The Impact of Cloud Technology on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Did you know that for every financial transaction or credit check there is an associated carbon emission taking place behind the scenes? You may be asking yourself how a credit card purchase can emit a harmful gas into our atmosphere but it is true. Equifax, a global data, analytics and technology company, has begun its commitment to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040. Equifax is motivated to help drive more sustainable practices in the industry and beyond. Read on to learn more about how cloud technology has the potential to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Equifax’s role in that process.
On a daily basis, billions of financial transactions occur from purchases to credit card transactions to new credit origination, all throughout the world. As sustainability practices become more of a necessity rather than an option, more and more consumers are becoming aware of their purchasing habits. Roughly 85% of people globally have made a change in their purchasing behavior toward sustainability in the past 5 years. 1 in 3 people would pay more for sustainable options.
The green trend adoption is becoming more essential for the financial services industry. Nearly 100% of CEOs from large companies agreed that “sustainability issues are important to the future success of their business.” From 2021 to 2024, transitioning to cloud computing is on track to save at least 629 million metric tons of CO2.
Now, how does cloud computing benefit the environment? One way is minimizing energy consumption more efficiently than with on-premise data centers. Also, high-carbon physical machines can be replaced with their virtual equivalents. Cloud technology has the power to help eliminate e-waste as dematerialization lowers consumption of resources. A cloud powered by green electricity can lead to a dramatic reduction of carbon emissions. If more companies, big and small, make the transition to the cloud, we can reduce global emissions byu 59 million metric tons of CO2 per year (equal to taking 22 million cars off the road!)
In 2019, Equifax partnered with Google Cloud to build a top-tier, cloud-native technology and security infrastructure. Equifax has invested over $1.5 billion in cloud technology and industry-leading security which will improve their stability, responsiveness, and efficiency. In addition to the Cloud transformation journey, Equifax is also taking steps to more efficiently manage office facilities and remaining onsite data centers. These initiatives include planned purchase of renewable energy, the implementation of cold aisle containment as well as space utilization initiatives.
The cloud has the power to do more than just offer data storage and computing power. It can significantly help the banking and financial services industries reduce their environmental footprint.
