Upwork Achieves and Commits to Carbon Neutrality
Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK) has released its first carbon emissions report, announcing that it achieved carbon neutrality for the first time in 2019 and pledging to maintain this status. The company's hybrid workforce model significantly reduced carbon emissions, with 73% of its employees having no commute. Upwork's shift to a fully remote work model in 2020 aims to avoid future greenhouse gas emissions. Key initiatives included utilizing renewable energy and purchasing carbon offsets. The report emphasizes Upwork's commitment to environmental responsibility and highlights the positive impact of remote work on sustainability.
- Achieved carbon neutrality in 2019.
- 73% of workforce had no commute time, significantly reducing emissions.
- Transitioned to a fully remote work model to further lower emissions.
- Participated in renewable energy programs to power offices.
- Purchased carbon offsets to mitigate environmental impact.
- None.
Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK), the world’s largest work marketplace, today released its first-ever carbon emissions report, revealing the company reached carbon neutrality for the first time in 2019 and declaring its commitment to remain carbon neutral going forward. In addition, Upwork announced its plans to further lower emissions in the future, reflecting the company’s focus on being a responsible steward of the environment.
The report provides a clear picture of how Upwork’s business model of enabling remote work positively impacts the environment. Upwork’s own distributed approach to its workforce—including its pre-pandemic embrace of a hybrid model of employees and independent talent working from 800 cities worldwide—was an outsized contributor to its achieving carbon neutrality. For years Upwork has empowered team members to work remotely, which in 2019 reduced travel in a personal vehicle by over one million miles. That same year,
Other key factors that contributed to Upwork’s reduced carbon footprint include its participation in renewable energy programs to power specific offices, and its use of Amazon Web Services facilities instead of on-site servers, which results in operational and equipment efficiencies. Additionally, Upwork purchased high-quality renewable energy credits as well as carbon offsets from Native Energy’s UN REDD in the Yaeda Valley project, which helps prevent deforestation in Tanzania.
“At Upwork, it is our belief that being a successful business is not enough, we must also be an accountable one,” said Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork. “For us, this means both building a work marketplace and committing to values and initiatives as a company that are intrinsically climate-friendly. Remote work is a powerful force for growth in the economy, and this report demonstrates its benefits for the environment as well.”
As the work marketplace pioneer and an early accelerator of the global shift to remote work, Upwork builds tools to help businesses and independent professionals connect and unlock their true potential.
“The Upwork marketplace enables businesses of all sizes—including our own—to build deep relationships with independent talent across geographic distances without requiring frequent commutes or in-person meetings,” said Brown. “We hope more businesses consider the environmental benefits as yet another advantage of remote work.”
The Upwork 2019 Carbon Emissions Report can be found in full here.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s largest work marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with independent talent around the globe. We serve everyone from one-person startups to
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