Embedding Environmental Efficiency
We are committed to minimizing our impact on the planet and supporting our customers to reach their environmental goals by providing a security cloud that is less energy- and emissions-intensive than on-premises solutions.
As a software company, our highest source of emissions is the electricity used to power our cloud-based services. We address these impacts by embedding environmental efficiency throughout our solution—from its architecture and optimized processing, to the data centers we use, to the renewable energy that powers our cloud.
Our global data centers and offices are powered with 100% renewable energy, and we purchase only high-quality offsets to be carbon neutral. Now, we’re working toward our next goal: to reach net zero emissions by 2025.
We are committed to minimizing our impact on the planet and supporting our customers to reach their environmental goals by providing a security cloud that is less energy- and emissions-intensive than on-premises solutions.
As a software company, our highest source of emissions is the electricity used to power our cloud-based services. We address these impacts by embedding environmental efficiency throughout our solution—from its architecture and optimized processing, to the data centers we use, to the renewable energy that powers our cloud.
Our global data centers and offices are powered with 100% renewable energy, and we purchase only high-quality offsets to be carbon neutral. Now, we’re working toward our next goal: to reach net zero emissions by 2025.
Environmentally conscious security architecture
Environmentally conscious security architecture
As the world’s largest security cloud, we play a clear role in driving lower environmental impacts associated with securing companies around the world. By switching to Zscaler from on-premises solutions, companies can minimize IT waste, lower energy consumption, and reduce their carbon footprint.
The majority of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comes from energy used by the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, our cloud-based platform, which is distributed across more than 150 data centers worldwide. This architecture is designed to be more efficient than both on-premises solutions and virtualized solutions on public clouds.
We built our multitenant cloud architecture from the ground up to deliver our solution efficiently, which leads to better traffic density per unit of hardware, resulting in both performance and environmental benefits.
To understand the holistic environmental impacts and benefits of the Zscaler platform vs. on-premises cybersecurity solutions, we worked with a third-party environmental expert to conduct a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) following ISO principles. The LCA study compared the impacts of the resources required for one year of use of Zscaler’s ZIA and ZPA products with impacts of on-premises solutions providing equivalent cybersecurity functionality for a specified number of users.
This cradle-to-grave analysis focused on carbon intensity and examined phases of the value chain: raw materials, upstream production processes, hardware manufacturing, distribution, customer use, and hardware end-of-life.
The result of the analysis shows that the Zscaler solution can deliver significant hardware reduction and energy efficiency over on-premises solutions.
For more information on the approach of the study and results, please see our 2022 ESG Report.
Learn more about the environmental benefits we provide to our customers here.
Renewable energy and reducing carbon impact from cloud operations
Renewable energy and reducing carbon impact from cloud operations
We built the Zero Trust Exchange, the largest inline cloud security platform, by choosing data centers that are exceptionally connected with the highest level of security, close to users, and operationally reliable. In 2021, we updated our data center procurement processes to integrate sustainability considerations into facility selection and renewal criteria. Where possible, we prioritize data centers that are highly efficient, use renewable energy, have established climate goals, and follow other environmentally conscious practices.
Today, more than 75% of the renewable energy used across our platform is directly procured by data center providers. To reach 100% renewable energy for our data centers and global offices, we purchased high-quality renewable energy credits (RECs) from country-specific wind and solar projects to match the balance.
Carbon neutral and net zero by 2025
Carbon neutral and net zero by 2025
We’re building on our milestone of achieving 100% renewable energy for our global offices and data centers and have broadened our attention to reducing emissions in additional business areas. We’ve taken immediate steps to eliminate our projected emissions for the 2022 calendar year through the use of high-quality, Verra-certified carbon offsets that are additional and permanent, to reach carbon neutral for our offices, data centers, business travel, and procurement along with customer and public cloud usage.
We recognize that carbon neutrality is not the end goal and are working toward our new climate goal to reach net zero by 2025. To reach our goal, we are developing a path to net zero GHG emissions by implementing policies and practices such as increased supplier engagement, lowering power needs, and using data to identify areas for improvement. We also plan to share our progress so that our customers can be confident they’re working with a partner aligned with their carbon reduction goals.
Climate risk and opportunity
Climate risk and opportunity
In line with the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, we’re using a comprehensive approach to assessing climate risk across the key areas of our business, including products, data centers, customers, employees, office locations, and more. This helps us understand our risk levels and exposure in addition to informing our risk management approach.
The results of our most recent climate risk assessment, conducted in 2022, revealed that our cloud is resilient against climate risk through a highly redundant system of data centers deployed worldwide. If any region or data center experiences an outage, we have capacity to process user traffic in other parts of the cloud, minimizing business disruption. Additionally, our largest sites are located in areas where we have our lowest physical climate risk. More information can be found in our CDP response.
As climate change continues to create chronic events such as prolonged heat waves, storms, and fires, this may increase the need for more businesses to move to the cloud and adopt hybrid work environments. We are hopeful that we can support more organizations with Zscaler solutions and help build a climate-resilient world.
Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Emissions for calendar year 2021 (January 1 - December 31, 2021) by scope are as follows:
Emissions
| Inclusions | |
|---|---|---|
Scope 1 | 362 |
|
Scope 2
| 25,096 |
|
Scope 2
| 0
| |
Scope 3 | 4,564 |
|
Scope 1 + 2 + 3
| 30,022
| |
View our calendar year 2021 greenhouse gas inventory verification statement here.
Emissions for calendar year 2021 (January 1 - December 31, 2021) by scope are as follows:
Scope 1
Emissions
Metric tons CO2e: 362
Inclusions
- Natural gas used to heat offices
Scope 2 (location-based)
Emissions
Metric tons CO2e: 25,096
Inclusions
- Indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity in offices and co-located data centers
- Purchased Enviromental Attribute Certificates (EACs) / Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
Scope 2 (market-based)
Emissions
Metric tons CO2e: 0(includes application of purchased EAS/RECs)
Inclusions
- Indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity in offices and co-located data centers
- Purchased Enviromental Attribute Certificates (EACs) / Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
Scope 3
Emissions
Metric tons CO2e: 4,564
Inclusions
- Purchased goods and services
- Business travel
- Use of product
- Public cloud
Scope 3
Emissions
Metric tons CO2e: 30,022
Our impact
Modernizing security and protecting privacy
Social
Enabling possibility for people
Governance
Securing trust