The Schellman Blog

In 2020, Microsoft made a sweeping commitment to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove all the carbon it had ever emitted since 1975. It was ambitious, inspiring, and, as of 2025, slipping further out of reach. Microsoft leaders originally referred to their sustainability goals as a “moonshot,” and in their own words from their 2025 Environmental Sustainability Report, the moon has gotten further away.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) continues to progress its climate disclosure laws, but the path forward remains unclear. Despite statutory deadlines that have been on the books since 2023, CARB has repeatedly shifted its own rulemaking timeline while still expecting companies to meet firm compliance dates.

This article was featured in the World Economic Forum, written by Schellman’s Jerrad Bartczak, Senior Associate AI, and Stu Block, Sustainability Practice Director.

TAMPA, Fla. – November 12, 2024 – Schellman Compliance, a leading provider of compliance services, is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Sustas, LLC practice, a firm specializing in sustainability reporting services. As part of the transaction, Sustas’s clients and personnel will join Schellman, further strengthening the firm’s ability to deliver tailored, industry-leading sustainability compliance, consulting, and assurance solutions.

As we continue to live through what is an increasingly digital society, data centers have become the backbone of our interconnected world, handling everything from cloud computing to data storage and beyond. That takes a lot of energy, and as environmental impact becomes more and more of a concern, ISO 14001 certification has emerged as a top option to help organizations better manage their carbon footprint, and a particularly pertinent option for data centers.

Among the growing concerns regarding climate change and corporate responsibility, sustainability reporting has become a valuable tool for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to identifying and managing non-financial risks. While still primarily voluntary in nature, sustainability reports provide additional transparency into a company’s non-financial risks and the measures they take to build resilience into business models and operations.

Given the international reputation of ISO standards, ISO 14001 certification represents a great option for organizations seeking to prove their commitment to sustainability. To achieve certification of your environmental management system (EMS), however, you must meet the framework’s holistic requirements regarding environmental issues.

On February 23, 2024, ISO (along with the International Accreditation Federation (IAF)) published short amendments to all standards aligned with its Harmonized Structure. In the form of new requirement language and one additional note, ISO has now adapted climate change concerns as considerations for a wide range of popular certifications.