Founded in 1997, STRATO is one of the largest web hosting providers worldwide with over 4 million domains and more than 2 million customers. STRATO employs around 500 people and operates two TÜV-certified data centers with over 70,000 servers in Berlin and Karlsruhe. Climate action has always been a priority: In 2008, STRATO was one of the first web hosts in Europe to switch data center operations to CO₂-neutral electricity.
However, STRATO didn't stop there. In 2021, they joined forces with South Pole to understand the full impact of its activities. Together, we conducted a full assessment of all of STRATO's GHG emissions across scope 1 (direct emissions), scope 2 (indirect emissions) and scope 3 emissions (value chain emissions). Based on this, STRATO committed to setting a science-based target (SBT) aligned with the 1.5°C trajectory and identifying major sources and reduction potential.
An important milestone on STRATO's climate journey is achieving and sustaining climate neutrality. The South Pole label backs their reduction efforts as well as offsetting the unavoidable emissions as it progresses towards its SBTs. STRATO supports a blend of regional and international projects. An important part of STRATO's engagement is the restoration of valuable peatland in Northern Germany, where STRATO purchased the entire annual volumes of the project to maximise the impact.
The Königsmoor in Schleswig-Holstein has been drained for decades to make it more usable for agriculture. As a consequence, the groundwater level has been falling and the now dry soil is releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Now, 68 hectares of the moor are protected and being restored to its natural state, allowing it to store more than 600 tons of CO₂ per year.
As an archipelago in the South Pacific, New Caledonia is particularly hard hit by the consequences of climate change – the residents often suffer from extreme and highly fluctuating weather. At the same time, the islands still cover 80% of their energy needs with fossil fuels.
This is where the Prony wind power project comes into play: Six wind farms with a total of 116 turbines were built and are maintained. The project produces around 40 gigawatt hours of green electricity per year, which flows directly into the local power grid. What is special about the project: the turbines can be lowered to the ground before hurricanes arrive, so that no damage is caused. Here you can learn more about the Prony wind power project.
Digitisation and IT have an exciting relationship: on the one hand, the industry naturally emits CO₂ - computers need energy, which often still comes from fossil fuels. Hardware also has an impact, for example through raw materials, processing and transport. At the same time, digital solutions are already making a decisive contribution to saving CO₂. This development will continue. Our goal must be to exploit the climate potential of IT and at the same time reduce and offset the industry's footprint.
When we think about the future of our customers, we cannot avoid the topic of sustainability - this is where every state, every company and every person is called upon to take responsibility. At STRATO, this is part of our corporate identity. As early as 2008, we converted our data centres to 100 percent green electricity. In view of the advancing climate crisis, it was only logical to take the next step and make the entire company climate-neutral.
Our clients are extremely diverse, so we receive very different feedback. For some, the topic still plays little or no role, and there are also a few critical voices that fundamentally question the climate-neutral approach of companies. However, the vast majority of customers value our climate neutrality. A certain percentage have also deliberately chosen us as a climate-neutral provider.
With our first communication on the topic, we specifically set out to gradually reduce our CO₂ footprint - initially by twelve percent within three years. One of the first measures to achieve this has already been implemented: In March 2022, we moved to a new office, where we will be using green electricity from the very beginning. But we are also thinking beyond that, for example, whether we can produce our own ecological electricity. A lot has to happen here in the next few years - there is no other way.
The digitalisation of many areas of life continues to advance, which means that our industry will continue to consume more electricity and other resources. But we are not only part of the problem, we can and want to be part of the solution. Effective climate action is hardly conceivable without the development of new technologies and data-driven solutions. In my view, the IT industry must therefore play a key role in climate action.
