More jobs, cost savings and improved business can be achieved with a Net Zero target in India: Salesforce report

Salesforce released Trail to Net Zero for India, a report which analyzes the economic and environmental gains from transitioning to cloud computing. Commissioned by Salesforce in collaboration with YouGov and Access Partnership, the report assesses sentiments and insights from 1000+ business managers in India on their readiness to address climate change.

Key insights from India indicate:

• 83% of respondents support a more ambitious target of net zero by 2050
• 40% of respondents believe the government should be doing more to address climate change
• 79% of respondents support the provision of subsidies and incentives to businesses for the development of renewable energy technologies
• 63% believe that if a supplying business has a net zero target, then it would make them more likely to purchase their products of services
• 58% think that achieving a net zero economy in India by 2050 will result in more jobs
  84% noted the importance of technology in achieving a net zero target
• The economic impact of businesses moving to the cloud could result in cost savings of USD 2.2 billion in 2022 and USD 24 billion between 2022 – 2030

The report provides a number of recommendations to policy makers to accelerate India’s trail to net zero including: develop cutting-edge climate technology supporting ecopreneurs; increase investment in cloud; address sustainability skills gap; environment AI, leveraging AI for improved environmental outcomes; and adopt a shared digital platform to track emissions.

Salesforce has increased investment in emission reduction initiatives, achieved net zero emissions across its value chain, and 100% renewable energy for its global operations. In addition, it has been part of the 1t.org global movement to conserve, restore and grow one trillion trees by 2030, which has a local chapter in India. Salesforce has set a goal to conserve and restore 100 million trees by the end of the decade. Salesforce India has undertaken a nationwide tree plantation effort in collaboration with various partners.

Salesforce’s Net Zero Cloud is a sustainability management solution that enables organizations to go net zero now. It tracks current emissions, forecasts emission patterns, and enables decision making.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO & Chairperson, Salesforce India, said, “The role of technology is paramount and the transformative impact on energy consumption, carbon emissions and waste management will accelerate the journey of businesses to net zero. There are several advantages of cloud computing that are ignored and one of them is its low carbon footprint on the environment. At Salesforce India, starting this year, we institutionalized our sustainability program and are committed to supporting organizations in their journey towards net zero.”

Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM said, “Today the planet is faced with mega problems of climate change which requires immediate attention and working to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis is fast emerging as the biggest priority ahead of the industry. The ability to innovate with emerging technologies such as Cloud, AI and Data Analytics and the speed with which we do determines the possibility of overcoming the challenge. This is evident from the findings that the impact of businesses moving to cloud could result in cost savings of USD 24 billion and emissions reductions of 60 million Mt CO2, between 2022 – 2030. The ‘Techade’ (decade powered by technology) is when we see technology move from ‘potential’ to ‘real life problem solving and impact’ and the onus is on the Industry and Government to ensure that we use technology as an equalizer and an enabler for a sustainable society.”