Meta has abandoned a global pledge by leading companies to source all of their electricity from renewable sources, the social media giant confirmed. RE100, an initiative of the UK-based nonprofit Climate Group, aims to spur corporate climate action, and counts Apple, Google and Microsoft among its 444 members. The Climate Group’s website no longer lists Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, as a member. Meta joined the pledge in 2016 according to a Wayback Machine archive of RE100’s website. The departure comes amid a frenzied data center buildout by leading tech companies. Meta has struck deals paying utilities to bring new natural gas power plants online, including 10 to power its Hyperion data center in Louisiana alone. A Meta spokesperson told AFP the company is continuing to scale up investments in renewable energy, and that leaving RE100 does not change its goal of matching its electricity use with 100 percent clean energy. It has met that goal on an annualized basis since 2020, according to its website, by partnering with renewable energy providers on long-term power purchase agreements. But the Climate Group told Recharge News that was no longer enough. "After several in-depth conversations between Meta and Climate Group, Meta has withdrawn from the RE100 initiative, as it is no longer able to meet the technical criteria due to investments made in new gas power,” a Climate Group spokesperson told the website.