We want to be part of the solution

Lowering emissions isn’t something we do on the side. It’s an integrated part of everyday business.

Our responsibility

As Spotify grows, so too does our responsibility. We owe it to society, our listeners and creators to strive for a better future.

Listening to the science

The consequences of climate change are mounting by the day, and we all must work to be a part of the solution. As a streaming service, our impact on the climate isn’t always obvious. We exist in the digital space, but ultimately, our business is grounded in the physical world, in our office spaces, our suppliers’ data centers, and our listeners’ devices.

Climate change is something that affects every one of us, no matter where you are or what you listen to.

Changing the tune

Our climate is changing, and in response, society needs to change its behavior. Not only do we have a responsibility to handle our own impact as a business, but we also have the opportunity to use our global reach to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

With a strategy rooted in science, we’re methodically reviewing our environmental impact and using our findings to set tangible goals. We’re calculating all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions connected to our business, everything from the electricity we use and the travel we do to our entire value chain. From there, we’re identifying where we need to focus our efforts going forward to make an impactful, long-lasting difference to our planet.

On our platform

We’re using our platform to raise awareness of climate change globally and inspire positive action.

Playlist

Title:Your Guide to Climate Solutions

"How to Save a Planet" host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson shares her favorite climate change conversations.

Listen

Podcast

Title:1,5 Grad

Luisa Neubauer, one of the public faces of the German movement to combat global warming, speaks to leading scientists and activists who explain the ways in which climate change is impacting our world.

Listen

Podcast

Title:How to Save a Planet

How to Save a Planet is a podcast that asks the big questions: What do we need to do to solve the climate crisis, and how do we get it done?

Listen

Our impact

We’re always looking for ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Here are the five key areas we’re working on.

Goods & Services

Suppliers who share our goals

Our biggest source of GHG emissions comes from the goods and services we purchase. We’re focused on working and collaborating with like-minded suppliers to reduce emissions in this area.

Where we are

Most of our supplier-based emissions come from our cloud service and content delivery network providers. To reduce this, we’ve moved most of our operations to a carbon-neutral cloud and have made switching to suppliers who operate on renewable electricity a priority. We’ve also looked at other areas where we can make more sustainable choices, like serving more plant-based foods in our offices and offering low-emission options for travel between offices.

Where we are going

We’ll continue to look for ways we can make our processes and operations more energy-efficient. We’ll also continue to partner with suppliers who align with our sustainability goals and work together with them to create new disruptive solutions that reduce our impact on the climate.

Listener Use

Audio for good

As a global platform, we have an important role to play in educating our listeners and encouraging action. We also can’t ignore the CHG emissions they generate.

Where we are

We’re using our global reach to raise awareness of the climate crisis. We’re also proactively investigating GHG emissions generated by our listeners, which accounted for 42% of our total carbon emissions in 2020. This includes data traffic for streaming content on Spotify, downloads of our app, battery charges, and power supply of the devices used to listen, where devices stand for the majority of emissions.

Where we are going

We’re looking into possible partnerships in this part of our value chain and how we can work together to reduce emissions, as this is an area further away from our direct control. And of course, we’ll continue to use our platform for good, raising global awareness of the key challenges facing our climate and amplifying possible solutions in order to drive meaningful and systemic change in society.

Travel

Collaborating in new ways

Spotify operates in many markets around the world. And we’ve got plans to expand into many more. So we’re reinventing the way we work globally with flexibility and sustainability in mind.

Where we are

Our growing global reach takes us all over the world. This means that travel (primarily from flights) has been a notable source of emissions for us historically. In 2020, the pandemic forced us to overcome the barriers of time and space to connect and collaborate in new, remote ways. Overall, this meant that GHG emissions from travel decreased by 85% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Where we are going

2020 has shown us that we can work remotely and still collaborate effectively. We’ll use our Work From Anywhere policy along with advancements in tech and our learnings from the past year to create a company-wide approach to travel that keeps the wellbeing of our people and the planet in mind.

Workplace

Making workplaces better places

We have offices in 43 cities around the globe. Whilst their impact on our total emissions is small (around 2% of our GHG emissions in 2020), we’re always working to make it smaller.

Where we are

We’re leading by example and constantly looking at ways we can lower emissions from our offices. Electricity usage is our main source of emissions, including the estimated electricity used by band members working from home. To lower emissions in this area, we’re striving to run our offices on 100% renewable electricity. And in markets where this isn’t possible, we’ve proactively purchased Energy Attribute Certificates to cover our consumption.

Where we are going

We want to continue to expand our business in a responsible way. We’re integrating sustainability into how we design, remodel and run our offices around the world, and are constantly looking for ways to operate more efficiently and sustainably.

Taking Action

Taking urgent action

Whilst net zero carbon is where we want to be, and what we’re working towards, we know that time is running out and urgent climate action needs to happen right now.

Where we are

We’re offsetting our total emissions – not just from our internal operations but our entire value chain.

Where we are going

In the coming year, we’ll build on existing commitments, introduce new initiatives, and keep challenging our company and our industry to make positive progress. We’re just at the beginning of our journey, but our end goal is clear: we must all work together to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

Where we are

169,000

tonnes CO₂e was emitted in 2020, all scopes included

2 original

climate podcasts launched in 2020

“

Our purpose-driven employees, current and future, want to work for a company with exciting opportunities, and one that has a positive impact in the world.

Elizabeth Nieto

Global Head of Equity & Impact

42%

of our GHG emissions come from our listeners' streaming, and we offset all of it

“

We take pride in providing a workplace that truly is sustainable, by delivering services and spaces that help protect our planet.

Mattias Stålhammar

Head of Global Workplace Services

The whole story

We act in a socially responsible way, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because our creators, listeners, and people expect it. Read more about where we are and where we’re going in our annual Sustainability, Equity & impact report.

Read our latest report

Quick clicks

Discover more about belonging

About belonging

See our racial equity strategy

Racial equity strategy

Read about our social impact

Social impact