Cisco has not purchased carbon offsets, though it remains a possibility for the company’s longer term environmental strategy. 

Tae Yoo, Cisco’s SVP of corporate affairs, explained during a Goldman Sachs ESG (environment, social, and governance) conference call that the purchase of carbon offsets would occur alongside its focus on waste reduction, sustainable product development, and increased renewable energy sources.

Carbon offset services such as Terrapass, Wren, or Pachama use money from offsets purchased by companies and individuals to fund existing projects that reduce carbon emissions. These projects range from regenerative agroforestry to abandoned coal mine methane capture, and they are held to specific standards to ensure they will meet their carbon-reducing goals. 

Carbon offsets are effective in terms of carbon sequestration, but Yoo acknowledged offsets alone won’t solve the climate crisis. 

“If we’re depending on carbon offsets, how do you get to net zero? It can’t be only carbon offsets,” Yoo said. Offsetting the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere is important, but even more crucial is reducing the amount of carbon that needs to be offset in the first place, she noted. “We have to find that right balance.” 

As the tech industry grows, companies continue consuming a substantial amount of energy and resources. In 2017, U.S.-based data centers alone consumed more than 90 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – an amount equal to 34 massive coal-powered plants generating 500 megawatts each. 

“That’s a lot of power, and without intervention in some way, shape, or form, these numbers will get worse,” Rakesh Chopra, a fellow in Cisco’s Common Hardware Group, wrote in a blog post. “As an organization, we have the ‘power’ to change how technology is made, creating a lasting effect on global electricity consumption, and ultimately reducing carbon emissions.”

For example, Cisco’s Silicon One initiative reduced carbon emissions as a result of its smaller size, while increasing revenue and bandwidth by 41% and 35%, respectively, Yoo explained. Shipping earlier systems required 10 pallets of equipment, making it a 2,000-pound shipment with a 570-cubic-foot footprint. Meanwhile, the Silicon One chip technology and Cisco 8000-series routers ship in one box that weighs 32 pounds and has a transport footprint of 2.8 cubic feet. 

In terms of waste reduction, Cisco has committed to reducing virgin plastic use by 20%, using cardboard packaging for shipping, and providing recycling and composting locations in its facilities. Cisco claims that these initiatives resulted in an 81% reduction of waste in its 2019 fiscal year.

The company plans to incorporate circular design principles to reduce waste and carbon emissions into all new Cisco products by fiscal year 2025. “The thing we can control the most is our own operations,” Yoo said of Cisco’s environmental efforts. “We partner around the things we need to do collectively.”