2024
Atos
Year
Sector
Services numériques
ACT assessment methodology
Generic
Performance Score
The company's short-term decarbonization objectives are aligned with a 1.5° trajectory and validated by SBTi on all its scopes. However, Atos has not formalized a medium- to long-term (post-2025) transition plan, which makes it more difficult to assess the company's business model although its strategic axes seem to be focused on small-footprint information technology for a sustainable portfolio.
The strategy significantly integrates decarbonisation and energy and environmental performance as a competitive differentiator. However, there is a lack of transparency on the various actions and offers envisaged, particularly with regard to the group's total turnover. In addition, there does not seem to be any concrete action to self-consume electricity from renewable sources, which would have a strong impact on data centers for which grid electricity is highly carbon-intensive (United States) and would be necessary to drastically reduce scope 2 emissions in a location-based approach.
Regarding its engagement policy, Atos has launched since 2020 a comprehensive action plan to decarbonize its supply chain by revising the ESG rating of its suppliers, selecting best-in-class suppliers, strengthening CO2 and energy selection criteria, collecting the actual CO2e intensity of key suppliers, developing dedicated progress plans with suppliers and actively promoting SBTs. However, Atos lacks a real strategy to engage customers with a view to influencing their behavior to reduce energy consumption related to the use of marketed solutions.
The strategy significantly integrates decarbonisation and energy and environmental performance as a competitive differentiator. However, there is a lack of transparency on the various actions and offers envisaged, particularly with regard to the group's total turnover. In addition, there does not seem to be any concrete action to self-consume electricity from renewable sources, which would have a strong impact on data centers for which grid electricity is highly carbon-intensive (United States) and would be necessary to drastically reduce scope 2 emissions in a location-based approach.
Regarding its engagement policy, Atos has launched since 2020 a comprehensive action plan to decarbonize its supply chain by revising the ESG rating of its suppliers, selecting best-in-class suppliers, strengthening CO2 and energy selection criteria, collecting the actual CO2e intensity of key suppliers, developing dedicated progress plans with suppliers and actively promoting SBTs. However, Atos lacks a real strategy to engage customers with a view to influencing their behavior to reduce energy consumption related to the use of marketed solutions.
Narrative Score
Business model and strategy: Atos implements a variety of decarbonization actions, including particularly substantial actions, including those related to the energy efficiency of computing infrastructures and data centers and the promotion of eco-designed IT services, solutions and technologies. Its supplier engagement strategy is credible and should continue to reduce upstream scope 3 emissions, while its actions based on eco-design and customer service should continue to reduce downstream scope 3 emissions. However, the fact that its transition plan is not formalised after 2025 greatly undermines the relevance of its climate strategy.
Consistency and credibility: Atos has not formalized a post-2025 transition plan, which makes the group's overall strategy less credible. In addition, the growth in the computing capacity of the infrastructures operated and the desire to increase the use of generative AI techniques could counterbalance energy efficiency efforts and compromise the reduction in energy consumption and associated emissions. In addition, in 2020, Atos indicated that it was one of the first companies in its sector to implement an internal carbon pricing mechanism. However, in the DEU2024 it is indicated that in 2024 there was no internal carbon pricing put in place.
Data quality: There does not appear to be a recalculation of past emissions to iso-method allowing comparability and ensuring temporal consistency. This is all the more striking as the company's scope 1/2/3 emissions are in very clear decline (-46%), which seems like a lot in such a short time (2019 vs 2024). In addition, the group has made acquisitions and disposals of certain business lines between 2019 and 2024, making it unlikely that GHG emissions from years prior to the reporting year will not change.
Reputation: The company has been criticized for the sincerity of its CSR discourse, especially internally, even though there are no ongoing or past legal actions relating to allegations of climate greenwashing. Trade union critics denounce opportunistic CSR management, perceived as a commercial argument rather than a real social or environmental commitment. In particular, the sale of ECOACT three months after the Board of Directors indicated that it was accelerating Atos' internal sustainable development program, or announcing carbon neutrality by 2035 in 2020 and 5 years later indicating carbon neutrality by 2050.
Risks: Some data centers depend on high-carbon grid electricity (in the United States in particular), for which deep decarbonization is only possible with the self-consumption of low-carbon electricity (currently the focus is on the purchase of certificates of guarantee of origin). In addition, there are major risks in terms of emissions related to computing infrastructures and data centers: the growth of computing and storage capacities, the growth in electricity consumption due to the increase in computing needs and the competitive effects for access to low-carbon electricity. These risks have not been assessed or, in some cases, identified.
Consistency and credibility: Atos has not formalized a post-2025 transition plan, which makes the group's overall strategy less credible. In addition, the growth in the computing capacity of the infrastructures operated and the desire to increase the use of generative AI techniques could counterbalance energy efficiency efforts and compromise the reduction in energy consumption and associated emissions. In addition, in 2020, Atos indicated that it was one of the first companies in its sector to implement an internal carbon pricing mechanism. However, in the DEU2024 it is indicated that in 2024 there was no internal carbon pricing put in place.
Data quality: There does not appear to be a recalculation of past emissions to iso-method allowing comparability and ensuring temporal consistency. This is all the more striking as the company's scope 1/2/3 emissions are in very clear decline (-46%), which seems like a lot in such a short time (2019 vs 2024). In addition, the group has made acquisitions and disposals of certain business lines between 2019 and 2024, making it unlikely that GHG emissions from years prior to the reporting year will not change.
Reputation: The company has been criticized for the sincerity of its CSR discourse, especially internally, even though there are no ongoing or past legal actions relating to allegations of climate greenwashing. Trade union critics denounce opportunistic CSR management, perceived as a commercial argument rather than a real social or environmental commitment. In particular, the sale of ECOACT three months after the Board of Directors indicated that it was accelerating Atos' internal sustainable development program, or announcing carbon neutrality by 2035 in 2020 and 5 years later indicating carbon neutrality by 2050.
Risks: Some data centers depend on high-carbon grid electricity (in the United States in particular), for which deep decarbonization is only possible with the self-consumption of low-carbon electricity (currently the focus is on the purchase of certificates of guarantee of origin). In addition, there are major risks in terms of emissions related to computing infrastructures and data centers: the growth of computing and storage capacities, the growth in electricity consumption due to the increase in computing needs and the competitive effects for access to low-carbon electricity. These risks have not been assessed or, in some cases, identified.
Trend score
On emissions and targets, we can expect an increase in the rating since in its 2024 DEU Atos indicates that a transition plan will be finalized in 2025 and that new short/medium/long-term objectives will be defined in 2026. The transition plan will include a quantification of the investments and funding to be allocated to the company's emissions reduction plan. In addition, the evaluator expresses serious doubts about the methodological consistency of calculations between the reference year and the reporting year, both in terms of the calculation scope and the organisational scope. However, this point was not raised by the ACC.
Source
ACT Eval 2
Evaluator
CITEPA
GLOBAL SCORE
Performance score (/100)
49
Disclosure score (/100)
91
ℹ️
Narrative Score (A > E)
C
Trend Score (- = +)
=
Scores by module
#1 : best score in the sample
N/A% = module not applicable to the sectoral methodology
Target Score : 51%
Material Investment Score : 13%
Intangible Investment Score : 0%
Sold Product Performance Score : 89%
Management Score : 46%
Supplier Engagement Score : 86%
Client Engagement Score : 47%
Policy Engagement Score : 22%
Business Model Score : 13%
Indicator weight by module