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Microsoft teams with Unilever, Starbucks to combat global carbon emissions

A group of nine companies aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Alexandra Garrett Associate Editor
Alexandra is an associate editor on CNET's Performance Optimization team. She graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, and interned with CNET's Tech and News teams while in school. Prior to joining CNET full time, Alexandra was a breaking news fellow at Newsweek, where she covered current events and politics.
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The group will work with the Environmental Defense Fund to share information on the best practices to decrease carbon emissions.

Angela Lang/CNET

Microsoft teamed up with Unilever, Starbucks, Mercedes-Benz, Nike and four other companies to form Transform to Net Zero, an initiative focused on achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The team will work with the nonprofit  Environmental Defense Fund to share information on the best practices for decreasing carbon emissions. 

"No one company can address the climate crisis alone," said Microsoft  President Brad Smith in a release on Tuesday. "That's why leading companies are developing and sharing best practices, research, and learnings to help everyone move forward."

In January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company has plans to move beyond carbon neutral. Microsoft aims to become carbon negative by 2030 with the goal of undoing the greenhouse gas emission it sent into the Earth's atmosphere over the company's lifetime by 2050. 

Other tech companies are also taking steps to protect the environment and tackle the climate crisis. On Tuesday, Apple unveiled plans to become carbon neutral across its entire business by 2030. Earlier this year,  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos  revealed a $10 billion fund to fight climate change.