Microsoft, together with other companies, has established a "Green Software Foundation" based. With a view to climate protection, it has set itself the goal of helping the software industry to emit less CO2. The foundation wants to achieve this through new standards, design patterns and best practices, the development of open source tools, training and the building of a community "Gruner Software Ambassadors" call for. Specifically, it mentions a goal of reducing CO2 emissions from software by 45 percent by 2030 – which is in line with the Paris Climate Agreement decision from December 2015.
The new foundation has eight founding members: Microsoft and GitHub, which has been part of the group since 2018, as well as consulting firms Accenture and ThoughtWorks. In addition, the Green Software Foundation website lists as members the investment bankers of Goldman Sachs and the non-profit organizations The Green Web Foundation, Leaders for Climate Action and WattTime. The foundation is also associated with the Linux Foundation.
Fields of activity of the Green Software Foundation from a promotional video of the new foundation
Membership in the Green Software Foundation is initially open to all companies and non-profit organizations, according to information on the website. Individuals will also be given the opportunity to become members at a later date.