Introduction Empowering individuals Working together Operating sustainably Governance and engagement Appendix 2023 Environmental Repo爀琀 Our ambition Our approach The world is facing an unprecedented At Google, we use water to help cool our data centers, water crisis, with global freshwater demand and in our o昀케ces around the world. Water is also used predicted to exceed supply by 40% by throughout our value chain, in the manufacturing of both consumer hardware products and data center equipment. 2030. 96 Climate change has exacerbated water stress, causing destabilizing We work to drive water e昀케ciency and reuse across our droughts and unpredictable 昀氀ooding global operations, from reducing our potable water use around the world. intensity at our San Francisco Bay Area headqua爀琀ers to using seawater for cooling at our data center in Hamina, Finland. In 2021, we announced our commitment to water  97 stewardship: we aim to replenish 120% of the freshwater Our water stewardship strategy is centered on volume we consume, on average, across our o昀케ces assessing and addressing water-related risks to our and data centers by 2030, and help restore and improve business and the oppo爀琀unities we have to not just Our ambition the quality of water and health of ecosystems in the mitigate those risks, but also create solutions that can be Water communities where we operate. This ambition is bold, scaled beyond our own corporate footprint. We also strive Our approach pa爀琀icularly when considering both the growth of our to pa爀琀ner with others to address this shared challenge. business and the challenges and complexities of global water stewardship work. Understanding the most stewardship When it comes to addressing shared water challenges, impac琀昀ul intervention requires local context, and water Advancing responsible technology can be a useful tool to bring visibility to these replenishment is still a maturing 昀椀eld with some limitations water use challenges to enable sma爀琀er, more informed decision- to identifying ready-to-implement project oppo爀琀unities. making. We’re building tools to make water data and We aim to replenish more technology universally accessible, enabling e昀昀ective We’re working to achieve this replenishment target Bene昀椀ting watersheds and water stewardship and improving the resilience of through continued and scaled investments in projects water than we consume and communities watersheds and ecosystems. that are located within the watersheds we rely on to help improve water quality provide water to our data centers and o昀케ces. We work Suppo爀琀ing water security with external pa爀琀ners to implement these projects, which deliver both volumetric water bene昀椀ts and improve other and ecosystem health in the with technology locally relevant aspects of watershed health, such as communities where we operate The journey ahead water quality, community water access, and biodiversity. 49