Energy and Climate

Social and Environmental Responsibility at Okta  /  Energy and Climate 

Energy and climate

Okta’s sustainability strategy is focused on increasing transparency and action on climate change to protect people and the planet while driving long-term value for Okta’s business and stakeholders.

Public Climate Commitments

Okta has committed to validated1 science-based targets (SBTs) for absolute emissions reductions, which are aligned with a 1.5°C global warming trajectory. Our targets are:

  • Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 67% by FY2030 against a FY2020 base year
  • Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel and employee commuting transportation 42% by FY2030 against a FY2020 base year
  • Ensure that 65% of Okta’s suppliers by spend, covering purchased goods and services, and capital goods have science-based targets by FY2027

Okta is committed to supporting our global offices, remote workforce and third-party cloud service providers with 100% renewable electricity.

Okta commits to publicly reporting our annual greenhouse gas inventory inclusive of all relevant categories of scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3, and annual achievement of 100% renewable electricity and progress towards our science-based targets through our webpage and our CDP Climate Change survey response.

Climate Strategy

Okta’s science-based targets will inform the further evolution of our climate action plans, and will help us support our customers in achieving their own climate goals. Okta’s climate strategy is focused on emissions reductions and consists of four pillars:

  • Right sizing our global workplace footprint
  • Selecting office sites that are easily accessible by public transit to reduce the environmental impact of employee commuting
  • Building out all new direct leased offices to both the LEED Silver and WELL Silver standards as a minimum
  • Sharing resources with employees to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, such as the Dynamic Work Sustainability Guide
  • Developing resources for employees to travel more sustainably including considering meeting virtually vs. in person, bundling trips to reduce the number of trips, taking car or train (vs. plane) when possible, etc.
  • Asking existing property managers of our leased offices to electrify equipment at end of life, report on refrigerant usage, and opt their building into 100% renewable electricity with their utility
  • Adding sustainability criteria, including all-electric buildings where available, to Okta’s new site selection criteria
  • Providing employees with information about opting their residences into 100% renewable utility programs
  • Purchasing renewable electricity certificates (RECs) annually to match 100% of our electricity consumption from our offices, our remote workforce, and cloud services with renewable electricity
  • Purchasing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and joining the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA), whose mission is to accelerate the path to carbon-neutral air transport by driving investment in SAF, catalyzing new and additional SAF production and technological innovation, and supporting member engagement in policy making2
  • Collaborating with other members of the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3), with whom we’ve developed two guides encouraging vendor action on climate to (1) conduct a GHG emissions inventory and to set targets, and (2) achieve emissions reductions targets
  • Engaging directly with our vendors to offer resources/support 

Okta also engages with customers, for example, by providing GHG emissions data via the CDP Supply Chain Module, partnering with customers on resources for vendors via BC3, speaking with customers to explore how we can support each other to achieve climate goals, and sharing thought leadership on ESG and climate at Okta events like Forum22 and Oktane Online 2022.

Governance, Risk Management, and Scenario Analysis ​​

Okta’s ESG and climate efforts, led by the company’s ESG and Sustainability team in partnership with the ESG Committee, are overseen by our executive leadership and reviewed by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of our Board of Directors, as per the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviews Okta’s ESG programs and public disclosures, annually and more frequently as needed.

In FY22, Okta’s ESG and Sustainability team worked with the Okta risk management team to incorporate climate into the annual risk assessment process which is a part of our overall Enterprise Risk Management framework. In terms of climate scenario analysis, Okta also considers potential “physical risks” and impacts as part of our continuity planning. Okta forecasts long-term emissions growth and models the potential impact of “transition risks” like a carbon fee or decarbonization requirements.

Timeline

 

1 Validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

2 https://rmi.org/saba/

News and Resources

Blog post

Okta Commits to Climate Action With Approved Science-Based Targets

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Press release

Okta Reaches 100 Percent Renewable Electricity for Global Offices and Workforce; Pioneers Hybrid Work Emissions Study

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Press release

Okta Announces Commitment to 100% Renewable Electricity

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Blog post

Our Commitment to 100% Renewable Electricity and Guiding Principles for Okta’s Climate Strategy

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