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Lisbon, 24 November 2020

Vodafone commits to net zero carbon emissions by 2040

  • Carbon reduction targets for the next decade approved by the Science Based Targets initiative to keep global warming within 1.5°C
  • As of April 2021, Vodafone Portugal will buy 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, neutralising all C emissions arising from the electricity it buys

Vodafone today committed to reducing the company’s total global carbon emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2040 and confirmed that its 2030 carbon reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as in line with reductions required to keep warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement.

By 2030, Vodafone will eliminate all carbon emissions from its own activities and from energy it purchases and uses (Scope 1 and 2).  Vodafone also pledged that by 2030 it will halve carbon emissions from Scope 3 sources, including joint ventures, all supply chain purchases, the use of products it has sold and business travel.

By 2040, Vodafone will have eliminated Scope 3 emissions completely - bringing forward by ten years Vodafone’s original 2050 ambition to reach ‘net zero’ across its full carbon footprint. 

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said: “Vodafone believes in leading by example, so today we have pledged to become fully ‘net zero’ by 2040 and the Science Based Targets initiative has confirmed that our 2030 carbon targets are in line with the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement. 

“We are committed to reduce our carbon footprint through improved energy efficiency, renewable energy supply, reducing our network waste and new environmental criteria when we select suppliers.  Vodafone will also enable our customers to reduce their environmental footprint through use of our services, including the Internet of Things.”

 

Vodafone Portugal to buy 100% of its electricity from renewable sources

Vodafone Portugal's contribution to the global carbon neutrality commitment begins as of April 2021, by acquiring 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. This measure is part of a comprehensive plan that Vodafone Portugal has been implementing over the past few years with the intention of reducing its carbon footprint.

Optimization of energy consumption through the implementation of more efficient cooling systems, reuse and recycling of electronic waste, development and installation of increasingly efficient functionalities and equipment in the network, implementation of electronic invoicing for all Customers, optimization of product packaging and incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles for the fleet are some of the initiatives that Vodafone Portugal has been implementing over the last few years and which have resulted in an improvement in the Company's environmental performance.

For Mário Vaz, CEO of Vodafone Portugal, "the social and environmental challenges faced by Humanity are vast and increasingly unpredictable, such as the current pandemic we are experiencing. It is therefore necessary for everyone to commit themselves to achieving a more sustainable society by mobilising governments, businesses and civil society. We are doing our part, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that Vodafone has supported since 2015, by intervening through the potential of technology, communications networks and services that we make available to our customers, including the development of solutions to make cities and communities sustainable through state-of-the-art technologies such as IoT, 5G or Artificial Intelligence".

Along with the measures already mentioned, over the last decade Vodafone Portugal has also been increasingly focusing on the digital area to improve its environmental performance, by promoting, for several years now, digital information sharing, virtual meetings, storage in digital archives, cloud-based software and the teleworking policy, now intensified with the current pandemic situation.

 

Building on Vodafone’s previous commitments to the planet

Today’s announcement further supports Vodafone’s aim of building a digital society that enhances socio-economic progress, embraces everyone and does not come at the cost of the planet.

In 2019, Vodafone committed to purchasing all electricity from renewable sources, halving its environmental footprint by 2025 and reusing, reselling or recycling 100% of its network waste, supporting the move towards a more circular economy.

By no later than July 2021, Vodafone’s European network will be powered by 100% renewable electricity – creating a Green Gigabit Net for customers across 11 markets that will grow sustainably using only power from wind, solar or hydro sources.

In July 2020, Vodafone also announced an ambitious new target to help business customers who use its services reduce their own carbon emissions by a cumulative total of 350 million tonnes globally over 10 years between 2020 and 2030.

 
In September 2020, Vodafone became one of the first global companies to announce it would assess supplier commitments to the environment, diversity and inclusion when they tender for new work, with a supplier’s ‘purpose’ accounting for 20% of the evaluation criteria for a ‘Request For Quotation’ (RFQ).  Vodafone’s updated RFQ process now examines whether suppliers have environmental policies to address carbon reduction, renewable energy, plastic reduction, circular economy and product lifecycle.