The ICT industry is a key player in transforming our way of operating to be more environmentally friendly and to mitigate climate change. For the ICT industry to be able to effectively reduce the emissions of other industries, it must take care of its own emissions. Climate change mitigation and reducing carbon dioxide emissions are two of our main targets and have been part of our strategy implementation since 2009.
Material topics | We enable our customers to become more resource efficient
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Veli-Matti Mattila, CEO, Elisa
Elisa was among the first Finnish companies in 2018 to adopt goals prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Science Based Targets initiative and confirmed as being in line with the Paris Agreement. In 2020, Elisa became the first Nordic telco to go carbon neutral.
Elisa is also one of the leading companies to have ambitious goals in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2025:
Elisa’s carbon footprint (Scope 1 and 2) has decreased by more than 82% compared to 2016. The measures include the use of renewable electricity, network optimisation and increasingly energy efficient new technologies as well as the utilisation of data centres’ waste heat in the district heating network. Elisa is a pioneer of flexible work in Finland. The Elisa Ideal Work operating model and opportunities for location-independent work have reduced personnel’s travel and emissions to a significant degree.
Elisa achieved carbon neutrality in 2020, by implementing both energy reduction measures and acquiring carbon Gold Standard-certified carbon emission offset credits (for energy use that cannot yet be fully based on renewable options, personnel’s commutes and mobility, as well as the network’s backup power).
In addition to reducing carbon footprint the carbon handprint when utilising mobile technologies can have even ten times positive impact*, and the services taking advantage of Elisa’s digitalisation, e.g. virtual meetings, reduce the climate burden of our customers’ operations. We also provide our customers with the efficient recycling of, and repair service for, devices as well as with new, environmentally friendly device options.
*) GSMA: The Enablement Effect report
The energy efficiency working group meets four times a year to monitor the achievement of our energy efficiency and carbon footprint goals. Material climate risks are reviewed in the energy efficiency group once a year. The EU Energy Efficiency Directive obligates Elisa to perform energy audits at company and target level every four years.
We report our carbon footprint annually in the international CDP survey. In 2021, Elisa achieved an B result in the Climate Change assessment. Thousands of companies from around the world participate in CDP's annual climate reporting every year.
As early as 2009, Elisa introduced the unlimited data business model, which has contributed to the development of the Finnish information society and more sustainable digital solutions. Finns are among the biggest users of data in the world. Using 5G enables the transfer of larger volumes of data over mobile networks.
Although modern 5G technology is much more energy efficient than previous network generations, the increase in data volumes will increase the consumption of electricity. Since 2016, we have improved the energy efficiency of our Finnish mobile network by 68%. We will continue to improve our energy efficiency by rolling back 3G technology and further optimising 5G, for example.
Elisa uses 100% renewable electricity in Finland and Estonia, also to produce mobile data services. To increase the availability of renewable energy in Finland, Elisa has signed a ten-year agreement for producing our own wind power, starting in 2023, covering half of the electricity needed for Elisa´s entire mobile network in Finland.
We want to participate to contribute to creation of a carbon neutral society. We are actively working to establish modern, more energy efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for our network technologies. By developing our operations, we can also provide sustainable digital services that enable our customers to operate in a more resource-efficient and climate-friendly manner.
In reducing carbon emissions Elisa focuses on utilising energy from data centers, district cooling solutions, zero-emission energy, continuous improvement of energy efficiency, and new innovative solutions like liquid cooling base stations.
Industrial processes of many companies have significant impact on clean water, for them making it a vital area of corporate environmental responsibility. Elisa does not have for example such manufacturing operations, underlined by the fact that 97 per cent of its employees are office workers. Our operations are predominantly located in the Nordics and Baltics, which do not have similar water scarcity problems as many other regions globally. Some of our water consumption is related to our network operations in Finland and Estonia.
The biggest direct water related impacts in Elisa’s own operations come from the offices. Elisa follows the standards of the local water supply networks. Elisa discloses water usage on a level of granularity relevant for the operations. With an increasing number of international offices, we will in the continuation revisit our policies and actions on water.
We acknowledge that significant portion of our water consumption comes through indirect water usage from our supply chain related to manufacturing of products. Therefore, the water risk aspects are increasingly a part of our continuous supply chain dialogue, where we can also identify water-related goals.
We are all directly and indirectly dependent on biodiversity and natural ecosystems. Reduction of biological diversity have negative impact on for example the well-being of employees and the supply chain. In addition to that, evolving regulation mechanisms is another area that poses risks for any kind of business. Elisa can best protect biodiversity and clean water availability by combating climate change.
We have a contract with Finnish Packaging Recycling RINKI Ltd regarding the transfer of producer responsibility for the packaging; I.e. that recycling of packaging waste is in accordance with the requirements of law in Finland.
Elisa has an agreement with Recser Oy regarding the transfer of extended producer responsibility for batteries and accumulators, ensuring that the recycling of waste batteries and accumulators in Finland is in accordance with the requirements of the law.
Elisa supports WWF Finland's Wildlive live streaming service with digital solutions.