Climate Change Programs

EMC believes that taking action on climate change enhances shareholder value, reduces risk, and strengthens our business position for the 21st century. Our actions include strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our supply chain and business operations, as well as those generated by the use of EMC products and services worldwide. 

EMC supports the scientific consensus that GHG emissions are a major cause of global climate change. In response, EMC was one of the first U.S. corporations to begin actively reducing its emission levels.

EMC’s greenhouse gas emissions arise primarily from the generation of electricity needed to run its business. Therefore, EMC’s climate change strategy focuses on:

• Reducing the electricity consumed by its internal operations and by customers' use of EMC products,
• Identifying opportunities to adopt renewable energy sources.

EMC also has commitments to the following climate protection initiatives:

Carbon Disclosure Project

EMC participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit organization that collects climate change data from the world’s largest corporations and shares this information with institutional investors. EMC provides comprehensive and transparent accounting of its global GHG emissions and climate-related programs. Since 2007, EMC has been on the CDP’s Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).

Additionally, CDP launched its new performance scoring pilot methodology in 2009. The performance scores measure corporations’ actual performance in responding to and reducing their contribution to climate change and is intended to complement the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. EMC was one of a dozen companies recognized for the highest performance scores in CDP 2009. The best performing companies:

• Take effective action to manage risks and capitalize on new opportunities.
• Show carbon reduction activities that deliver results.
• Incorporate expected regulation into forward thinking and planning.

Climate Leaders program

In 2004, EMC was one of the first 50 companies to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program. As part of the program, participants commit to reducing GHG emissions, report emission levels annually to measure progress, and develop long-term climate change strategies.

By 2012, EMC has pledged to reduce our GHG emissions intensity per square foot from our U.S. facilities by eight percent below our 2005 levels. To this end, EMC has developed a detailed inventory management plan and established a comprehensive GHG baseline inventory.

In 2005, the baseline year for our Climate Leaders commitment, our GHG emissions per 1,000 square feet were 37.00 tonnes. In 2008, we purchased Green-e certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset 40,325 tonnes of GHG, which brought our emissions per 1,000 square feet to 34.25—a seven percent reduction.

Ireland EPA Climate Change Programme

EMC’s Cork campus participates in the Ireland EPA program to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EMC is a comparatively small emitter, as this program is concerned with direct emissions, such as those arising from natural gas boilers and diesel emergency generators. From 2005 to 2007, EMC has maintained GHG emissions at a level that is 10 percent below its annual allowance of 3,659 metric tons. The Cork campus is participating in the next four-year phase of the Ireland EPA program, which runs from 2008 to 2012.

Team -6%

In 2008, EMC Japan joined Team -6%, a voluntary initiative run by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Team -6% members take steps to reduce GHG emissions in order to help Japan meet its reduction goal under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol. EMC Japan has launched initiatives to reduce energy use in its offices and encourages employees to take personal action to reduce GHG emissions.

The largest percentage of GHG emissions from our global facilities is indirect. Scope 2, or indirect, GHG emissions are from the generation of electricity which we consume on site. Scope 1, or direct, GHG emissions are from on-site equipment that directly emits GHG, such as natural gas boilers or diesel generators.