Strategy for environmental sustainability

We believe that the ICT sector has enormous positive potential on environmental sustainability. In mitigating climate change, digitalisation can improve the efficiency of current operations while also providing entirely new, smarter ways of doing things. Digital services need equipment and energy, which we need to procure sustainably. 

Identification of environmental sustainability factors over different time-horizons

Since 2009, energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions has been part of our strategy. We have since 2020 consistently focused on two areas of action in our environmental strategy:

  • To minimise Elisa’s carbon footprint, and in parallel with continuous resource efficiency improvements in our own operations, work on Scope 3 emission related projects in which we lay the foundation for deeper climate transition collaboration within Elisa’s supply chain.
  • To increase Elisa’s carbon handprint, we continue to identify and verify customer enablement effects that Elisa can provide stakeholders and society.

We describe climate and increasingly also nature related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, which we have identified for Elisa over the short, medium, and long term, as recommended in TCFD. These will influence Elisa's strategy and financial planning, for example through the Elisa Climate Transition Plan, which will align related strategic and tactical actions across the organisation.

Read more

  • Elisa Sustainability web pages: Environmental sustainability topics 
  • Annual Elisa Sustainability Report: Our approach to environmental strategy; GRI 201-2 Descriptions or climate change related risks and opportunities 
  • Annual CDP questionnaire: C2.3; C2.3a; C2.4; C2.4a; C15.2 
  • Elisa Environmental Management System (ISO 14001 certified): 6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities 

    • Impact of environmental sustainability related risks and opportunities

    We describe the impact of climate and increasingly also nature related risks and opportunities on Elisa’s businesses, strategy, and financial planning, as recommended in TCFD.

    The implications of climate change on Elisa's strategy are based on scientific facts from climate research. International regulation and growing stakeholder expectations drive stringent reporting requirements.

    Investment in R&D 

    As part of Elisa’s mission, we want to create awareness and encourage both individuals and organisations to be environmentally responsible. We explore ways of working with them to find means to accomplish this, often through new digital solutions. 

    We pursue new ideas through co-creation and collaboration with research organisations, startups and other stakeholders. Through universities and research institutes, we cooperate with researchers from many countries. Among other things, these relationships keep us at the forefront of sustainability innovation. 

    We meet with hundreds of startups every year, which has resulted in well over 100 active startup partnerships. These activities also keep us at the cutting edge of innovation in sustainability. 

    Products and services 

    Elisa’s carbon emission savings include not only our own emission reduction activities (decreasing our carbon footprint), but also avoided emissions from customers (increasing our carbon handprint) through services and supportive products that we can offer. 

    A good example of services that increase Elisa’s carbon handprint is the ever-increasing trend for remote working and the need for reliable virtual meeting solutions. This handprint happens through people, services and information being available independent of place. 

    Elisa's innovations in network optimisation and automation have been essential for growth in our emerging international digital services. For example, we help other operators to monitor and automate their network operations, which improves energy efficiency. 

    Operations 

    Our continuous and long-term internal energy efficiency initiatives ensure continuous improvements that affect Elisa’s own carbon footprint, making us a sustainable partner for customers and other stakeholders. 

    Elisa publicly discloses measures in resource efficiency within its operations. As a result, environmental sustainability and climate issues are always considered in the production strategy process. In In this way, the Paris Agreement influences our operations strategy. Our approach is to commit to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) where we have set robust, science-based near- and long-term targets. 

    Success is ensured through continuous measurement and assessment, in a long-term and transparent way. We continuously improve our measurements to meet demand for more accurate calculations, both along the supply chain and among our customers. 

    Supply chain 

    Elisa has several thousand suppliers, of which tens are crucial for us. We engage in active dialogue with them to ensure that they meet our expectations on sustainability. Global manufacturing centres are key in driving carbon emission reductions in the supply chain.  

    We can also encourage sustainable approaches among multinational ICT suppliers together with other operators, through the common auditing standard and programmes of JAC (Joint Auditing Collaboration). We are also active in, for example, GSMA and ETIS, which provide forums for curbing climate change and promoting the circular economy. Our procurement function is very central here. 

    Together, these measures enable continuous improvement of supplier management and comprehensive, up-to-date market insights about our suppliers, increasingly so also for climate action. 

    Capital allocation 

    As a part of our commitment to sustainability, we signed our first Sustainability Linked RCF in 2021, and established a Sustainability Finance Framework in 2022 to support the company's sustainability goals. Elisa can issue bonds and other financial instruments to finance or refinance sustainable investments and projects in accordance with the Framework. Read more

    Financial planning supports and is driven by Elisa’s strategy and financials targets. Further financial planning describes and supports real-world businesses and creates value for stakeholders through our internal processes, by allocation of Elisa capital and resources. 

    By setting and using common KPIs for sustainability, we find synergies for better business and sustainability performance. Such leading KPIs need to have as little “lag” as possible and describe continuous action rather than final outcomes. This requires well-working communication between key internal stakeholders. 

    Sustainability needs to be part of business decision making. By weighing in such factors from the start through financial planning, we can minimise risks and, especially in the long run, maximise new opportunities. 

    Continuous strategic dialogue 

    We want our stakeholders to rest assured that Elisa continuously develops its climate action and sustainability practices as an integral part of business and operational strategic thinking and decision-making. 

    This way, we can react to both risks and opportunities in an agile way. For example, circularity was identified in the scenario analysis in 2020 as a crucial addition to our opportunities and has since taken off as a corporate-level strategic effort. Furthermore, climate strategy materials are shared in Elisa’s corporate strategy process kick-off.

    Read more: 

    Resilience considerations in environmental strategy management

    We describe the resilience of Elisa’s strategy, taking into consideration different climate-related scenarios (including a 2°C or lower) and nature-related scenarios, as recommended in TCFD. 

    Considering environmental sustainability related issues and scenarios make for a more robust corporate strategy. 

    Read more: 

    Description of nature-related interactions

    We continuously increase our understanding of Elisa’s nature-related interactions with low integrity ecosystems, high importance ecosystems, or areas of water stress. 

    Read more: 

    see also our risk management