The telecoms industry has kept going green in 2022

Telecoms firms used to think about the colour green only when they wanted a green light for a huge merger deal.

Times have changed. The telecoms sector was one of the first industries to commit to the UN sustainable development goalsThe 17 United Nations Sustainable Developm... in 2016. Telecoms firms are working hard to reduce their environmental impact. They want to be green businesses.

Spain’s Telefónica, for example, pledged in July to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the value chain by 2040. This would mean an effective reduction of at least 90 per cent of all its emissions (direct and indirect) and neutralising the remaining emissions (less than 10 per cent) through carbon credits.

BT has been helping its customers to recycle their electronic waste, while Vodafone has pledged to source 100 per cent renewable electricity for all its global operations by 2025.

It’s not just the corporates driving the sector towards a more sustainable future. Researchers are developing harmonised standards for assessing the environmental footprint of the ICT sector, while regulators are striving to make sustainability and climate change considerations a key part of their work.

A new research note on this year’s green spectrum policy initiatives has now been added to our “Greening Spectrum Policy” dossier. Subscribers to the PolicyTracker Spectrum Research Service can access it here and the full dossier is available here.