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GSMA explores its strategies for helping the mobile industry go net zero.
By John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA
The race to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is speeding up. Business and world leaders met at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2021 to discuss how to keep the temperature of our planet under control, by aiming to keep the global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees Celsius. Only by producing less carbon than we take out of the world’s atmosphere will we have a chance of achieving this aim. This is what “net zero” means.
The mobile industry, which has been a forerunner in the campaign to fight this global crisis, has long committed to the United Nation’s (UN) 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 13 – Climate Action, since 2016. And as a guardian of the mobile industry, over the years, the GSMA has relentlessly pursued its goals by advocating energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable electricity, and actively engaging with the supply chain in the mobile technology ecosystem. Moreover, the UN has recognized the GSMA as one of the first ‘Race To Zero Accelerators’ for its role in coordinating the industry effort in support of the organization’s Race To Zero campaign.
Steady progress has been made over the last five years. However, there is more to do. The mobile industry needs to push for concerted efforts in the right direction in order to achieve the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target.
Energy generation is the largest contributor to climate change, accounting for 60% of global emissions. As the world's population continues to grow, the demand for cheap energy will also increase, and an economy reliant on fossil fuels is causing drastic changes to the climate, according to the UN.
As per the GSMA findings, ICT accounts for 4% of the global electricity use, with another 3% for entertainment and media from TVs and broadcasting, and so on. And, the ICT sector produces 1.4% of global carbon emissions, while the mobile sector is responsible for around 0.4%.
Research conducted by the GSMA with the Carbon Trust found that the mobile industry enables carbon reductions in other sectors that are 10 times larger, equivalent to approximately 4% of global emissions. In short, the sector is helping other industries reduce their carbon emissions through the use of mobile and network services for their digital transformation.
As mobile operators set up 5G networks around the world – there are nearly 170 5G networks across 65 countries – it is encouraging to know that 5G mobile networks are built with network energy efficiency in mind; 5G’s specification calls for a 90% reduction in the energy use to transfer each bit of data.
However, in the mobile sector, the factors for climate impact are distributed across the whole value chain with 70% of emission generated from customers, supply chain, and operations combined and 30% from running networks and data centers. The major chunk of emissions in the mobile sector is not only from electricity consumption but emissions arising from the industry’s supply chain. Hence, a holistic approach to reducing carbon footprint in the supply chain is needed. Consequently, the advancements in mobile technology have positioned the industry in a leading role to help other sectors reduce their emissions through digitization.