Creating & Driving Carbon Accountability: Microsoft Releases Carbon Fee Playbook

| Josh Henretig

carbonfeeLate last week the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) released a report outlining 29 companies, across various industries that have voluntarily incorporated an internal carbon price as a strategic planning tool. This report detailed organizations from oil companies to tech giants, entertainment companies and more that are holding themselves accountable for the carbon pollution released into the environment as a result of daily operations.

As one of those companies that has put a price on carbon, we now have a common language for how to drive awareness around and begin to reduce emissions. It’s made environmental sustainability an increasingly important part of how Microsoft does business.

Today, we are taking our experiences and learnings to the masses and are pleased to release a “Carbon Fee Playbook” that provides a comprehensive overview of our approach to creating and implementing an internal carbon price and fee.

The guide provides a five-step process that any interested company or organization can take and customize for inclusion in future business and financial strategies. It is designed for leaders who are interested in learning more about Microsoft’s fee, why it might be helpful to their organization and how to go about implementation.

In the guide, Mindy Lubber, president of CERES provides a forward for others organizations to consider as they read through the playbook:

“In this paper, Microsoft provides the nuts and bolts of its own unique model, making the design, goals and process transparent so you can assess its viability for your own organization.”

Our hope with this guide is exactly that, to demonstrate how the creation of a carbon fee model can be simplified, and what a large impact it can make on an organization to drive behavior change.

The CDP report found that “mainstream businesses find the use of carbon pricing to be realistic, prudent and useful” as many expect an eventual regulatory approach in some form to address climate change. This is something we’ve internalized at Microsoft through the implementation of our carbon fee and we’re happy to see other large companies finding business value through a similar approach. We believe this is only the beginning.

We encourage you to download, read and share our carbon playbook here.

We have also partnered with Corporate EcoForum on a webinar next Monday, December 16th 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern in which TJ DiCaprio, chief architect of Microsoft’s carbon fee model will share lessons learned and key recommendations from the new Guide. The webinar is only available to Corporate EcoForum members, but you can click here to RSVP for yourself and any colleagues you’d like to invite.

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