Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally- friendly activities?

Significant energy is required for data centres to continuously operate and keep the world’s internet humming. Therefore, sustainability and climate consciousness are key cornerstones of our data centre development; we are one of the world’s top corporate purchasers of renewable energy. We also conduct intensive research on and develop solutions that increase energy and resource efficiency. These solutions include a carbon-intelligent platform that shifts non-urgent computing tasks at the data centre to times when there is plentiful low-carbon electricity supply, and a low-water cooling solution that can reduce a data centre’s water use by up to 50%.

As part of our procurement process, we consistently consider green factors. For example, in using water to cool our data centres, we source for non-potable options wherever possible. Through rigorous planning and efforts, we have succeeded in creating the cleanest cloud in the industry and operate carbon neutral. We have further set ambitious goals of solely utilising carbon-free energy and replenishing 120% of the water we consume by 2030.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

Any implemented change comes with accompanying risks. Lawyers are adept at risk management and therefore enable value creation. In-house lawyers have the added advantage of being privy and close to the heart of the business. By deploying a ‘boots on the ground approach’, in-house lawyers can shepherd an organisation and keep a watchful eye for disruptions along the way, nimbly manoeuvring the organization as circumstances evolve.

2023 continues to be a year of tumultuous uncertainty, and strategic, continuous engagement between business stakeholders and in-house legal teams from project conception to execution will remain vital to safeguarding the company’s best interests and promoting growth.

It can be difficult to truly measure a company’s track record and accomplishments in terms of their environmentally friendly behaviour. What do you think has, until now, been mostly missed when discussing how green a company is?

Greater focus needs to be given to the process of measuring environmental impact. Environmental impact results are not always clear and can be vague on how it will be sustained. This creates a gap between actions taken and meeting ESG reporting standards.

Beyond one-off feel-good projects, companies should be compelled to take up the challenging mantle of setting out clearly defined goals, creating metrics, setting targets and establishing how progress can be monitored. This naturally sounds tedious and perhaps even bureaucratic. However, without going through this process, it will be fundamentally difficult to assess outcomes, and take a comprehensive view of disparate environmental activities.

Businesses can further create significant value for their clients by giving them tools that measure the green outcomes of their actions. At Google, we have Carbon Footprint, a product that informs customers about the gross carbon emissions associated with their Google Cloud Platform usage. With more thorough systems, streamlined processes and data in place, companies will better understand of current green efforts, and be empowered to take concrete action for the future.