Fast-tracking our journey for a sustainable, inclusive and caring future

Technological innovations and breakthroughs have brought us closer together, even at a time when many of us are socially distancing. We now live and work in a hyper-connected world where geographical boundaries are blurred. It’s easier than ever to bring people together, collaborate, and form communities to bring about positive change. Even a single small action can make a major impact, allowing us all to play our part in building a more inclusive and caring future.

I personally believe it is critical to create a better future for the next generation, and am grateful to work for a company that has truly been dedicated to sustainability for many, many years. We are committed to the sustainability of our environment, the communities in which we live and operate, as well as the health, equity and well-being of our employees, having mobilized everyone in the company to achieve our sustainability goals.

Recently, we launched our Sustainability Report 2020 to update on our progress towards meeting global environmental, social and governance goals—what we call our “Future First” strategy. This strategy rallies our people and partners to dream of a better future and then do what it takes to make it happen. In Asia-Pacific, we are fully engaged and committed to nurturing a greener, more inclusive and caring future while advocating across the region for innovations and actions that can positively impact our world.

Protecting our collective future

At Equinix, we are harnessing the power of technology and interconnection to create a greener future for everyone. With data centers shifting toward grid-positive, we aim to achieve 100% clean and renewable energy across our global portfolio and reduce our carbon footprint accordingly.

I’m delighted that China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore also hit this 100% goal in 2020, with Asia-Pacific as a whole achieving 75% renewable energy. And globally, we achieved over 90% renewable energy in 2020 for the third year in a row. Although we still have a way to go to achieve our goal, we are committed to taking the steps necessary to succeed. In terms of carbon emissions, we managed to significantly reduce Scope 2 emissions, the indirect emissions from electricity purchased and used, from 641,000 mt CO2 to 209,000 mt CO2 in the region.

I have always believed that children and young people are our future, so I’m thrilled that we set up the Equinix Sustainability Scholarship at the Singapore Management University earlier this year. As the first sustainability scholarship of its kind to be launched in the region, we hope to support outstanding undergraduates who want to expand their learning beyond traditional academic disciplines by majoring in Sustainability.

Instead of settling for what we have achieved so far, we are in fact speeding up our journey. Recently, we became the first in the data center industry to commit to becoming climate-neutral by setting a science-based target (SBT) for emissions reduction across our global operations and supply chain by 2030. In addition to working towards our own targets, we are also looking forward to helping our partners and customers go green with their digital supply chain and build a clean-energy economy.

Bringing DIB to life

A sustainable future is not just about protecting our planet, but also our people. It’s been proven that teams that represent a diversity of thoughts, identities, experiences, cultures and backgrounds generate the greatest innovations and business outcomes. That’s why we have been identifying new channels to connect under-represented communities to meaningful opportunities at Equinix. These include:

• Creating and promoting purpose, belonging, service, sustainability and fun across the region through local WeAreEquinix communities. The amazing teams in each country have rolled out a wide variety of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) initiatives to help their members find and live their purpose.
• Promoting gender diversity and developing female leadership through the Equinix Women Leader Network (EWLN), which is now celebrating its fifth year in Asia-Pacific with more than 500 members. Last year, EWLN Asia-Pacific held 25+ events on professional development, well-being and community impact, contributing greater value to our community.
• Launching Ally Guides in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese through PrideConnect, our network for LGBTQ+ employees and allies, to provide local support and guidance to the community. We also actively participate in LGBTQ+ programs and events that empower sexual diversity, such as Pride Month, which enables us to celebrate the progress made and prepare for the work to be done. Earlier this year, PrideConnect also donated to Oogachaga, Singapore’s most established LGBTQ+ community organization, and took part in Mardi Gras as well as the Trans Day of Visibility.
• Adding six Equinix Employee Connection Networks (EECNs), including FaithConnect, YoungProfessionalsConnect, BlackConnect, GenteConnect, InterAsianConnect and VetConnect, to our roster of Employee Connection Networks.
• Hosting a Days of Understanding event, where our CEO, Charles Meyers, along with several hundred fellow market leaders, pledged to cultivate inclusivity. Across the region, we accumulated over 800 participant hours with 37 sessions offered in English, Japanese and Chinese.
• Introducing DIB into our hiring practices and redesigning our workspace as part of our commitment to diversify our workforce. In Asia-Pacific, we launched an Unconscious Bias training for over 300 people managers and interview panelists, with the aim of reducing bias in our recruitment proces

Investing in our communities

On top of taking care of our environment and our people, we also believe in giving back to the communities in which we operate—especially to those that are suffering. With some countries still under lockdown and others dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic, we organized a fundraising campaign to alleviate the impact of ongoing COVID-19 surges in Brazil, India and the Philippines. We have also committed to donate US$2 for every dollar donated by our employees worldwide, working together to help those in need navigate these difficult times.

Despite COVID-19, our team in Singapore recently raised money for Assisi Hospice, a palliative care provider that aims to preserve their patients’ dignity and quality of life, through a run-and-cycle event, achieving a total of 432 km over a target of 150 km! In Hong Kong, our team donated home appliances and over 210 love tokens to families in need through the Charitable Sharing: Spread Love Donation charity campaign. Down under, our team in Australia kicked off a month-long Push Up Challenge campaign with Beyond Blue to raise funds and awareness on mental health and suicide prevention. As it is still ongoing, I’m confident that our team will also achieve an extraordinary record here!

We believe in equitable and inclusive access to technology and related careers as much as we believe in the technology itself. In Australia, we partnered with University Technology Sydney to launch the Lucy Mentoring Program that connects both cis- and transgender women studying engineering or technology with industry professionals. In Singapore, besides teaming up with Half-the-Sky, a women-centric career platform that connects professionals across Asia-Pacific, we also worked with Skills Future and Workforce Singapore to roll out the SGUnited Traineeship to help people secure jobs during the pandemic. Since our launch in Q1, we have onboarded 19 trainees across functions and with the second intake on its way, stay tuned for more updates! On a fundamental level, we also supported Shadhika, a charitable organization in India, in their mission to advance gender equality and empower every young woman in the country to realize her full potential.

Paving the way towards a sustainable future 

At Equinix, it goes without saying that we take our social responsibility and sustainability seriously. As we continue to make strides forward in our efforts, I’m proud of how much we have achieved as one like-minded team that believes in and advocates a more inclusive and diverse culture. I also look forward to working with our partners and customers to advance our sustainability goals and shape the future. If every business were to take even the smallest step to make our world a better place, there is no limit as to what we can all achieve together.