Global Corporate Responsibility Report – Intel Commits to Zero Emissions by 2040

Continuing our series of reports on multinational corporations, today we are going to explore the sustainability initiatives of Intel. Intel Corporation, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is an American multinational corporation and technology organisation. It is the world’s largest semiconductor chip producer and the creator of the x86 microprocessor series, which is used in the majority of personal computers (PCs). Acer, Lenovo, HP, and Dell are among the companies that use Intel microprocessors in their computer systems. Intel also produces motherboard chipsets, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, embedded CPUs, and other communications and computing-related technologies.

1. Intel’s Commitment to Zero Emissions

Intel Corporation has set intentions to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and produce environmentally friendly technology since mid-April. By 2040, Intel’s global operations will have zero greenhouse gas emissions, and Intel products and platforms will have specified energy efficiency and carbon footprint goals.

Intel will also work with customers to develop solutions that minimise the overall carbon impact of technology.

“The impact of climate change is an urgent global threat,” said Pat Gelsinger, Chief Executive Officer of Intel. “Protecting our planet demands immediate action and fresh thinking about how the world operates. 

“As one of the world’s leading semiconductor design and manufacturing companies, Intel is in a unique position to make a difference not only in our own operations, but in a way that makes it easier for customers, partners and our whole value chain to take meaningful action too.”

2. Intel’s Global Operations Actions

In order to meet several ambitious climate targets, Intel has defined the following interim goals for 2030.

These include using 100 percent renewable electricity in all of its activities throughout the world and investing $300 million in energy conservation at its facilities, which should save 4 billion kilowatt-hours in total.

Intel also intends to build new factories and facilities that meet the LEED program’s criteria as set forth by the US Green Building Council, including for the recently announced investments in the US, Europe, and Asia.

It will also launch a cross-industry research and development collaboration to find greener chemicals with lower global warming potential and create new abatement technology.

These achievements support Intel’s commitment to sustainable business practises, such as its corporate responsibility plan. Intel’s greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 75% in the last decade compared to the lack of investments and action.

3. Energy Efficiency and Reducing Carbon Emissions

Intel will improve the energy efficiency of its products in order to satisfy market needs and help customers achieve their sustainability goals. Intel has set a new goal for Falcon Shores, its next-generation CPU-GPU, to achieve a five-fold increase in performance per watt. The company is committed to meeting its 2030 goal of a 10-fold increase in client and server microprocessor energy efficiency.

To help customers reduce platform carbon emissions, Intel is expanding innovation in the following areas:

– To make the mainboards smaller, all internal components were drawn out, selected, and modularized.

– A significant reduction in overall power usage will result from continued advancements in system and display energy efficiency.

– Bio-based printed circuit boards are being used to aid in the separation of recyclable materials and components, as well as to minimise overall electronic waste.

4. Intel Foundation

Today’s world requires a new mindset and approach to resolve persistent and emerging challenges facing people and communities every day. For three decades, the Intel Foundation has enabled positive social impact—giving more than $730 million since 1988—guided by the passion of Intel’s people and the company’s commitment to equitable access to education and opportunity.

The Intel Foundation is embarking on an exciting chapter in its journey to deliver on a bold new vision: empowering human potential and igniting positive change to drive an even deeper impact in the future and advance gender and racial equity and social justice globally. To achieve its new vision, the Foundation has accelerated its mission to empower youth and communities with the skills and confidence to advance and excel by bringing people, partnerships, and technology together.

The Foundation collaborates with nonprofit, public and private organizations, and schools to create and deploy global solutions by contributing thought leadership and financial resources to innovative programs that support underserved populations.

The Foundation’s priorities include:

1. Promoting STEM education: Recognizing the life changing power of technology and learning, the Foundation champions immersive STEM experiences to help ensure that the next generation of innovators is diverse and inclusive.

2. Amplifying employees’ time and generosity: The Foundation connects employees’ and US retirees’ passions to philanthropy to take on global challenges and meet community needs through matching funds to schools and nonprofit organizations where our employees and US retirees volunteer and make donations.

3. Responding to humanitarian crises and natural disasters: When humanitarian crises or natural disasters strike, the Foundation matches employees’ donations to support communities and provides options for employees to make their donations count where and when they are needed most to achieve long-term impact.

In 2020, to advance social justice and anti-racism, the Foundation initiated a special $500,000 employee donation match campaign in support of the National Urban League and other organizations. The Foundation is also working with the STEM Next Opportunity Fund on the Million Girls Moonshot, to engage more girls in STEM. 

5. Intel RISE Technology Initiative

On April 7, 2020, Intel announced the Pandemic Response Technology Initiative (PRTI), committing $50 million to combat the coronavirus by accelerating access to technology at the point of patient care and speeding scientific research, ensuring access to online learning for students, and aiding in economic recovery. Through the PRTI, Intel has partnered with over 170 organizations on over 230 projects in multiple sectors, including technology, healthcare, education, industrial, retail, transportation, and academia. The goal is to apply the breadth of Intel’s technology, expertise, and scale to provide relief across the areas of education, economic recovery, and health and life sciences.

6. Technology Purpose and Olympics

Intel has been a worldwide partner of the Olympic Games since 2017 and plays a key role in accelerating the adoption of new technologies in sports. In 2021, Intel proudly became a Worldwide Paralympic Partner to support the International Paralympic Committee in its mission to lead and expand the paralympic movement around the world. In partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the company is creating experiences that are more innovative and immersive than ever before, using Intel’s leading technologies for audience interaction and to enhance the Games through 2024.

Beyond the technology, Intel is engaging in purpose-led collaboration with the IOC centered around energy efficiency and utilizing the company’s expertise to help understand and improve the environmental impact of digital activities, as well as diversity and inclusion, with projects launching in 2021. The company is also starting to work with the Paris, France 2024 Organizing Committee on its environmental excellence initiatives, with an initial focus on carbon neutrality and sustainable procurement. In addition it is collaborating with the IOC through its Athlete365 program to offer support, guidance, and resources to help elite athletes transition into careers in business.

7. Intel Involved and Skills-Based Volunteering

Intel and the Intel Foundation invest in programs that create opportunities for employees around the world to learn and connect with each other, to further integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability into their team’s work objectives, and to share their engineering and other skills with our communities.

In 2020, the company celebrated the 25th anniversary of Intel Involved, its global corporate employee volunteer program. Since the program’s launch in 1995, Intel employees have generously donated their skills, technology expertise, and more than 18 million hours of service to tackle environmental challenges, improve education, and help meet community needs around the world.

The Intel Employee Service Corps (IESC), Intel’s flagship skills-based volunteer program, harnesses the passion and expertise of Intel employees to drive positive social impact in communities around the world. IESC provides employees with short-term immersive and collaborative experiences in partnership with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to address local and global challenges, including disaster relief. Although volunteers could not be deployed physically in 2020, IESC developed a proactive response to the COVID-19 pandemic and delivered critical technology solutions in a virtual environment. For example, an IESC team that has supported projects in Nepal for eight years worked virtually to make recommendations on connectivity for distance learning and on safety protocols to prepare for schools reopening after the pandemic.

Conclusion

Intel’s purpose is to create world-changing technology that improves the lives of every person on earth. The company’s commitment to corporate responsibility – built on a strong foundation of transparency, governance, ethics, and respect for human rights – creates value for Intel and our stakeholders by helping the company mitigate risks, reduce costs, build brand value, and identify new market opportunities to apply its technology to help address society’s most complex issues. With Intel’s 2030 corporate responsibility “RISE” strategy and goals, Intel aims to create a more responsible, inclusive, and sustainable world, enabled through technology and the expertise and passion of the employees

Disclaimer: This report contains extracts from the Intel Annual Corporate Responsibility Report 2021.