Tokyo-based banking and financial services company Mizuho revealed today that it has shifted seven large-scale properties in Japan to renewable energy, enabling the company to power its main data centers with 100% renewable energy.

According to the bank, the announcement will result in a 20% carbon emissions reduction across Mizuho’s seven group companies, compared to 2019, marking a significant step towards the company’s climate goal to become carbon neutral for Scope 1 and 2 (operations and energy consumption) by 2030. Mizuho noted that electricity usage in Japan accounts for approximately 80% of the group’s emissions.

Data centers globally are responsible a growing share of climate impact, already reaching up to 2% of the world’s carbon emissions, nearly equivalent to that of the airline industry, as demand for data center resources continues to increase rapidly. Mizuho said that its main data centers are now supplied with energy directly from green power generation facilities, while the company’s other properties are sourcing renewable energy supplied outside Japan’s feed-in tariff system.

The announcement follows the issuance by Mizuho of a $500 million green bond earlier this year, with proceeds aimed at financing environmental sustainability projects, including renewable energy.

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