London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jun 02, 2026

Google workers pen open letter to company demanding climate action

Google workers pen open letter to company demanding climate action

Googlers are calling on the company to address specific climate demands.

In an open letter published Monday addressed to Google CFO Ruth Porat, workers are asking for a climate plan that incorporates specific asks that have similarly been set by workers at other tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft.

The four demands Googlers are calling for include: zero emissions by 2030; no contracts that enable or accelerate the extraction of fossil fuels, which are responsible for a large percentage of greenhouse gas emissions; no funding for think tanks, lobbyists or politicians who deny climate change; and no collaborating with those enabling "incarceration, surveillance, displacement, or oppression of refugees or frontline communities."

The letter, posted to Medium by a group called Google Workers For Action on Climate, was signed by more than 1,100 workers at Google. According to a climate change report put out by Google's parent company, Alphabet, Porat has the "highest level of direct responsibility for climate change" with "visibility across all of the company's operations."

Google declined to comment but pointed CNN Business to a recent post from Porat concerning sustainability. In the post, she detailed how the company has been carbon-neutral since 2007 and recently made the largest corporate renewable energy purchase. But according to Google's 2019 Environmental Report, it put 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or greenhouse gas emissions, into the environment last year, which it covers with offset programs.

It is the latest example of worker activism in motion at Google, whose workers walked out of offices around the globe in droves one year ago in protest of the company's handling of sexual harassment, misconduct and a lack of transparency.

Hundreds of Googlers were among tech workers who participated in climate strikes on September 20, ahead of the climate summit at the United Nations. Now, Googlers are pushing the company to address their concerns.

Following pressure from Amazon workers ahead of the strike, CEO Jeff Bezos announced on September 19 a broad climate plan, including committing to being net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040, which the company's workers praised as "a huge win" but also "not enough."

"After I joined the Global Climate Strike and read the Amazon workers' demands, I realized the support I provide to the oil business puts CO2 in the atmosphere, the revenue I bring in is funding climate-denying politicians, and the growth I facilitate increases carbon-releasing energy production," David Newgas, a technical program manager for the Google Cloud Platform who signed the letter.

"It is very personal," said Newgas, who also participated in the September strike.

But there is some indication that the company is taking note of workers' concerns. CEO Sundar Pichai said Google "could achieve zero emissions by 2030," according to a report from the Financial Times in September. However, The Guardian recently reported Google has given large contributions to organizations that have denied climate change -- a move that sparked criticism. It told the publication it is "hardly alone among companies that contribute to organizations while strongly disagreeing with them on climate policy."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×