Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Environmental Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

• Swisscom achieved a 90% reduction in direct CO2 emissions by 2025 (compared with a 1990 baseline) and uses 100% renewable energy since 2010.
• Telia achieved 100% renewable electricity use in 2020 and aims for zero carbon and waste strategy by 2030.
• Deutsche Telekom aims to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 95% by 2025 (compared with a 2017 baseline) and neutralize the remaining emissions.
• Proximus saw a 75% reduction in power consumption by transitioning its network to full fiber.
• Telefónica avoided 1.27 million tons of carbon emissions, saving 4,000GWh and €553m across its group operations since 2010.
• Comcast reduced CO2 emissions associated with its energy use by nearly 360,000 metric tons annually by sourcing renewable energy.

Social Achievements

• Not disclosed

Governance Achievements

• Not disclosed

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Increasing bandwidth capacity leads to unprecedented increases in energy consumption.
• Lack of a unified framework for telecom sustainability reporting or uniformly adhered-to targets.
• Difficulty in tracking and influencing scope 3 emissions (emissions from purchased goods and services and the use of products and services sold by telecom operators).
• High percentage of e-waste (80%) discarded, burned, or illegally traded, with telco and IT equipment being a major contributor.

Mitigation Strategies

• Transitioning to more energy-efficient access technologies, such as FTTH.
• Increasing energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy.
• Influencing suppliers to reduce emissions.
• Negotiating with vendors to set their own renewable energy standards and SBT-based targets.
• Setting up recycling and buyback schemes.
• Using zero-touch automation and AI to improve energy savings.
• Optimizing cooling system settings.
• Switching to electric vehicles and battery backup systems.
• Reducing unnecessary discards of new cables and working with dedicated end-to-end recyclers.
• Increasing the use of refurbished network equipment.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Negotiating with vendors to set their own renewable energy standards and SBT-based targets.
• Integrating sustainability performance metrics into sourcing decisions.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• New revenue streams from renewable energy provision.

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Science Based Targets (SBT)

Certifications: Null

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Energy-efficient CPEs
• FTTR solution

Awards & Recognition

• Not disclosed

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Energy Efficiency
• Digital Inclusion
• Sustainable Development

Environmental Achievements

• Good-quality FTTP connections can serve as an enabler for home working, which in turn can deliver benefits in terms of reduced carbon emissions.
• Good-quality FTTP connections can also serve as an enabler for home working, which in turn can deliver benefits in terms of reduced carbon emissions.

Social Achievements

• Broadband is an enabler of home working and the social benefits that this can deliver such as increased leisure and family time.
• Government intervention has helped drive the broadband market (Chile case study).
• The Affordable Connectivity Program in the US provides lower-income households with discounts on internet service, helping drive an increase in fixed broadband net additions.

Governance Achievements

• In certain markets such as Spain, Portugal, and the UK, regulated access to incumbent ducts and poles has helped enable FTTP rollouts from alternative network operators (altnets).

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• High upfront costs of rolling out fiber networks.
• Deployment risks associated with high upfront costs.
• Need for government funding in underserved areas.
• Digital divides within countries.
• Need to keep pace with rapid evolution of network performance.
• Need to address barriers to rapid broadband network rollout (e.g., cumbersome permissions processes).

Mitigation Strategies

• Public-private partnerships.
• Demand aggregation (deploying networks only after sufficient subscriber commitments).
• Government funding and subsidies.
• Regulated access to incumbent ducts and poles.
• Removing needless barriers to rollout.
• Government setting of targets and development of broadband plans.
• Addressing last-mile connectivity.

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

The report focuses on broadband infrastructure development, which contributes to economic growth, reduces the digital divide, and promotes sustainable development.