CLIMATE
Consequential Logic for Impact Measurement, Action & Transparent Emissions
At Akamai, we’ve always believed that the internet should be fast, secure, and — above all — sustainable. But as we move toward our goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030, we’ve realized that traditional carbon accounting doesn’t always tell the whole story. It’s one thing to report a number on a spreadsheet; it’s another to ensure your business decisions are actually helping the planet.
That’s why we developed the Consequential Logic for Impact Measurement, Action & Transparent Emissions Guideline also known as “CLIMATE-2026.” It’s a new framework designed to move beyond check-the-box reporting and focus on the real-world consequences of our actions.
The Shift: From “What’s My Share?” to “What’s My Impact?”
Most organizations reporting today use what we call attributional accounting. Think of it like looking at a receipt: It tells you what your share of global emissions is based on the power that you used. While this is a necessary baseline, it doesn’t help us make the tough choices needed for deep decarbonization.
CLIMATE introduces consequential accounting. Instead of just looking backward, this method asks: “What is the real-world impact of this specific decision?”
Traditional average-based reporting obscures the true cost of our energy consumption. By shifting to a consequential model that uses locational-marginal emissions (LMEs), we can see the actual impact of our workloads. LME accounting exposes the massive difference between load that safely absorbs curtailed renewable energy on the margin, versus load that forces a carbon-intensive “peaker” plant to turn on.
Our Five Core Principles
We’ve built this guideline on five foundational principles, adapted from international standards like ISO 14064-1, to ensure our data is as honest as it is useful:
Relevance
Our inventory isn’t just a report card; it’s a tool for strategy. It helps us decide where to deploy data centers and which clean energy projects will actually displace fossil fuels.
Completeness
We don’t believe in “burden shifting.” Some companies “reduce” emissions by outsourcing dirty work to others. CLIMATE closes that loophole, requiring us to include all assets vital to our business, even if we don’t technically “own” them (like colocation data centers).
Consistency
We keep the goalposts in the same place. To track progress fairly, we use the same math and logic year over year, so that when our emissions go down, it’s because of real action, not a change in the formula.
Accuracy
Decisions worth millions of dollars shouldn’t be based on guesses. We prioritize Tier 1 data — actual meter readings and supplier-specific numbers — over national averages.
Transparency
We show our work. We disclose our assumptions, our data sources, and the logic behind our claims so that third-party auditors and the public can verify our impact.
A New Way to Categorize Emissions
The CLIMATE framework breaks emissions into six categories and additional subcategories called Cycles.
- Direct Emissions (Category 1): All emissions from sources Akamai owns.
- Indirect Energy (Category 2): This is where we lead. We report this in five different ways, showing the difference between what the grid looks like (Location-based) and the specific impact of our renewable energy purchases (Consequential-based).
- Value Chain (Categories 3–5): This covers everything from employee travel to the hardware we buy. Notably, we treat third-party data center space with the same rigor as if we owned the building ourselves.
- Mitigation Activities (Category 6): This tracks our active efforts to remove carbon or improve efficiency.
Why This Matters to You
Stakeholders today demand proof that sustainability claims translate into real-world impact. By utilizing consequential accounting, Akamai can definitively prove that our investments in solar and wind are directly displacing fossil fuel generation and creating additionality.
However, achieving a decarbonized grid requires industry-wide adoption. That is why we created CLIMATE.
CLIMATE serves as an accessible entry point for any organization ready to move beyond traditional reporting and embrace consequential accounting. Backed by third-party verification to meet the rigorous standards of ISO 14064-1, it empowers anyone to calculate their true impact. Ultimately, this goes beyond reducing Akamai’s own footprint; it’s about sharing our methodology to accelerate a cleaner global infrastructure.
Managing the Future
To keep ourselves accountable, we maintain a formal GHG Inventory Management Plan. This serves as our principal rulebook for how we collect data and ensure rigorous accuracy. Rather than merely measuring progress against a historical baseline, our goal is to drive real, absolute reductions in our total emissions. Every year, we publish a greenhouse gas (GHG) report to track this impact. It’s transparent, detailed, and verified by independent third parties to the ISO 14064-3 standard.
Join us
Sustainability is a team effort, and we are sharing CLIMATE with this in mind. Whether you’re looking to reduce the carbon footprint of your digital operations or want to learn more about this guideline, we invite you to dive into the approach for yourself.