Resilient Ecosystems

Resilient ecosystems support our value chains both financially and ecologically, making them a key priority in our next-generation environmental sustainability strategy, the Plan for Possible. Our efforts include enabling communities to adapt to climate realities, cultivating skills and talent for the regenerative economy, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity.

Climate Grants and Investments: Cisco and the Cisco Foundation

In 2021, the Cisco Foundation committed US$100 million over 10 years to fund nonprofit grants and impact investing to support resilient ecosystems.

In 2024, Cisco Investments, the company’s venture capital arm, began investing in companies developing emerging technologies and solutions that could address both Cisco’s and our customers’ sustainability needs.

The Foundation's funding takes two forms: grant funding to nonprofit organizations and investment capital through the Regenerative Future Fund to early-stage technology companies and venture funds. This flexible approach helps fill critical financing gaps, maximize impact, and drive innovation. You can learn more about our approach and see a list of our funding recipients on our Climate Grants and Investments page.

Water, Waste, and Biodiversity in Our Direct Operations

Water

Water is a vital resource that we share with the communities where we operate. Cisco's Approach to Water Stewardship is aligned with the Alliance for Water Stewardship framework and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.

In our direct operations, we:

• Provide access to fully functioning, safely managed Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services for all employees
• Benchmark and report water use and risks according to industry best practices, including via our 2024 CDP response
• Conserve water in our operations, focusing on water-scarce and water-stressed locations

In fiscal 2025, we withdrew approximately 2,389 cubic meters of water in our direct operations globally. Our primary use of recycled water is for irrigating landscapes and for use in our cooling towers at several of our major campuses. We use fresh water as a second resort, with our primary use being for basic services in the workplace, such as in restrooms and cafeterias.

Using the World Resources Institute Aqueduct¹ tool, we determined that 37% of Cisco’s water use by volume was withdrawn from water-stressed areas in fiscal 2025 — mainly in Bangalore, India. We continue to monitor changes in water availability and develop water management strategies accordingly.

Campus Water Stewardship Initiatives

We implemented numerous water conservation projects in our direct operations, including:

• Installing variable frequency drives in our cooling towers
• Installing two-way valves for toilets, waterless urinals, sink aerators, low-flow showerheads, and pre-rinse spray valves for kitchen sinks
• Replacing water fountains and turf with native planter beds that require little water and installing drip irrigation lines to improve irrigation efficiency
• Updated irrigation controllers
• Using reclaimed water for irrigation and cooling towers
• Maintaining our water neutrality goal to restore a volume of water equal to our Research Triangle Park campus' annual water use each year by investing in water restoration projects that restore local watersheds in North Carolina and the Southeast
• Maintaining a comprehensive water management system at the Bangalore campus, which is a zero-discharge facility, meaning no wastewater is discharged to third parties or the environment

Visit our Data and Assurance page for details about our water use in our direct operations.

Information on reducing water use in our supply chain is addressed in Supply Chain Environmental Stewardship.

Waste

Cisco’s waste reduction and recycling program is a key component of our International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 certification and our Corporate Environmental Policy. While municipal and regional practices vary, our facilities take steps to reduce their operational waste and reuse and recycle materials. Waste audits are conducted at several of our largest facilities to determine opportunities to improve waste diversion. Select Cisco sites covered by ISO 14001:2015 certification also set waste-reduction targets supported by action plans to minimize waste.

Our strategy is to reduce both our total waste generated and the proportion of waste sent to landfill by incorporating the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle throughout our direct operations. Employee-led teams with interest in sustainability, known as Green Teams, have facilitated waste-related training and informational sessions for employees at their locations.

Visit our Data and Assurance page for historical information on solid waste and operational waste diversion rates.

Information on reducing solid waste at our supply chain manufacturing facilities is addressed in Supply Chain Environmental Stewardship.

Biodiversity

Cisco’s primary impact on biodiversity (living organisms and ecological complexes) is the land we use for our facilities. We conduct environmental impact assessments to evaluate the biodiversity and land use impacts of our main sites, and we work to mitigate the potential negative impacts to biodiversity that have been identified. Cisco is also a signatory to the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles.

We also partner with organizations like the Connected Conservation Foundation, to help rangers prevent poaching and protect wildlife in real time using Cisco technology.

1 Baseline Water Stress using 2030 Water Stress Under Business-as-Usual Scenario.