Cisco Systems sustainability score: 46/100
Leading practice starts at 60. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Limited independent evidence: only two independent sources cover this company. The score may change as more evidence appears.
Cisco Systems is a multinational networking hardware and telecommunications infrastructure company headquartered in San Jose. Founded in 1984, it designs routers, switches, and software platforms for enterprise and service-provider networks.
More about Cisco Systems
With 86,200 employees and $56.7B FY2025 revenue, Cisco is among the largest IT infrastructure vendors globally.
Founded 1984Head office San Jose, California, United StatesStaff ~90,000Revenue $56.7B (FY2025)Website ↗
Cisco has achieved genuine absolute emissions reductions across all scopes with SBTi-validated net-zero 2040 targets and 96–100% renewable electricity. Supply chain engagement and circular design gains are measurable. The core weakness: total emissions remain massive (>17M tonnes annually) driven by product use-phase energy, and nature impact quantification is missing despite supply chain mining exposure.
Cisco Systems scores 46/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified May 2026.
That places Cisco Systems joint 258th of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 9th of 46 in Electronics / Hardware.
What is Cisco Systems doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (9/10, 9/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (5/10, 6/10).
Where Cisco Systems lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- Its effect on waterRun a water stewardship programme or verify a fall in water use.
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow a consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations9/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain8/10Its Scope 3 emissions aren't fully verified or falling year on year.
- Whether its emissions are falling7/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is9/10Its own operations aren't shown to run on 100% renewable energy.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste7/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water6/10No water stewardship programme or verified fall in water use.
- Its climate targets9/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports8/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Cisco Systems's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Cisco Systems's score based on?
15 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
80% of them were published by Cisco Systems itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Cisco Systems compare with other electronics / hardware companies?
Where Cisco Systems sits among electronics / hardware peers.
Among the 46 major electronics / hardware brands we've scored, Cisco Systems is tied =9th of 46, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Electronics / Hardware?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Cisco Systems.
Logitech reports assured emissions across all scopes and has SBTi-validated net-zero targets, but its reported total rose about 6% in 2025 to 1.5 MtCO2e.
See the breakdown →Fujitsu reports rigorous climate data with SBTi-validated net-zero by 2040 and 45.8% Scope 1+2 reductions achieved.
See the breakdown →Sonos publishes detailed emissions data, with third-party verification of Scope 1 and 2 but none for Scope 3.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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