Climate neutrality within Telia’s own operations is an integral part of the Telia Company road to zero. Their bold environmental agenda was launched in 2019, covering two goals – zero CO2 and zero waste by 2030. Their focus within climate action is on achieving absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, with carbon offsets seen as a complement to limit the environmental impact.
Since 2018, Telia Company has reduced GHG emissions from their own operations by 78 percent. A major contribution to these reductions is the use of 100 percent renewable electricity (Guarantees of Origin and I-REC) from 2020 onward. Carbon offsetting was used to cover remaining emissions from sources such as backup power fuel, district heating, business travel and company cars while continuing their reduction efforts.
Telia chose offsetting in the form of industrial and biological removal credits which remove CO2e from the atmosphere. Industrial removals purchased through their partner puro.earth support early stage technology – in this case, through Ekovilla and their production of carbon-negative insulation for buildings. This is a material made of cellulose fiber that absorbs and stores more carbon dioxide than is emitted during production. The biological removals are purchased through their partners South Pole and Earthbank to support forest conservation projects in Zimbabwe and Peru. As a latest development to increase the accuracy of the carbon compensation on forest projects, Earthbank is providing them with an AI based satellite verification of the forest project in Peru, to be able to audit the state of the forest frequently.
Read more about Telia’s sustainability engagements on teliacompany.com
