Infosys clients must race to exploit their provider’s untapped sustainability prowess

Infosys, as an enterprise, has been recognized by the UN for its sustainability. Its clients must now push Infosys to translate this internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) prowess and its powerhouse sustainability partnerships into its services—and deliver the same expertise as part of new and existing contracts. 

HFS has recently called on providers to acknowledge and act on the demand for sustainability services—to pioneer a space that, so far, has gone undefined. We cannot overstate the value of the transferable expertise of a service provider that has nailed the non-profit aspects of sustainability, as our conversation with Accenture Development Partnerships earlier this year made clear (Accenture is an example with both non-profit and commercial sustainability services arms). 

Infosys’ recognition by the UN centered on these key achievements: 

• Its worldwide campuses are among the most energy efficient. 
• It was the first signatory to the RE100 global campaign of enterprises transitioning to 100% renewable electricity. 
• It has sustained a 51% energy reduction per capita since 2008. 
• Renewable energy sources accounted for 46% of its electricity consumption in 2019, with 49 megawatts coming from Infosys-owned solar plants. 
• A large portfolio of projects aims at compensating for emissions outside the firm’s boundaries—addressing climate change, benefiting over 100,000 families, and developing the socioeconomics of rural India. 

Enterprises get slammed when they mask a few LED lightbulbs as sustainability; but electricity consumption is a significant energy sink and a big opportunity for both cost and emissions reduction. 

A mixture of upgrading existing facilities and adding new energy-efficient buildings is helping Infosys transition toward 100% renewable electricity; in 2019, it had reached 46% renewable electricity and a 51% overall reduction in energy consumption per capita since 2018. It has also placed an internal price on carbon—all its projects and investments are assessed against it—which it then offsets. Software applications track Infosys’ emissions; a third party audits the results.  

Infosys has also invested in renewables, with 49 megawatts of electricity coming from Infosys-owned solar plants. Giants throughout the tech sphere, such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and AWS, have long since committed to sourcing 100% renewable energy on the back of some pretty hefty scrutiny by Greenpeace and the looming threat of lawsuits. They are also investing in that same renewable energy; it won’t be long before it’s a requirement for any viable multi-national company. 

We can expect major investments like these to crop up across enterprises, but as many project managers know, investment does not guarantee success. If they are to succeed, enterprises will need partners that have already earned their battle scars building a more sustainable business. This ranges from cloud partners offsetting the industry’s extensive carbon footprint, to heavy–lifters like Infosys that have seen success in their own business. 

Infosys has built an ecosystem by pioneering sustainability, and it is tapping into the value of existing expertise; its clients can do the same 

It’s not just enterprises that will need the support of collaborative partnerships. Infosys has been sharing its learnings and best practices—transferring its sustainability success to a network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporations, government agencies, and universities. 

These practices have also, maybe more crucially, been pioneered among its employees and vendors. It’s not just Infosys’ upper management levels boasting sustainability prowess—its employees and partners have the expertise to bring Infosys’ sustainable accomplishments to its clients. With the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Infosys is pushing solar PV innovation. It is exploring solar market expansion in India with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and with Saint Gobain, it is developing building efficiency.  

Before Infosys starts charging, as sustainability services become a battleground, their clients better get on board the boat. 

Infosys’ carbon offsetting efforts have contributed to 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals—what better proof points do its clients want? 

Infosys’ projects aimed at offsetting carbon against its emissions and internal carbon pricing have impacted over 100,000 families, with a focus on benefitting women and girls—a critical part of sustainable development that is echoed by non-profits such as SHOFCO and Girl Effect. Sustainable agriculture, creating jobs, tackling poverty, and so many more benefits relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are achievable when enterprise CSR projects really hit the mark. 

Unilever is the classic case of an enterprise that has pioneered the SDGs to its brand’s advantage, and its prediction that tackling the SDGs could lead to $12 trillion per year in business value is well-quoted. 

The reality is that Unilever and Infosys are not the only firms doubling down on sustainability as a differentiator in their markets. At a recent event, Google Cloud dedicated time to walking analysts through their commitment to powering server farms with renewable energy and taking responsibility for the 2% of global electricity consumption that the hyperscale cloud providers hoover up. There are many providers and enterprises looking to embed sustainable practices in their business for a variety of motives. The challenge is doing so at scale; decentralized sustainability champions and local initiatives can only yield so much.  

The Bottom Line: Infosys has shown how it can embed sustainability at scale internally—it’s time their clients pulled Infosys’ brains and brawn into their own sustainability initiatives. 

Infosys is a sprawling multi-national business with close to 230,000 employees. Fostering an environment where sustainability is core to the mission and vision of the business, then scaling this ethos across business lines, teams, and geographies, is no mean feat. In many respects, Infosys has not only shown its commitment to an often neglected but vital part of global business ethics but has also shown it has the thought leadership and delivery capabilities to bring the same success to clients. We fully anticipate sustainability–as–a–service to become a key market as enterprises grapple with changing public opinion and a considerable economic shift—Infosys has proven it’s able to deliver the services, internally at least, for now. Its clients must get on board and make use of these vital capabilities.