After the landmark EU Green Data Center Deal last week, IBM is the next tech giant to make a carbon neutrality pledge.

The veteran tech company announced its plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions 2030 to combat climate change.

CEO Arvind Krishna said that he is “proud” that IBM is leading the way to significantly reduce carbon emissions, and that this decision will put the company “years ahead” of the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

IBM has laid out three short and long-term goals to achieve its ambition.

First, the company aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2025. This figure will be measured against the base year 2010. Next, it will set out to make 75 percent of its electricity consumption renewable by 2025, and 90% by 2030.

Last but not least, IBM also plans to utilise “feasible technologies”, such as carbon capture, to remove emissions in an amount which equals or exceeds the level of IBM’s residual emissions.

What is the EU Green Data Center Deal?

Introduced in late January, the EU’s Green Data Center Deal saw over 40 tech organisations, including Amazon and Google, come together to pledge to go carbon neutral by 2030. This deal was part of the EU’s 2019 Green Deal which aims to make Europe the world’s first climate neutral region by 2050.

IBM’s latest pledge will be carried out in more than 175 countries where it operates, and this may very well include its offices and facilities in Europe as well as China, where President Xi Jinping has also pledged to slash carbon emissions by at least half by 2030.

This also means that if all goes according to plan, IBM will achieve carbon neutrality ten years ahead of its rival Amazon.