The UK’s largest fixed and mobile connectivity service providers have signed a joint letter to encourage their suppliers to adopt voluntary minimum standards as part of their own efforts to reach climate change targets along their supply chains.
The Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), which advises the UK Government on digital connectivity, is addressing the thorny issue of Scope 3 carbon emissions – those which lie outside of a company’s direct control, but which make up a huge proportion of overall emissions (usually estimated at 70% of the total).
The members of the DCF, amongst whom are BT (including Openreach), CityFibre, Ericsson, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone, are encouraging their suppliers to adopt voluntary minimum standards to reduce their climate impact by following best practices such as disclosing their emissions data; setting science-based carbon reduction targets; establishing goals for energy efficiency and circularity of materials usage; and implementing Life Cycle Assessments or Product Carbon Footprints in accordance with ISO of other recognised standards bodies.
Connectivity providers to add weight
Robert Pritchard, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Technology and Services at GlobalData, comments: ‘There has been a bit of a backlash globally against sustainability targets. This is in part driven by climate change deniers, and in part by pragmatism driven by challenging economic circumstances. The road towards net zero was never going to be smooth, but the science doesn’t change to fit prevailing geopolitical circumstances.’
‘While the DCF’s goals are currently voluntary and act merely as guidance, over time there has been – and will likely continue to be – inclusion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets as part of the supplier contracting process. This may vary from country to country, and across service providers, but certainly in the technology sector as a whole, and in Europe in particular, sustainability commitments are likely to continue to play an important role along the telecoms supply chain.
‘Climate change is affecting almost everyone and every business – and it has its own economic impacts. For example, the recent Californian wildfires are thought to have caused between $250bn and $275bn in total damage and economic cost. The key thing is not to give up on resolving the issue – it may incur costs in terms of changing aspects of our ways of life, but if we allow it to run out of control, more of us will be running away from – and having to pay for – fires, floods, and hurricanes.’
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