Tuesday 17 September 2019
More than 50 mobile operators have agreed to start disclosing their climate impacts.
The companies, which include AT&T, BT Group, Orange and Vodafone, are making the move as part of a major initiative led by GSMA, a global mobile operator trade body.
The scheme aims to develop a decarbonisation pathway in line with the Paris Agreement to be in place by February 2020, which will be verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) - this will work towards the industry going net-zero by 2050, although the GSMA expects that some companies will meet the net-zero target "significantly ahead" of this deadline.
The 50 firms collectively account for more than two-thirds of mobile connections globally and will share their emissions through CDP to enable "full transparency" for investors and customers.
Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, said: "We welcome this move by the mobile sector to disclose its climate impacts via CDP, which demonstrates a clear step-up in commitment to providing transparency to its investors and customers as part of an industry-wide approach.
"As a result of these disclosures, mobile operators will be able to measure and understand their environmental impact, helping them to build sustainability into the heart of their businesses.”