Mar 5 2021
Nokia today announced that it will reduce emissions by 50% across both its own operations and products in use by 2030. The company’s new Science Based Targets (SBTs) fulfill its commitment to recalibrate in line with a 1.5 °C global warming scenario.
Nokia first committed to SBTs in 2017, initially with goals based on limiting global warming to 2 °C. The company achieved 90% of its target savings within its own operations (scope 1 and 2) 11 years ahead of target and was on track to deliver its ‘scope 3’ targets for products in use with its customers.
Nokia is now adopting more ambitious targets which consider a 1.5 °C warming limit, starting with 2019 as the baseline. These have been expanded to cover a broader base, close to 100% of the company’s current product portfolio. They also now include emissions from both logistics and assembly factories within its supply chain, as well as emissions from Nokia’s own operations.
Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, Nokia said: “We have led the way in reducing emissions from our own operations and helping our customers to do the same by continuously innovating to make our products more energy efficient in recent years. But climate change is a race against time. These tougher, new, scientifically-calibrated climate targets mean we will go further and faster to reduce our carbon footprint and ensure sustainability is at the heart of our product design and the smart solutions we enable.”
SBTs are authenticated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that works with private sector businesses to validate their emissions reduction targets in line with global requirements. SBTi will update Nokia’s targets on the https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ website during the course of today (4 March).
Products in use is the largest part of Nokia’s carbon footprint and the company is addressing in multiple ways, from hardware and software energy efficiency to product design, to modernization and better use of resources. For instance:
- Nokia’s ReefShark chipset used in AirScale radio products cuts energy use by up to 66%.
- The company was the first to deliver a liquid cooled 5G base station into commercial operation, which can reduce the energy consumption of the base station cooling system by 90%, and CO2 emissions of the AirScale radio products by 80% including optional waste-heat re-use.
- Its Compact Active Antenna enables the use of far less materials than any other legacy macro product.
- The Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency service can reduce energy use by 20% through cloud-based Artificial Intelligence that powers down parts of the radio network when traffic levels are low.
In December 2020, the company was recognized for its contributions towards cutting emissions, mitigating climate risks and developing a low-carbon economy and included on CDP’s A List in the Climate change category, the defacto standard for carbon disclosure.
Emissions information and disclosure is provided in the People and Planet report. The next report will be published in April 2021.