Cisco is embedding sustainability into the way we operate. We believe that through collaboration, we can help build not just a sustainable future, but a regenerative one. This means moving to a mindset in which we build the capacity of our social and environmental systems to heal and thrive.
Our holistic approach to environmental sustainability includes how we operate our business, how we help our customers and suppliers make progress toward their sustainability goals, and how we do our part to help the world adapt to a changing climate.
Cisco’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy
In fiscal 2023, we launched the next generation of our environmental sustainability strategy: the Plan for Possible. The Plan for Possible lays out our three key priorities for helping to create a regenerative future:
Priority 1: Transition to clean energy
To power the world with renewables, the grid requires updated digital infrastructure to connect diverse, decentralized sources of clean energy. However, as the world electrifies, it must simultaneously reduce the amount of energy used by a connected economy.
To make progress in this area, Cisco is continually innovating to increase the energy efficiency of our products; applying our products and solutions to connect clean energy and digitalize the grid; and collaborating with our customers, partners, and suppliers to accelerate the transition to renewable sources of energy.
Read more on the Clean energy transitions page of the Purpose Reporting Hub.
Priority 2: Evolve the business to circular
We are focused on evolving from a linear economy that extracts resources and eventually wastes them, to a circular one that finds new uses for products and their inputs.
We are embedding circularity into how we design our products and packaging, and we are deploying offerings that can help our customers capture more value throughout a product’s life, such as payment solutions and as-a-service models designed with circularity in mind. We also strive to minimize waste and extend the life cycle of our products by recapturing hardware and redeploying those assets through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.
Read more on the Circular transformation page of the Purpose Reporting Hub.
Priority 3: Invest in resilient ecosystems
Value chains benefit from resilient ecosystems, both financially and ecologically, and it is in our shared interest to help humans and nature navigate a changing climate by investing in technologies and workforces that support a regenerative economy, as well as investing in nature itself.
We work to minimize our impact on ecosystems within our value chain, such as by managing water responsibly in our operations and supply chain. And the Cisco Foundation—a charitable organization established in 1997 with a gift from Cisco—has committed US$100 million over 10 years for climate solutions that draw down carbon from the atmosphere and/or regenerate depleted ecosystems.
Read more on the Resilient ecosystems page of the Purpose Reporting Hub.
By putting possible into action, we can accelerate the world’s transition to a regenerative future.
Learn more about the Plan for Possible.
Governance of environmental sustainability topics
Cisco named Mary de Wysocki as our first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer in fiscal 2023. Mary leads the company’s environmental sustainability strategy, oversees its progress toward public environmental goals, and helps Cisco drive long-term value for the business, its value chain, and the planet.
At Cisco, environmental sustainability spans multiple functions and job roles. We continue to enhance governance to mitigate risk and oversight of our ESG efforts, including the following:
- Creating the Cisco Sustainability Council to drive cross-company governance and execution. The Council includes Vice President and Senior Vice President representation from critical functions throughout the company, including Finance, Legal, Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, Communications, IT, Procurement, Government Affairs, Cisco Services, Sales, our Partner organization, and the Chief Sustainability Office.
- Creating a Board committee, the Environmental, Social, and Public Policy (ESPP) Committee, which oversees Cisco’s initiatives, policies, programs, and strategies concerning environmental sustainability and other key corporate social responsibility and public policy matters, as more fully set forth in the Committee's Charter.
- Establishing governance processes for external communications, public goals, and claims related to sustainability.
- Performing a Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) scenario analysis.
- Building a Sustainability Data Foundation to further support reporting consistency, strategy, product design, and customer needs.
Sustainability Data Foundation
Sustainability-related data, such as product energy consumption and product life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is important for many reasons. For example, it helps our customers better understand the environmental footprint of their networks, and it enables Cisco to report its own environmental impact.
To address this need, Cisco has developed the Sustainability Data Foundation (SDF). This enterprise data platform serves as Cisco’s main source for environmental sustainability-related data for a range of use cases.
The SDF is part of our strong governance of our environmental sustainability efforts, which underpins our corporate environmental sustainability strategy, the Plan for Possible. We currently use the SDF for several purposes, including generating product carbon footprint reports and automating our own emissions accounting. We continue to expand the data within the SDF and the applications of it across our business.
Active environmental targets and goals
We have a goal to reach net-zero GHG emissions across our value chain by 2040 by prioritizing reductions across all scopes of emissions. Cisco’s 2040 net-zero goal was approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2022 under its Net-Zero Standard. Cisco was one of the first technology hardware and equipment companies to have its net-zero goal validated under the SBTi Net-Zero Standard. Our net-zero goal includes two near-term targets and a long-term target:
| Date goal announced | Target timeframe | Target | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date goal announced: September 2021 | Target timeframe: Long-term | Target: Reach net-zero GHG emissions across our value chain by reducing absolute scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 90% by 2040 (FY19 base year).1 See Scope 1-3 summary table below for details or visit our net-zero page. | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified): Active. We are reporting progress in the following rows through our FY25 and FY30 near-term targets. |
| Date goal announced: September 2021 | Target timeframe: Near-term | Target: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 90% by FY25 (FY19 base year).1 | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified): 73% |
| Date goal announced: September 2021 | Target timeframe: Near-term | Target: Reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and use of sold products by 30% by FY30 (FY19 base year).2 See Scope 1-3 summary table below for details. |
FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified): On track We expect our progress to fluctuate year-over-year based on the number and type of products we sell each year. |
1 We intend to neutralize the remaining 10% of emissions by removing an equal amount from the atmosphere.
2 The baseline and progress reported for our fiscal 2030 goal includes a subset of Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services from manufacturing, component, and warehouse suppliers), a subset of Scope 3 Category 4 (upstream transportation and distribution from Cisco purchased air transportation), and all of Scope 3 Category 11 (use of sold products).
In addition to our net-zero goal, Cisco has additional public environmental sustainability goals that reflect our aspiration and willingness to tackle difficult problems. We also set internal annual targets that are reviewed regularly to support progress toward our public goals. Cisco's publicly stated environmental goals align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Links in the left-hand column in the table below direct to Cisco's public announcement of each goal. Links in the goal column direct to other places where we report performance against a goal.
| Date goal announced | Goal topic | Goal | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date goal announced:August 2019 | Goal Topic:Energy/GHG | Goal:80% of Cisco component, manufacturing, and logistics suppliers by spend have a public, absolute GHG emissions reduction target by FY25.4 See Supply chain environmental stewardship for details. | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):90% by spend with targets |
| Date goal announced:July 2019 | Goal Topic:Product and packaging materials |
Goal:
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FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):96% meeting circular design criteria |
Goal:
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FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):57% reduction | ||
Goal:
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FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):76% cumulative improvement | ||
Goal:
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FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):64% by spend with at least one certified site | ||
| Date goal announced:October 2022 | Goal Topic:Product and packaging materials | Goal:50% of plastic used in our products (by weight) will be made of recycled content by FY25.8 | FY24 progress (against base year unless otherwise specified):41% |
4 Suppliers are expected to set public absolute GHG emissions reduction targets or intensity targets that produce an absolute emissions reduction during the target period. Cisco encourages suppliers to set targets in line with an approved science-based methodology. Progress toward this goal is quantified using Cisco’s supply chain spend, which can vary annually. Cisco will continue to work with suppliers to set their own absolute GHG emissions reduction targets, and to report progress toward this goal annually through fiscal 2025.
5 The scope of this goal is limited to hardware products and associated packaging, excluding: standalone components (e.g., chassis, ASICs, optical modules), standalone basic product accessories (e.g., power cables, brackets), Original Equipment Manufacturer products (where Cisco does not own the design), and products and packaging of nonintegrated acquisitions. Product and packaging designs achieving a score of 75% or higher are counted toward the goal.
6 Packaging efficiency is measured by comparing the size of the product relative to the packaging, using dimensional weight. Dimensional weight uses volume and a standard dimensional factor to calculate the weight of a package. In this methodology, the packaging efficiency metric is based on the difference of the normalized dimensional weight (by volume) between the baseline and current year. This goal applies to high-volume packaging requiring redesigns.
7 According to current standard definitions used in certification protocols, “zero-waste” diversion is defined as a 90% or greater overall diversion of solid, nonhazardous wastes from landfill, incineration (waste-to-energy), and the environment. Diversion methods can include reduction, reuse, recycling, and/or compost.
8 The scope of this goal excludes plastics contained in commodity components (e.g., plastic screws, fans, and cables) and in products designed and manufactured by our Original Design Manufacturers.
Cisco continuously strives for transparency in our reporting on our ESG initiatives, goals, and progress. We set ambitious timelines and goals in an effort to maximize progress, and we strive to transparently report on our progress.
We have a goal to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 90% by fiscal 2025 in line with our Net Zero strategy. We also have fiscal 2025 goals to reduce foam used in Cisco product packaging by 75% as measured by weight, and that 70% of Cisco component and manufacturing suppliers by spend achieve a zero-waste diversion rate at one or more sites.
We continue to make strides towards these fiscal 2025 goals. However, like other companies with ambitious targets, we are facing headwinds. Even if we fall short of reaching these goals by fiscal 2025, we will continue to drive meaningful action and innovate toward our goals.
Scope 1-3 emissions summary
The table below summarizes our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. For information about specific Scope 3 categories, please see the drop-downs below, or reference 7.5 and 7.8 of our 2024 CDP response. Details on Cisco’s operational energy use and Scope 1 and 2 emissions are included on the Clean energy transitions page of the Purpose Reporting Hub.
Important context for understanding the values provided:
- Data, data sources and methodologies used in quantifying and reporting GHG emissions are continuously evolving. We strive to monitor developments regarding these matters with a view to enhancing our calculations and data on an ongoing basis in accordance with Cisco policies.
- As a result, Scope 3 figures reported in the table below may differ from those reported in previous versions of the Purpose Reporting Hub and historical CDP responses. We report up-to-date data available as our methodologies improve.
- Scope 3 figures can vary from year to year based on various factors, for example, changes in sales and supply chain spend.
- Every year, companies reporting GHG emissions as part of CDP’s supply chain program submit data for their last completed fiscal year for which data is available. In Cisco’s case, we reported fiscal 2023 data in October 2024, because our fiscal 2024 data was not yet available. Therefore, we will report fiscal 2024 data in 2025 to CDP.