Large companies have the leverage to influence value chain partners and effect ecosystem transformation, believes the climate crusader of a big IT major. But juggling business edge with future leaps – along with green responsibilities- can be quuuuite tricky. Let’s find out how, and how well, is Infosys trying it.
What’s more surprising? Driving a F1 winner or doing it with a baby strapped in the backseat? Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2020 – about 30 years ahead of the Paris agreement deadline or maintaining it? Being a front-runner in the industry that hinges a lot on data centres and that AI head-start or being in the front row of companies betting on renewables and Scope 3 control? The IT industry is usually labelled with the paradox of making the world go from physical to digital and still guzzling a lot of energy. In the case of Infosys, the industry bellwether as we have known it for many years, FY2025 showed 77.7 per cent of its electricity in India being sourced from renewables. Also its emissions intensity (CO2e/Rev.) has reduced by over 80 per cent since the year 2008 – as per the company’s score-card. In this interview with Guruprakash Sastry, Associate Vice President, Head – Climate Action at Infosys, we get a glimpse of how tricky or practical it is to drive in the fast lane of business and innovation without scratching the carbon kerb.
How crucial are your progress areas in wastewater management, waste management and recycling?
These areas are crucial not only from the point of view of Infosys operations, but also from an ecosystem perspective. Our goal of 100 per cent recycling of wastewater reduces our dependence on external sources of water and builds resilience. This is crucial as several Indian cities are estimated to face acute water scarcity in the near future.
Waste has been a major problem for Indian cities. Severe environmental and health issues are not uncommon given the insufficient infrastructure and poor waste management systems. The problem is expected to increase due to rapid urbanisation and rising disposable income, making the country among the fastest growing consumer markets globally. Our goal of ‘zero waste to landfill’, effective segregation, treatment, and management of different categories of waste within our campuses and among our value chain, in addition to our pledge to eliminate single use plastics – all demonstrate successful solutions that can scale to help bring about systemic and behavioral change.
Take us through the green infrastructure area too.
Green infrastructure is expected to be one of the most important aspects as the building sector contributes to over one-third of global energy end-use and emissions. Infosys has continuously demonstrated that low carbon buildings are feasible with smart designs. This leads to significantly lower electricity consumption without adverse impact on the initial cost. Green infrastructure, with clearly defined measurable metrics, is an important aspect of a green future, and crucial to achieve India’s climate goals.
How challenging is it to pull off all these shifts?
A common challenge that persists is lack of awareness and vision – long-term sustainability compromised for short-term gains. Through an integrated approach, collaboration, awareness creation, and policy nudge; the challenges in wastewater, waste, and infrastructure can be overcome and lead to a more sustainable ecosystem. A smaller part of the challenge is related to technological advancements, which need innovation, and leadership from the tech industry to lead the way.
Has it been easy to achieve and maintain carbon neutrality? Anything you can share from what Infosys did right here?
For achieving carbon neutrality, we have followed a unique approach of reducing emissions (mainly through energy efficiency), avoiding emissions (through renewables) and offsetting unavoidable emissions (through carbon offset projects). This approach ensured that we minimise our own footprint across all emissions before we embark on community-based carbon offset projects. We believe that none of our global climate goals can be achieved if we do not reduce our footprint. Through super-efficient new buildings and deep retrofits, Infosys was able to reduce the per capita electricity consumption by 55 per cent from 2008 to 2020, the year we achieved carbon neutrality. This demonstrates our continued focus on reducing our own impact through energy efficiency, operational optimization and innovation.
Through super-efficient new buildings and deep retrofits, Infosys was able to reduce the per capita electricity consumption by 55 per cent from 2008 to 2020, the year we achieved carbon neutrality.
What new milestones, challenges and changes with the goal of being climate positive?
As we embark on our new ambition of becoming climate positive, focus will be on emission reduction initiatives across all scopes, stakeholder engagement, evaluating transformative ideas and adoption of innovative and evolving technologies across operations. The challenges will be to drive ecosystem transformation – be it policies on renewable energy across different geographies or engaging and driving common goals with our value chain. These areas need a bold and innovative approach to achieve success.
What kind of responsibility and practical control do technology majors have on carbon impact- specially scope 3 emissions?
Technology majors can play a significant role in climate action by being part of the solution, by demonstrating leadership, and through technology solutions. The resources on our planet are finite, and therefore we all have a shared responsibility to preserve them for our future generations. Every government, corporate, and individual has a responsibility towards the planet, and therefore every action matters. Technology majors with a large employee base have an opportunity to influence a larger community and ecosystem through employee engagement, leading to behavioural change and systemic transformation – from energy efficiency to water conservation to waste reduction and recycling initiatives. Large companies also have the leverage to influence value chain partners and effect ecosystem transformation.
Anything from Infosys’s ambit and footprint that you can cite here?
Infosys has engaged deeply on climate related parameters with top suppliers, providing them with training and awareness on essential parameters for disclosure and to align our value with our own climate goals. We have also standardised embodied carbon assessment for new infrastructure, with opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint on our capital expenses. Infosys has supported public transport by funding metro stations and related infrastructure to reduce private transport and thereby related emissions. Providing buses for employee commute in most locations has reduced reliance on private transportation, and providing dedicated parking slots for carpooling and charging points for electric vehicles in the parking lot are our efforts to reduce employee commute related emissions. Providing conducive hybrid enabled smart spaces and adoption of technology and enabling seamless communication have resulted in reduced need for business travel, as witnessed over the past few years.
Is it easy to juggle the multiple balls of responsibility, minimal data centre carbon impact, energy usage, data ethics, and AI accountability as companies move towards being AI-first players? What’s your biggest worry and challenge in this AI era ahead?
There is an urgent need to balance business growth and our responsibility towards people and the planet. With bold ambition, long-term vision and a focused approach, this is possible with today’s technological advances, human skills and ingenuity. While AI has an impact on energy usage due to data centers, I believe this is short-term impact for meaningful gains in the long term. AI can be one of the most powerful enablers of positive climate goals, especially because it can analyse vast amounts of complex datasets, optimise systems in real-time, and enable smart decision-making. AI must be built with responsible-by-design principles, so that it empowers climate action and society without creating new risks.
Pratima H
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