Microsoft pledges to remove as much carbon as it has ever emitted

Microsoft has pledged to become "carbon negative" by 2030 before going further and removing as much carbon it has ever emitted from the environment by 2050.

The announcement from the tech giant that it wants to erase its carbon footprint sets it apart from other companies' promises that focus on cutting ongoing or future emissions.

Measures planned to achieve the goal include shifting to renewable energy supply, using electric more vehicles, and working with suppliers to cut their emissions.

Microsoft said that by 2030 it would remove more carbon than it emits.

It would then be "on a path to remove by 2050 all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975".

The company plans to do this using "negative emissions technologies" which could include creating new forests and re-planting in existing ones and soil carbon sequestration - a process of removing carbon dioxide and putting it in the ground.

Image:Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said continued rising temperatures could be devastating

Microsoft will invest $1bn over the next four years to speed up the development of carbon removal technology.

It will also widen the use of an internal carbon fee which it charges to business divisions to account for their carbon emissions.

Chief executive Satya Nadella said: "We must begin to offset the damaging effects of climate change."

If global temperatures continued to rise unabated "the results will be devastating", he added.

Microsoft plans to cut carbon emissions by more than half by 2030 across its supply chains.

Company president Brad Smith said that required technology that does not yet fully exist.

Microsoft has come under pressure from activist employees who demand it stops supplying oil and gas companies, such as Chevron.

One such employee group welcomed the plan but said the company's goal was "incompatible with contracts that aim to increase oil extraction".

Microsoft reiterated its commitment to working with oil and gas firms, saying it was "imperative that we enable energy companies to transition" to renewable energy and carbon-capture technologies.

The announcement comes at a time when big investors such as BlackRock are focusing more on how companies tackle climate change while global decision-makers heading for their annual gathering at Davos have put the issue at the top of their agenda.

Other tech giants are say they are taking action, with Amazon pledging to make the retail giant carbon neutral by 2040.