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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
5.17.2007 - 08:00am ET
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Clinton Foundation, Microsoft to Develop Online Tools Enabling the World's Largest 40 Cities to Monitor Carbon Emissions
Technology to help cities better understand and improve environmental footprint
(CSRwire) NEW YORK, NY — May 17, 2007 — The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft
Corp. today announced a long-term partnership to develop a suite of
technology tools that will enable cities to accurately monitor, compare
and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The technology will include
both software and services.
"The Clinton Foundation is committed to a business-oriented approach to
the problem of climate change," said Bruce Lindsey, CEO of the Clinton
Foundation. "This new software tool will be an important resource in our
work with cities around the world to fight global warming in practical,
measurable and significant ways."
"Technology has the power to make a positive, long-term contribution to
solving the world's environmental challenges," said Craig Mundie, chief
research and strategy officer at Microsoft. "By partnering with the
Clinton Foundation, we can increase environmental awareness and drive
sustainable change that will help cut global carbon emissions."
The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will be assisted in developing these
new measurement tools by ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability and
the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Microsoft will build the new
software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has acquired in
developing its Harmonized Emissions Analysis Tool (HEAT).
The role of communities in tackling carbon emissions is vital. The Clinton
Foundation and Microsoft believe technology can play a unique role in
bringing people together to tackle the global environmental challenges
that the world faces today. The partnership aims to empower cities with
relevant technology to address shared global environmental issues.
Microsoft, together with a consortium of partners, will develop a single
Web solution to allow cities to clearly understand their environmental
footprint. With this information, cities can make better choices as they
aim to improve their energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
The new online, Web-based software tools will be provided pro bono to
cities and will be available by the end of the year. The software tools
will support cities to collaborate in new ways via the Web and online
communities, enabling them to work together to monitor their progress and
share best practices. They will be compatible with existing emissions
reduction tools for cities, allowing the export and import of data from
other systems.
In August 2006, President Clinton launched the Clinton Climate Initiative,
a project of the Clinton Foundation, and announced a partnership with the
C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, a consortium of 40 of the
world’s largest cities committed to fighting global warming. The online
tools to be developed by Microsoft and the Clinton Climate Initiative will
provide these cities with a baseline and standardized measurement of their
carbon emissions, as well as the ability to track the effectiveness of
emission reduction programs and share best practices.
Ultimately, the new software will serve as a global standard for cities in
their climate change accounting, mitigation and communications efforts. The
completed measurement tools will consist of a multilingual, online and
offline software service accessible around the world. Microsoft will lead
the technical software development, and will help establish a consortium
of private sector partners that will support the cities in the creation
and long-term sustainability of the project. The Clinton Climate
Initiative will direct the project and disseminate the new tool to cities
that are taking action to curb carbon emissions around the world. The
Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will partner in this effort with ICLEI,
building the new software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has
acquired in developing emissions reduction tools for more than 1,000
cities worldwide. They also will be assisted in this effort by the Center
for Neighborhood Technology.
The online application will enable cities to do the following:
Implement a common measurement system for emissions reductions
Perform analyses of potential projects and estimate their effect on
reducing emissions
Generate structured and custom reports for users based on inventory
and measures data
Access data from around the world and engage other cities in dialogue
about best practices in real time
About the Clinton Foundation
President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the
mission to strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet
the challenges of global interdependence. To advance this mission, the
Foundation works with like-minded organizations and forms partnerships
with national and local governments around the world to make an immediate
and measurable impact in several areas, including bringing HIV/AIDS care
and treatment to underserved populations, developing sustainable economic
growth in Africa and fighting global climate change. The Clinton Global
Initiative serves as a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together
a community of leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some
of the world’s most pressing issues. In the U.S., the Foundation is
working to combat the alarming rise in childhood obesity and is helping to
expand economic opportunity by empowering small business owners and
entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.clintonfoundation.org.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
Microsoft is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information: http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/citizenship/default.mspx
For more information, press only:
Rapid Response Team
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide for Microsoft
(503) 443-7070
rrt@waggeneredstrom.com
Clinton Foundation press office
(212) 348-0360
press@clintonfoundation.org
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information
on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft® Web page at www.microsoft.com/presspass
on Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers
and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have
changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact
Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
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