At Itility, we don’t just talk sustainability — we build it into our DNA.

You probably know by now that we are actively and consciously working to reduce the overall carbon footprint, both our own and that of our customers. This is an essential part of our broader Net Zero mission, our commitment to achieving net zero emissions through measurable reduction and impactful compensation strategies.

But did you know that in doing so, we are also supporting smallholder farms across the world in their agroforestry journey?

Let’s start with the bigger picture.

To ensure that less CO₂ is (or stays) in the atmosphere, we take two complementary routes:

1. Reduce CO₂ emissions: by focusing on energy savings, cloud optimization, drive EV's and building our own CO₂ calculator.
2. Compensate or remove CO₂: by planting Itilitrees in the Voedselbos Eindhoven (our local food forest) and supporting global reforestation through the Acorn initiative and Evertreen projects.

Measurement: understanding our carbon footprint

In true Itility style, we follow the principle of #DrinkYourOwnChampagne. Before advising others, we first looked at our own impact. What can we do as Itilians to reduce CO₂ emissions in our IT environment?

We started with data. A lot of it.

Our teams created a CO₂ calculator from scratch—digesting available emissions data, diving deep into white papers, validating byte-by-byte, and running intense work sessions. The goal: to understand the actual environmental cost of our digital infrastructure.

That led us to some real insights, like:

• What’s the “tree spend” of our Itility websites running on Azure? (Answer: 10 trees per year)
• What’s the impact if we migrate from Azure to AWS?
• Or if we switch to a more CO₂-efficient Azure region like Norway?
• How many train trips from Amsterdam to Paris can be offset by reducing our cloud emissions by 20%?

With these numbers in hand, we moved to action. Because calculating emissions is one thing, but acting on them is what actually drives change.

That’s why our focus is on a sustainable strategy, not just a strategy for sustainability.

Reduction: taking action to lower emissions

Now that we calculated our CO2 emissions, next step is to lower it. We are doing so via various measures. Most impactful: banning fossil lease cars - we only allow electric cars when we renew our leases. Always making the conscious choice for inter-Europe-travel: can it be done by train? Plus some small actions, such as serving more vegetarian options at our evening buffets, more recycling, limiting plastics. 

Removal: harnessing the power of trees

Here’s how it works: Trees absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. This stored carbon remains locked in for the lifetime of the tree. In short, trees are nature’s carbon vaults.

But that’s not all. Trees provide a range of co-benefits:

• They stabilize and enrich soil
• They attract pollinators and increase biodiversity
• They provide protection from sun and wind
• And in agroforestry systems, they even yield produce
  like mangoes, cashews, or avocados

Verification: local roots, global transparency

Our approach to CO₂ removal is twofold:

1. Locally, we plant an Itilitree for every Itilian at the Voedselbos Eindhoven.
2. Globally, we offset CO₂ emissions by:

• Planting trees via Evertreen to compensate for the CO₂ emissions of our lease cars.
• Participating in the Rabobank Acorn project by buying verified carbon removal credits and supporting smallholder farmers engaged in agroforestry.

Why carbon credits? Because through Acorn, 80% of the financial benefits and 100% of the co-benefits go directly to the smallholder farmers, those most impacted by climate change.

And we don’t just stop at purchasing credits. To guarantee transparency and trustworthiness, we actively support the validation process through 52impact, one of Acorn’s remote sensing partners. This ensures that every tree planted and every ton of carbon removed can be reliably traced and verified.

Impact: solving the global carbon puzzle together

Through a combination of reduction and removal, we are proud to be part of the solution to the global carbon puzzle.

At the same time, we economically empower the communities that are at the frontline of climate change.

Curious how it all works or how you can get involved? Let’s connect, we’d love to tell you more!