Planting Trees Is Not Enough To Reduce Carbon Emissions: Logitech CEO



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Logitech plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 and be “climate positive” from that point on by removing more carbon from the air than it emits, CEO Bracken Darrell told Thursday at CNBC.

“We’re going to reduce our carbon output as a company – and all of its suppliers and customers – by 50% by then, so that’s a big commitment,” Darrell said in an interview on “TechCheck”.

“A tree removes about two people of carbon from the air, so it’s a pretty efficient technology, but we think it’s not enough,” Darrell said. “Until there are technologies where we can completely reduce carbon production to zero, we are very aggressively redesigning our products for sustainability.”

Logitech’s announcement on Thursday represents the company’s latest environmental pledge, as concern grows around climate change and its impacts on the planet and the economy. Despite this, many climate activists and experts say companies need to be more aggressive and transparent in their plans to reduce their carbon footprint.

Logitech, which manufactures computer peripherals such as keyboards, webcams and mice, is already “carbon neutral” this year, according to Prakash Arunkundrum, responsible for the company’s global operations and sustainability. He said Logitech has achieved this goal by investing in programs such as reforestation efforts to offset its existing carbon emissions.

However, the company’s net zero target is the next, more ambitious step, and it focuses on cutting its baseline emissions by at least half by 2030.

“Compensation by itself is not enough,” Arunkundrum said in a telephone interview with CNBC. “What we need to do is actually also fundamentally reduce our footprint” through the use of more sustainable materials and more renewable energy throughout the supply chain, he said.

A man walks past a sign representing the logo of Logitech, an American-Swiss supplier of personal computers and mobile devices, on the campus of the Federal Polytechnics of Lausanne (Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne EPFL) on November 27, 2019 in Lausanne.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

Most of Logitech’s carbon footprint is generated through the sourcing and production of its products and their packaging, according to the company’s website. This is where he tries to change first.

By the end of this year, for example, half of Logitech’s keyboards and mice will include consumer recycled plastic, and “we’re taking it from there,” Darrell said. “We are also looking for alternative materials, but until they are really available we try to take what we use today and put it back into our products.”

Arunkundrum said that Logitech’s sustainability commitments extend to its entire supply chain and to the consumers who use its headsets, mice and keyboards.

“In our entire footprint, not just what’s within our four walls, we’re going to take responsibility and figure out how to remove more” carbon than what the company creates, “said Arunkundrum. “We think it is doable, which is why we are committing to this.”

“We have to get to net zero. We have to get to a positive climate quickly, and if we, the little mouse company Logitech, can do it, I’m sure many more can do it too,” he said. declared. “This is, hopefully, the other aspiration that we have, which is to potentially get other people to join us, because if we can do that, I’m sure there are plenty of them. others with a much deeper pocket that could easily do that. “

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