1 week Ago By Dan Robinson
A group of UK telecoms operators has signed a joint letter calling on their suppliers to do more on emissions targets to help combat climate change, but they face little pressure to comply. The move is part of an initiative by the Digital Connectivity Forum ( DCF ), which describes itself as the British government's advisory body on the provision of communications, formerly known as the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG). Signed by ten companies from across the UK telco sector, the letter asks suppliers to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including disclosure of emissions data and setting goals to improve energy efficiency.
Among the signatories are BT Group, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk, and CityFibre. The DCF says that its State of the Industry Report for 2024 found that purchased goods and services represented the largest source of Scope 3 emissions, those caused by a company's supply chain and other indirect sources. Scope 3 emissions can be the trickiest to tackle, unlike Scope 1, which results directly from business operations, and Scope 2, which covers the purchase and use of electricity.
Microsoft, for example, disclosed last year that its emissions had increased by nearly 30 percent since 2020, but 96 percent of this was made up of Scope 3 output. A report last month found that many European businesses are struggling with Scope 3 emissions in particular, and lacked confidence in the accuracy of the data they had related to it. The telcos are asking suppliers to take the following measures: The DCF says that the telcos are free to act as they wish in their individual dealings with suppliers.
They may push their suppliers to use more stringent standards than the minimum standards set out in the letter, for example. However, it concedes that it is up to the companies to decide on the application of the standards, and that the suppliers will be free to determine how they will meet them, which makes the whole thing sound like little more than a gesture. Nevertheless, DCF Head Alex Mather enthusiastically greeted the move.
"The DCF is delighted to launch this initiative as part of our ongoing work to reduce the climate impact of the digital connectivity sector. By encouraging suppliers to adopt these practical and achievable standards, we are fostering collaboration across the supply chain to deliver meaningful climate action while supporting the UK's world-leading connectivity goals," he said in a statement. And in case you are wondering about the big telcos such as BT and VMO2, they do have their own published plans for carbon reduction.
BT is aiming [PDF] for net zero in Scopes 1 and 2 by the end of March 2031, but only expects to hit it for Scope 3 a decade later in 2041. VMO2 says it is aiming [PDF] for net zero in its operations by 2025, but again doesn't expect to get there in its supply chain until 2040. ®.
