Based in NSW, Atlassian are one of Australia’s top software development companies, powering innovation and developing tools that are used by companies the world over.
Atlassian set a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in September of 2019 at the UN Climate week. As part of their commitment to combat emissions, Atlassian set an ambitious goal to achieve 100 per cent renewable power across all operations by 2025. They realised this goal in the fiscal year of 2020 – five years ahead of schedule.
As one of the first companies in their size category to set and work towards such targets, they are proud to showcase that achieving net-zero emissions is possible.
Atlassian’s head of sustainability Jessica Hyman said the company has set ambitious climate goals because it believes in matching words by stepping up and taking action.
“It’s what our staff want. It’s what our customers expect. It’s what our politicians should be doing. And it’s what we must do for the future sustainability of our business,” said Jessica Hyman.
In September 2019, at UN Climate Week, we committed to set a target to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. We aligned our goals with a 1.5°C trajectory as part of our commitment to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, reflecting the most ambitious objectives of the Paris Agreement. We had recently announced that these goals have been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative steering committee.
“We congratulate Atlassian Corporation for setting emissions reduction targets consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement,” said Alexander Farsan, global lead for Science-Based Targets at World Wide Fund for Nature.
“By setting targets that are grounded in climate science, Atlassian is setting themselves up for success in the transition to a net-zero economy,” said Alexander Farsan.
SBTi validation is an important step in Atlassian Corporation’s climate leadership and commitment to science. Here are the key ways the company can get there by 2050:
Scope 1-2 – Absolute Emissions Reduction of 50 percent by 2025: This will mostly be achieved through procurement of 100 percent renewable energy and is therefore directly aligned with our RE100 commitment. The other critical element is ensuring any of the buildings we own and operate run on electricity for heating and cooling (as opposed to natural gas or diesel).
Scope 3 – Reduce absolute emissions from business travel 25 percent by 2025: This will be achieved by reducing emissions from business travel, with a big focus on air travel.
Scope 3 – 65 percent of suppliers by emissions will have SBTs by fiscal year 2025: This will be achieved through supply chain management. We’ll need to engage with our top suppliers and encourage them to set science-based climate targets. We are in the middle of mapping out our priorities here with our internal teams, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity for innovation in this space.
Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said “The latest climate science says we need reductions to keep warming to 1.5 degrees to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. Australia needs to do its part. Our future depends on it.” The company’s hope is that more companies see that this is possible and take the leap.
Further details about this organisation’s global climate actions are available here.
