Sustainability Requires Collaboration: Akamai's Growing Community and Supply Chain Initiatives

Akamai is committed to collaboration that inspires worldwide change. We know it's not enough to be environmentally conscious solely in our own business. To make a true impact on climate change, we need to use our unique position as a global corporation to encourage our partners to join us in taking sustainable action, participating in community improvement projects, and engaging in climate education. We need to consider the question: "How much more can we do for the betterment of the environment with help from our stakeholders?"

For the past five years, Akamai has focused on making our platform more efficient, enhanced by investments in renewable energy to offset our emissions. Our edge network continues to be our main priority, but we recognize that we can take action that benefits more than our own business! To truly make a difference, we need to create awareness and encourage dialogue among our stakeholders on the benefits of collaboration within sustainability itself. That is why we have expanded our sustainability programming to include even more programs tied to the community and supply chain.

Our community pillar is focused on supporting our people and the places where we work and live. In 2020, we launched several new initiatives, two of which were employee-focused. Massachusetts employees were given access to community solar -- the first of many efforts to help our people reduce their own energy impact. Another new program is a global tree planting initiative with One Tree Planted, where we committed to planting 7,500 new trees (one for every Akamai employee) in four global locations as part of our efforts to promote clean air projects.  

Our office in Bangalore, India, launched an Accelerator Program for early-stage innovations in water, partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) and the International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW) to develop early-stage solutions to solve the water crisis in Karnataka. This program will provide solutions in the areas of water quality, water conservation, the efficient use of resources, and water governance. 

These are a few examples of how we're expanding our commitments beyond our own business to inspire environmental activity across the world and throughout our communities even in the middle of the pandemic.

Our supply chain pillar focuses on developing mutually beneficial partnerships with our environmentally conscious suppliers. A responsible supply chain has become a vital -- and ever more impactful -- element of how companies can influence global change on a much larger scale. To be successful, we examined all aspects of our business to identify how the supply chain affects the environment. 

During 2020, we engaged with select members of our supply chain to explore the benefits of incorporating renewable energy into their energy mix, such as using less packaging during shipping and showing how their employees can be a part of the global solution through innovation development and volunteering. In addition, this past year we initiated and funded the development of LESSEN -- a first-of-its-kind program to provide meaningful and applicable educational programs for real estate landlords and data center operators with an aim toward developing successful, sustainable energy strategies. These are just some of the areas where we can actively engage our partners by teaming up side by side to help address environmental impacts beyond just Akamai.

As we look beyond 2020, we will continue to invest in the global community and Akamai supply chain. These critical pillars will be part of our long-term strategy to lessen our environmental impacts and contribute to the decarbonization of the internet. Partnering in our communities, and with our suppliers, we know we can continue to help bringing our stakeholders together and be #GreenWithAkamai. 

To learn more about Akamai's sustainability commitments, visit akamai.com/sustainability.