• Trio pledge to help supply chain partners in sustainability efforts
• 1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders is a new initiative and part of the Exponential Roadmap
• IKEA and Unilever also on board

Environmental concerns are rising on the telecoms industry’s agenda, and that trend continued today with the news that network operators BT and Telia and major network equipment vendor Ericsson have joined a new initiative called 1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders.

“Together we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions through firm action and collaboration, and inspire others to do the same. Join us now in the Race to Zero,” state the telecoms trio, which have been joined by IKEA and Unilever in the effort.

The initiative, part of the Exponential Roadmap – which “highlights 36 solutions that can scale exponentially to halve Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030 worldwide” – unites major companies that have “a shared ambition to drive exponential climate action across global supply chains, many of which depend on countless SMEs.”

Ericsson, in its announcement about joining the initiative, noted: “Supporting and enabling SMEs to divest, invest and scale their climate action efforts accordingly will be critical to driving exponential climate action across our societies.”

As part of its efforts, the Swedish vendor (along with BT and Telia) is to join a new SME Climate Hub, which is a “platform for the provision of tools, knowledge and best practice – both for implementing a robust climate strategy and supporting broad action – across its global SME supply chain.” Find out more about Ericsson’s efforts here. 

“To tackle the climate challenge, it is not enough for us to collaborate with the big global suppliers,” noted Mikko Kuusisto, Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing at Telia. “We need to engage also with the smaller, more local and often non-listed companies, to get them to commit to halving their emissions by 2030. The SME Climate Hub will provide the needed simplified tools and practices to enable these smaller companies to prove their commitment to the 1.5 degree pathway.”

Andy Wales, Chief Digital Impact & Sustainability Officer at BT Group, noted: “At BT, over two-thirds of our end-to-end carbon emissions come from our supply chain. To help us become a net-zero emissions business by 2045, we’re asking our suppliers to commit to climate action and we’re working with them to substantially reduce their carbon emissions by 2030​. ​ By working together, we’ll be able to curb emissions and help pave the way for others to follow.”

To find out more about the initiative, see this announcement. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV