ALIBABA Group aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations and slash emissions across its supply chains and transportation networks by 50 percent by the end of the decade, the Chinese e-commerce giant pledged Friday. It is the latest tech giant in China to make a solid commitment to supporting the country’s 2060 net-zero emissions goal. Alibaba introduced what it called its “scope 3+” target to eliminate 1.5 gigatons of carbon emissions across its entire business ecosystem by 2035. The company promised to bring its own direct carbon dioxide production, known as “scope 1” emissions, as well as its indirect “scope 2” emissions, derived from the consumption of electricity or heating, to net zero by 2030. It also said it would reduce carbon intensity from the “scope 3” emissions, produced in areas such as transportation, purchased goods and services and waste, by 50 percent by 2030. To achieve its goals, Alibaba plans to deploy new energy-saving, high-efficiency technologies, make further use of renewables and also explore “carbon removal initiatives” that could extract climate-warming greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Daniel Zhang, the company’s chief executive, said the company also sought to “mobilize actions and behavioral changes among consumers, merchants and partners in China and around the world.” In 2020, Alibaba’s total greenhouse gas emissions were 9.514 million tons, which included 510 thousand tons from scope 1 emissions, 3.71 million tons from scope 2 and 5.294 million tons from scope 3, according to the company’s Carbon Neutrality Action Report released Friday. As China’s biggest cloud service provider, with an almost 40 percent market share in the third quarter of 2021, Alibaba has set higher targets for Alibaba Cloud. The unit is striving for carbon neutrality by 2030 in all three scopes. China announced last September its goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060. (SD-Agencies) | 