Company Sets Target to Become Carbon Neutral by 2030
(DENVER) — August 31, 2022 — Cologix, North America’s leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company, today issued its 2nd annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. The report outlines Cologix’s progress and key initiatives for advancing its ESG goals that include setting a target to become carbon neutral by 2030.
“Building on the strategy set forth in our inaugural 2020 ESG Report, this report takes the next steps to outline our roadmap and establishes clear targets across ESG initiatives at Cologix,” said Cologix Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Fathers. “It also reflects the enormous strides Cologix has taken in the last year to formalize and implement ESG initiatives across the business.”
The report follows a year of continuing expansion and major partner investment for Cologix, including a $3 billion equity recapitalization by Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets. The equity recapitalization was announced in December 2021 and closed in April 2022. This transaction successfully positions Cologix to accelerate its expansion plans with a strong focus on ESG investments.
“The recent recapitalization enables us to make investments in the latest technologies to drive energy efficiency in our greenfield developments and reduce our overall emissions footprint to rapidly bring up our overall ESG profile,” Fathers added. “As we expand our market presence, we recognize our responsibility is to ensure our growth is sustainable and consider its impact – for Cologix, our customers and partners who trust in us and our planet.”
The foundation for the ESG report was the company’s first ever materiality study conducted in 2021. The robust assessment involved interviewing stakeholders to gather insights and feedback on the issues most impactful to Cologix related to environmental, social and governance strategy. “After analyzing this feedback, our executive team identified the top 13 topics critical for the future of ESG at Cologix, along with setting targets and establishing key performance indicators that will keep us on track to reach our goals,” said Chief Marketing and ESG Strategy Officer Page Haun.
This report shares Cologix’s ESG data and efforts during the 2021 fiscal year and includes data specific to initiatives launched in early 2022. All Cologix sites are engaged in the ESG program and initiatives outlined in the report.
Major report highlights include:
- Commitment to Become Carbon Neutral by 2030. “Across our footprint, we are setting the course for carbon neutrality,” said Haun. “This includes developing strategies that will transition Cologix facilities to renewable energy, building efficient and forward-thinking data centers, and engaging like-minded, green-focused energy partners in advancing a solid foundation for carbon neutrality.” Since 2016, Cologix has invested more than $20 million in environmental projects, including the completion of 69 environmental Cap/Ex projects since 2020. Currently, 47 percent of Cologix data center power is sourced from renewable energy sources. “Our goal is to procure a majority of our energy from entirely renewable energy sources,” added Haun.
- Formation of an ESG Steering Committee. The committee is composed of key leaders across Cologix, with subcommittees in the areas of environmental, social and governance strategy. This committee reports directly to Fathers and will meet regularly with the Board of Directors regarding the ESG roadmap and progress.
- Launch of Cologix’s First Formal Employee Resource Group – Cologix Women’s Connection Network. This is just one step in the company’s commitment to create more diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming at Cologix. “While we are proud to have more than 50 percent female representation on our leadership team, more work needs to be done to ensure increased representation for women across the company,” added Fathers.
- Taking Concrete Steps to Formalize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives. This includes a commitment to include diverse populations in every interview process at Cologix by 2025. The company also plans to set diversity related targets by 2024 for women and ethnically diverse groups and to achieve those targets by 2030.
- Published first disclosure aligned with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. The Task Force, created in 2015, works to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information with a key goal of encouraging investment in sustainability-focused projects and companies. Cologix also will continue to align with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s guidance for IT services and technology companies. These measures are designed to ensure Cologix’s reporting aligns with transparency initiatives for the data center industry and the corporate sector.
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