Cisco Sustainability: Committed to Powering an Inclusive Future for All
2 min read
Co-authored by Sandrine Henry and Erick Caron
Our mission consists of 4 Pillars: Power, Future, Inclusion & For All – unified into one common purpose.
For the last 15 years, Cisco has committed itself to these four pillars by designing a roadmap of commitments & actions to improve our sustainability strategy and set a new standard. An infinite journey refueled by new opportunities to pursue and new challenges to overcome.
Sustainability is fundamental to achieving that mission. Our customers’ ecological footprint is our footprint. We believe technology plays a key role in shaping an integrative and fair future sustainably and digitally.
Our focus is on renewable energy, the energy efficiency of our products & supply chain, and a circular economy. Our goal is to be net zero across all scopes of emissions by 2040, including our products, operations, and supply chain.
Achieving net zero requires us to think beyond just our Scope 1 and 2 emissions but also address the largest share of our greenhouse gas emissions – knowingly, the use of our products by our customers in their infrastructures and data centers.
Our technologies build the basis of nearly every major cloud, mobile network, video call, and digital transaction worldwide. A critical component in reaching our net zero goal will therefore be continuous innovation to increase the energy efficiency of our products and to lower our Scope 3 emissions.
We are convinced that with our technology, people, and global span, we can effectively lead change and be a role model in driving the twin transitions.
How our society consumes resources, plans cities, manages waste, and designs transportation systems leads us to believe there are significant hurdles to be found on our way.
Transportation is currently the largest producer of energy-related CO₂ emissions, accounting for 24%. This demand is expected to grow all across the world and in Switzerland in the coming decades as the global population increases, incomes rise, and more people can afford cars, trains, and flights.
The way cities are structured has multiple impacts, including their level of ability to adapt to climate -change. We are seeing emerging urban models, like the 15-minute city, that promote a human-centric and environmentally sustainable urban future. Mobility must be rethought.
The Swiss mobility paradigm is a key societal behavior that will benefit from innovative urban models and smart cities. To facilitate officials’ planning and decision-making process to improve the daily lives of citizens, it is crucial to monitor and collect data (sensors), transport this data (network infrastructure) and analyze it (compute). To get an understanding, with the help of innovative AI algorithms, of how the system is used.
Through innovation, the Swiss industry and Cisco Switzerland have a unique opportunity to actively shape the societal transition to a digital transformation and a green future. It will accelerate mobility, meet sustainability goals, and help adapt to a low-carbon circular economy.
Cisco has a long history of setting and achieving environmental, social and
governance (ESG) goals. We published our first Corporate Citizenship Report
in 2005, and we continue to report our emissions data annually.
Read the Cisco 2021 Purpose Report
More information can be found on our Cisco ESG Reporting Hub
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