San Francisco, CA — April 7, 2021 — Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent identity provider, today at Oktane21, committed to achieving 100% renewable electricity for its global real estate footprint by 2022. The company’s commitment marks a critical step in Okta’s journey to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and take long-term action on climate change. Watch all of Okta’s announcements at Oktane21.com.
“Climate change adversely impacts all of us, and every company has a role to play in curbing its most dangerous effects. For Okta, addressing energy usage for our offices is the right first step, but this is just the beginning of a long-term commitment to climate action,” said Todd McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer, and co-founder, Okta. “As we address Okta’s footprint, we will also look to collaborate with our customers, partners, and communities to drive even more change. We all need to act with the urgency our planet demands.”
In recognition of the imperative of climate action and the important role businesses must play in addressing the planet’s urgent needs, along with Okta’s aim to achieve 100% renewable electricity for its global real estate footprint by 2022, the company is committing to the following:
- Transparency on its strategic approach. The company will prioritize understanding its impacts via its GHG emissions inventory, developing a plan to reduce emissions, setting targets, and reporting progress. As the identity company that stands for trust, Okta will remain accountable to its commitment, reporting to the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project). It will continue to report progress on our public Social and Environmental webpage.
- Prioritizing energy efficiency and renewable energy as Okta grows. As Okta continues to expand rapidly, all new offices will be LEED Silver and WELL Silver certified. The company recognizes its potential influence to reduce emissions arising from its workplace footprint. It will consider both energy efficiency and the wellness of its employees in its siting and operational decisions. Okta will seek opportunities to purchase renewable energy from within the local grid, where possible. As Okta evaluates real estate locations and continues discussions with existing landlords, there will be an emphasis on sustainability initiatives and the desire to invest in renewable energy.
- Collaborating through leading coalitions. Okta has joined the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, an alliance of NGOs, and clean energy buyers and providers pioneering the transition to a cleaner, prosperous, zero-carbon energy future, to work together on climate action; and Business Council on Climate Change (also known as BC3), a San Francisco-based multi-sector partnership dedicated to incubating, scaling, and sharing world-leading solutions to address climate change.
- Pioneering Dynamic Work and engaging Okta employees. With Okta’s creation and implementation of its innovative Dynamic Work framework, the company will provide employees with information on energy efficiency and renewable energy options wherever they choose to work.
- Addressing climate justice. To recognize that climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color and build upon our commitments to racial justice and equity Okta for Good has made an initial grant to GRID Alternatives. GRID Alternatives is a non-profit on a mission to build community-powered solutions to advance economic and environmental justice through renewable energy. With this investment, the organization will install solar energy in five single-family homes in the Bay Area, specifically in low-income communities.
Building on Okta’s investments in sustainability
Okta continues to do its part to address climate change. In FY21, Okta purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs) equivalent to 100% of its North American office electricity consumption. Okta purchased RECs from the California Bright Schools solar program, which helps to realize the most cost-effective energy-saving opportunities, supports renewable energy education and the installation of solar on schools across the state, and provides an additional revenue stream to support school district operations. Okta’s support of California Bright Schools is consistent with its approach to embark on projects with both positive environmental and social impacts.
Also, Okta released the results of its emissions inventory, which revealed the majority of its current emissions are from sources including cloud services, data centers, and business travel. Okta employs third-party cloud infrastructure to host our digital products and services and does not own or operate any colocation data centers. Its cloud storage provider currently sources more than 50% renewable energy and has publicly committed to increasing this to 100% by 2025. Okta’s next phase of climate work will explore how to reduce emissions in these areas.
Okta launched its environmental, social and governance (ESG) program in May 2020. The ESG and Sustainability program is under the oversight of the Board of Directors’ Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. It is led by a cross-functional ESG Committee and subject-matter experts. Okta also recently hired a full-time ESG and Sustainability Director.
To learn more about this announcement and all of Okta’s innovations, register and participate in our completely free, virtual conference by visiting Oktane21.com.
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their full potential. More than 10,000 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Siemens, Slack, T-Mobile, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.
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