VMware has announced the launch of its zero carbon cloud partner initiative.
The goal is to encourage the move to zero carbon clouds and help its customers reach their sustainability and decarbonisation targets by connecting them with cloud providers with aligned goals.
Participating VMware Cloud Verified providers must operate infrastructure-, energy- and carbon-efficient data centres based on VMware software-defined data centre (SDDC) technologies and be committed to powering those data centres with renewable energy sources by 2030. European-based partners Atea and OVHcloud and Equinix, IBM, Microsoft and OVHcloud US have joined the initiative.
Atea Sweden Head of Sustainability Chiara Salvetti said: “Atea’s clear 100 percent renewables goal makes it easier for customers to understand the sustainability impact of their IT investments and for Atea’s employees to advise customers on sustainable choices.”
OVHcloud chief industry officer François Sterin said that the world has become data dependent. The wide scale transition from onsite storage toward cloud-based stuff represents an opportunity for the industry to help companies make progress toward sustainability.
“We have seen significant interest from all customers in maximising data centre efficiency and are proud to serve as an inaugural member of VMware’s Zero Carbon Committed cloud partner initiative and share in the commitment to generating net carbon zero emissions by 2030.”
Vice President, Environmental, Energy and Chemical Management Programmes of IBM’s Corporate Environmental Affairs, Edan Dionne, said that in February 2021, IBM set a goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by using feasible technologies to remove emissions in an amount that equals or exceeds IBM’s residual emissions.
“Toward achieving this goal IBM will continue to first focus on reducing — not offsetting — GHG emissions and with 90 per cent of the electricity IBM consumes coming from renewable sources by 2030, aiming to limit our residual GHG emissions to 350,000 mtCO2e. We look forward to continuing our partnership with VMware in serving clients while reducing our environmental impact.”
“As part of Microsoft’s commitment to be carbon negative by 2030, sustainability is front and centre for our datacenter growth and operations. We’ve made early progress and as part of this journey, we are proud to work with other forward-thinking partners like VMware and their Zero Carbon Committed Initiative to help drive change across the industry”, said Noelle Walsh, CVP, Cloud Operations + Innovation, Microsoft.
“It’s crucial we make significant progress on climate action as soon as possible, so it’s encouraging to see more and more companies, including VMware customers and partners, as well as countries committing to reach net zero-carbon”, said Joe Baguley, VP & CTO EMEA, VMware. “This initiative builds on VMware’s history of helping customers reduce their environmental impact through the more efficient use of IT infrastructure, and will make it easier for our customers and partners to accelerate their transition to a low-carbon economy.”
