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Westcon-Comstor targets 100 per cent renewable electricity globally by 2030

The distribution giant has set another ambitious target for itself as the group continues to pursue its thorough sustainability strategy

Global distributor Westcon-Comstor has today announced a major target to meet 100 per cent of its electricity needs worldwide through renewable sources by 2030.

The aim will see the group, which operates in more than 70 countries, transition to powering its global operations purely by renewable electricity.

It complements the company's existing emissions reduction targets and supports its overarching objective of achieving Net Zero by 2050.

Purchased electricity currently accounts for around 70 per cent of Westcon-Comstor's Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which are defined as those that the company owns or controls either directly or indirectly.

The distributor has already stated its intention to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, and the new target is designed to accelerate progress towards this.

"Sustainability is a huge priority for our business and by moving to renewable electricity we are effectively eliminating emissions linked to electricity generation," said Westcon-Comstor head of ESG, Mark McLardie.

"We had already planned to significantly increase the proportion of electricity derived from renewable sources, but we're pushing this further to hit the 100 per cent mark by 2030 because we want to go above and beyond what's needed to meet our existing emission reduction targets."

Westcon's new sustainability drive

The distributor has already taken a series of steps in support of its Net Zero 2050 ambition, which include establishing its baseline emissions, defining a five-year roadmap toward decarbonisation, joining the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign launched by the Science Based Targets initiative, and appointing McLardie to head up the distributor's green efforts in March 2022.

McLardie spoke with CRN at the end of last year to lay out Westcon's sustainability ambitions and how he will achieve them.

The ESG boss explained that at the start of the year, Westcon took a step back and realised it needed to spend some time and energy defining a formal strategy around sustainability, having completed an analysis and spotted its gaps.

He explained the group got the ball rolling on this by studying what its competitors are doing as well as its own vendors and larger partners to help guide its achievement targets.

The outcome of these efforts resulted in Westcon's five-year roadmap towards decarbonisation, alongside recruiting EcoAct consultant Sarah-Jane McGaw as ESG Lead for EMEA.

Read more about how McLardie said Westcon plans to cut its emissions and how much by, here.