For a company like Intel to reach its own net-zero emissions targets, each company in the chip giant’s value chain needs to play along.

“When it comes to sustainability, the semiconductor industry has made good progress, but more needs to be done to achieve our collective climate goals by 2050,” Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel’s chief global operations officer and GM of foundry manufacturing and supply chain, said in a blog post.

In particular, global emissions reduction efforts and green chemistry research are currently in pivotal stages and need “more collaboration and standardized practices across the semiconductor value chain to reach a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) future,” Esfarjani said.

Intel last week hosted its inaugural Intel Sustainability Summit with the aim to collaborate on reducing the environmental impact of the multitrillion-dollar semiconductor value chain.

The event was sponsored by industry leaders like Cisco, Siemens, Micron and Accenture and brought together more than 140 companies, academic and government organizations and nongovernmental organizations. Participants represented more than 7 million employees and $3.2 trillion in annual revenue.

The roadmap to semiconductor sustainability Prior to Intel’s event, less than half (40%) of the participating organizations had made commitments to reach net-zero emissions, and just 15% had published climate transition action plans. During the summit, participants developed plans to advance the industry’s sustainability initiatives, and 90% of on-site survey respondents committed to build an industrywide roadmap to net-zero by 2025.

The summit also focused on viable alternatives to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been used in the semiconductor value chain for the past four decades. This undertaking poses a significant challenge, but it’s necessary for reducing emissions and building resilient sourcing systems, Esfarjani said.

Though some progress has been made on this front, Intel pushed its ecosystem partners and suppliers to accelerate the replacement of PFAS by helping to develop roadmaps, encouraging engagement in industry consortia and investments in related research. “Sustainability is a team sport where collaboration on the game plan is essential,” he said.

Intel, for example, is part of industry consortia focused on environmental sustainability like the Responsible Business Alliance, the Semiconductor Industry Association’s GHG working group, the Semiconductor Climate Consortium, the Energy Collaborative and the Product Attribute to Impact Algorithm (PAIA), which is working to streamline product carbon footprint methodologies and calculations across 18 ecosystem partners.

“While bold goals like achieving 100% renewable electricity, net-positive water, no waste to landfills by 2030 and ambitious efforts to transition to PFAS alternatives and reach net-zero GHG emissions may seem audacious, we are off to a good start as an industry,” Esfarjani said. “Together we can meet our commitments and help protect the planet for future generations.”