Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC) made up of 26 leading telecoms players,
aligning the industry with science-based sustainability targets
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Survey by epi, on behalf of JAC, shows 93 percent of JAC members have
committed to net-zero or science-based commitments, compared to 43
percent of Forbes 2000 members
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Survey shows JAC members now asking suppliers to support Scope 3
ambitions, issues 10 best practices for decarbonisation of global
telecoms supply chain
21 June 2023 – As the telecoms sector issues a new report
highlighting its significant action on climate change and net-zero, it
has called on its supply chain to implement new best practices for
decarbonisation.
Data from the Net Zero Tracker initiative show that nearly seven years
on from the Paris Agreement, just 57 percent of the world’s largest
2,000 companies by revenue have made a commitment to reduce their
carbon dioxide emissions. Only 43 percent of those companies have
committed to net-zero or science-based targets, which are now
understood to be necessary to keep global warming to within 1.5C of
pre-industrial levels.
But as epi’s analysis shows, the telecoms industry is bucking the
trend. The Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC), an industry body made up of
26 of the world’s biggest telecoms companies, including BT,
Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica, has worked to bring the
industry into alignment with the latest scientific evidence on the
climate and the changes necessary to reduce its carbon footprint.
A 2023 epi survey of JAC members, cited in a recent report,
‘Achieving Net Zero in the Telecoms Industry’ [1], 93 percent of
JAC members have committed to net-zero and science-based targets. JAC
members have also worked to extend their commitments beyond directly
controlled business emissions, known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions,
to emissions produced across the value chain, known as Scope 3
emissions.
As John Spear, Director at epi Consulting, said, ‘This move reflects
a recognition of the growing need to address Scope 3 emissions across
telecoms.
‘The majority of a company’s overall carbon footprint falls under
Scope 3, making it the single largest area of potential impact for
companies working to combat climate change.’
Just 31 percent of the world’s largest 2,000 companies have set a
Scope 3 emissions target.
