Salesforce has announced a series of new initiatives centred on sustainable water usage, as part of its Nature Positive Strategy. This includes a programme targeting sustainability in its data centres and energy use, along with investments aimed at bolstering local watershed resilience in Brazil and Mexico.
Launched in 2023, Salesforce’s Nature Positive Strategy aims to measure, manage, and reduce the company’s impact on nature. The strategy includes goals such as supporting the conservation and growth of 100 million trees by 2030, contracting for 1 million tons of “blue carbon credits” by 2030, and distributing $100 million through its Nature and Sustainability Philanthropy by 2031.
A new phase of the strategy introduces a dedicated water programme to evaluate and address water-related risks and opportunities. This programme will set sustainable water withdrawal and discharge expectations for key data centres, engage cloud partners to enhance transparency and performance, and address water intensity in electricity generation via clean energy procurement and grid decarbonisation in priority regions. Salesforce is also investing in nature-based solutions like reforestation and groundwater discharge to improve water availability and quality around its priority offices and data centres.
Additionally, Salesforce has announced investments in community-led restoration efforts in Latin America. These include supporting Conservation International’s “Conservador das Águas” project in the Jaguari River Basin to restore springs, increase native vegetation, improve water quality, and strengthen watershed management for nearly 9 million people in São Paulo, Brazil. Salesforce is also investing in three major restoration initiatives in Mexico.
The company is further scaling its commitment to blue carbon. In 2022, Salesforce launched its blue carbon markets initiative to help scale sustainable ocean-based carbon markets by developing consistent standards for assessing projects and credits. This includes partnerships with the “Mangrove Breakthrough” alliance to mobilise finance and strengthen blue carbon project supply, and participation in the nature-based carbon removal coalition Symbiosis.
Sunya Norman, Senior Vice President of Impact at Salesforce, stated: “At COP30, the world is calling for action that connects local leadership with global scale. By investing in watershed restoration and nature-based solutions, we’re helping protect ecosystems that sustain communities while building a more resilient planet.”
