Breaking Down Corporate CO2-Neutrality Commitments: The Example of a Network Switch

As the global community grapples with the urgent need to combat climate change, corporations worldwide are making ambitious commitments to become CO
2
-neutral. However, translating these commitments into practical, sustainable action presents methodical challenges that demand careful consideration and innovative solutions. This conference paper delves into these challenges, taking a life cycle perspective, with a focus on the case study of Phoenix Contact, a prominent manufacturer of networking equipment. Phoenix Contact has selected a networking switch as their flagship project in regards to CO
2
reduction, aiming to identify possibilities and challenges in reducing the carbon footprint of a product. A two-part workshop with different internal stakeholders at Phoenix Contact, supported by the authors as external idea providers, addressed the sustainable reduction of a switch's carbon footprint. Drawing from this workshop series, the paper explores key methodological hurdles that corporations must overcome to successfully reduce their carbon emissions. Additionally, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken, specifically examining net-zero transformation processes within a corporate context. Insights derived from this research were strategically employed to augment and refine the categorization of the workshop results. The integration of literature findings not only enriched the depth of understanding but also provided a broader context for the challenges faced by corporations in achieving carbon neutrality. Comparisons were drawn between the outcomes of the workshop and transformation processes in other segments within the electronics sector, shedding light on both commonalities and divergences in approaches and methodologies across different sectors and products. This holistic approach, incorporating both practical insights from the workshop and theoretical perspectives from the literature, strengthens the robustness and applicability of the findings presented in this paper. This paper offers insights into addressing the challenges of corporate transformations towards net-zero, particularly from a life cycle perspective. It contributes to the discourse on corporate sustainability and the fulfillment of CO
2
-neutrality commitments, with Phoenix Contact's journey serving as a pertinent case study.