparency and reductions. Tracking our GHG emissions has allowed us to identify areas for improvement and now that we have set a target, we can work diligently towards reaching that 30% reduction.
In addition to making strides within our own operations, we continue to work externally in support of climate action. In 2009 we have joined forces with the Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) project, a coalition that calls for strong US climate and energy policies to spur clean energy production and usage and reduce carbon pollution. We are also collaborating with other ICT companies by participating in the BSR Future of Internet Power initiative to promote the increased use of renewable energy by the data center industry and in particular by colocation vendors.
As Michael A. Brown, Symantec President and CEO has said, “Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for meaningful action on a global scale is now. At Symantec we believe moving to a low carbon economy requires innovation and cooperation. We hope others will join us in this important mission.”
For more information about Earth Hour and how you can participate, check out some common Earth Hour questions:
When does Earth Hour take place?
Earth Hour 2016 will be held on Saturday 19 March between 8.30PM and 9.30PM in your local time zone. The event is held worldwide towards the end of March annually, encouraging individuals, communities, households, and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet.
What does Earth Hour ask people to do?
The first thing anyone can do to get involved is to turn off their lights on Saturday. But there is much, much more. Our full ambition is for people to take action beyond the hour. Whether it’s supporting a crowdfunding or crowdsourcing campaign or getting involved in Earth Hour campaigns in their own country, or starting the movement in their own community. The vision is always to do more, so make the light switch the beginning of your journey.
Shine a light on climate action and help change climate change!
Questions? Email Symantec Environmental Responsibility.