More than 1,100 Google employees have signed an open letter demanding the company they work for does more to tackle climate change.
The letter calls on Google to commit to and release a company-wide climate plan incorporating "zero emissions by 2030, zero contracts to enable or accelerate the extraction of fossil fuels, zero funding for climate-denying or -delaying think tanks, lobbyists, and politicians; and zero collaboration with entities enabling the incarceration, surveillance, displacement, or oppression of refugees or frontline communities."
Do some evil
Google Cloud is known to be working with Schlumberger, Chevron Corp and Total SA. It previously announced a joint venture with oil giant Saudi Aramco, but after the Saudi-sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it is unclear if the partnership will still go ahead.
In September, thousands of tech employees marched in a global climate strike. At the time, Google announced the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history, a 1,600MW raft of deals to power its facilities.
But critics point out that reducing initial emissions, rather than offsetting existing emissions, is a far more sustainable approach. In their letter, the Google employees pointed to an extensive ProPublica piece on the dangers and downsides of carbon credits.
Google's staff have become increasingly active, protesting contracts with the military, border force, and how the company handles sexual harassment allegations.
In an effort to quell such movements, Google has penalized protest organizers, and last month was accused of developing an internal surveillance tool to alert leadership of large gatherings of employees. In Zurich last month, the company also tried to stymie an employee talk on unions.