Study says: “Google, IBM, other tech firms underreport carbon footprint”

According to a research released Friday, large technology firms such as SAP, IBM, and Google are underreporting their greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the role of businesses in creating climate change is under investigation. Inconsistencies were discovered in the way corporations disclose their carbon footprint, a metric that is becoming increasingly relevant to investors, according to research published in the journal Nature Communications.

The study looked at so-called scope 3 emissions, which account for a substantial portion of corporate carbon footprints, such as business travel, staff commuting, and how firms' goods are utilized, and was done by academics at the Technical University of Munich. They looked at 56 firms in the computer industry and discovered that on average, half of their emissions were not disclosed.