All about zero
Nokia has committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040
In 2023 Nokia looked to investigate how to accelerate its net zero commitment and needed related actions. Nokia is now set to accelerate both its net zero target for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and its interim 2030 Scope 1 and 2 targets.
At Mobile World Congress we announced:
- Nokia commits to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2040.
- This puts Nokia ahead of the Paris Agreement goal to reach net zero by 2050.
- Nokia also aims to accelerate its existing interim 2030 target to reduce emissions across its own operations (Scopes 1 and 2), reaching an 83% reduction by 2030.
- This includes complete decarbonization of Nokia’s car fleet and its facilities.
- Marine fleet reductions aligned with International Maritime Industry (IMO) decarbonization pathway.
- To ensure its targets are aligned with climate science, Nokia has submitted its letter of commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
What were our previous emissions targets?
We were the first telecoms vendor to have our Science Based Target (SBT) validated by the SBTi in 2017 and were among the first 100 companies to do so. We recalibrated our targets in 2021 in line with a 1.5°C warming scenario, which means we are publicly committed to reduce our GHG emissions by 50% across our value chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. This near term 2030 target implied that Nokia would reach net zero by 2050. Subsequently, as part of the EU Commission Green Digital Coalition, we committed to reach net zero by 2040.
With our new announcement we therefore not only reiterate our prior commitment to reach a 50% reduction in our value chain by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, but we are also now accelerating our 2030 scope 1 and 2 targets to reach 83% by 2030 instead of 50%.
How can we decouple emissions growth from digitalization?
Definitions
What is the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015.
It entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
What’s the difference between net zero and carbon neutral?
Net zero refers to a reduction of 90% in greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with a maximum of up to 10% remaining hard-to-abate emissions being neutralized through carbon removals. To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must by halved by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Neutralizing residual emissions must be done entirely through greenhouse gas (GHG) removals offsets, permanently removing and storing the carbon from the atmosphere.
Carbon neutral involves understanding a company’s GHG emissions and compensating for these by reducing emissions elsewhere, or by removing an equal amount of CO2 from the atmosphere which can be done through off-setting. A carbon neutral approach “does not prescribe a specific reduction trajectory. It's also less prescriptive regarding the reporting boundary, with the inclusion of wider value chain (Scope 3) emissions being encouraged but not mandatory”
Why is there a need for net zero?
The 2016 Paris Agreement's “central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius”.
To support the global temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees, “more than 600 companies from across the world have committed to making changes in their business operations in line with the Science Based Target Initiative’s (SBTi’s) Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign”, and have set their Net Zero emission targets for a specific date.
How can our industry help?
At Nokia we believe the technology we provide enables both environmental and social benefits to individuals, industries and communities that far outweigh any negative impacts. These benefits represent the handprint of digitalization and connectivity. We work hard to maximize this handprint. At the same time, we know we must continually strive to minimize any potential negative impacts of technology. This is our footprint. We work to make our footprint on the world around us as small as possible. We collaborate throughout our value chain to continually minimize our footprint.
Our customers are doing the same. The GSMA’s Mobile Net Zero report shows 62 operators, representing 61% of the industry by revenue and 46% by connections, have committed to science-based targets intended to rapidly reduce their direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2030; an increase of 12 operators since 2022. A large proportion of operators have also committed to net zero targets by 2050 or earlier, accounting for 39% of mobile connections and 43% of global revenue.
Building on our previous climate targets
Nokia was the first telecoms vendor to have its 2030 Science Based Target (SBT) validated by the SBTi in 2017 and was among the first 100 companies across all sectors to do so.
- It recalibrated its near-term targets in 2021 in line with a 1.5°C warming scenario, committing to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline.
- To ensure its new 2040 target is also aligned with climate science, it has submitted its net zero letter of commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Nokia has defined a climate pathway that will help it reach net zero by 2040 in our value chain. Key levers in the climate pathway are included below, as are examples of the steps that we are already taking:
Product design and innovation
With more than 95% of emissions resulting from products in use, Nokia continues to improve the energy efficiency of its products and solutions.
2023 actions
- Achieved a 50% reduction in the average power consumption of 5G mMIMO Base stations by 2023 from the 2019 baseline.
- Introduced the Quillion chipset, which can help reduce power consumption for broadband access products with 50% less power needed in fiber installations than previous generations.
- Our FP5 network processor offers a 75% reduction in power consumption compared to its previous generation.
- Our latest offering in optical network technology, the PSE-6s, can reduce network power consumption per bit in optical transport by up to 40% compared to the PSE V.
Low-carbon electricity
Nokia is committed to using 100% renewable electricity in its own facilities by 2025 and is working with its supply chain to transition to renewables as countries decarbonize their electricity grids.
- Already achieved 75% renewable electricity in its own facilities in 2023.
- Nokia uses a mix of on-site solar, Power Purchase Agreements, renewable electricity products directly obtained from an energy supplier, and renewable electricity certificates to procure the renewable electricity.
Energy and material efficiency
Nokia aims to achieve 95% circularity by 2030 in relation to operational waste (waste from offices, labs, manufacturing, installation and product takeback), driving actions to minimize waste to landfill.
- In 2023, Nokia announced it would reduce packaging waste for its Fixed Networks Lightspan portfolio. This will lead to a 60% decrease in packaging size and a 44% reduction in the overall weight.
Removing carbon
Nokia is working with its partners and value chain to investigate and support credible solutions for carbon removals to support long-term net-zero targets.
- Nokia is examining credible solutions for carbon removals to support long-term net-zero targets.
We reiterate the following existing targets:
2025
- 65% reduction of scope 1&2 GHG emissions including 85% from facilities.
- 100% renewable electricity in our own facilities (RE 100).
2030
- 50% reduction of our total GHG emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3). Nokia also aims to accelerate its existing interim 2030 target to reduce emissions across its own operations (Scope 1 and 2), reaching an 83% reduction by 2030
- Our suppliers reduce GHG emissions by 50%.
- Our final assembly suppliers reach zero emissions.
- We reduce our logistics GHG emissions by 73%.
- We increase recycled content in source materials to reduce embodied emissions (manufacturing impact) of our products:
- Cast aluminum used in mechanical parts: to 90%.
- Wrought aluminum, steel and copper alloys, as well as polycarbonate plastics used in mechanical parts: to 50%.
What are the different emission scopes?
The emissions a company creates in its own operations and across its value chain are:
- Scope 1 emissions — GHG emissions that a company creates directly, for example through its facilities and fleet.
- Scope 2 emissions — Indirect GHG emissions, mostly from purchased electricity.
- Scope 3 emissions — All the GHG emissions that the organization is indirectly responsible for, across its value chain. For example, buying products from suppliers, through to the use of its products by its customers.
Nokia's approach
Digital technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Twins can help accelerate climate action. They are essential to mitigation efforts by cutting emissions as well as adaptation efforts by helping to identify, monitor and address impacts of climate change already being felt.
But as everything becomes connected, demand for data grows, and the underpinning digital infrastructures proliferate, digital power consumption and therefore related digital emissions will grow unless the industry takes action to decouple data growth from emissions.
More than 95% of our total GHG emissions came from our products in use by our customers in their networks. The next biggest emission source is the manufacturing of products in the supply chain, from material mining to component manufacturing and final assembly.
This means we can have our greatest impact on industry emissions, for our own and our customers’ emissions perspective, by constantly improving product power efficiency and improving energy and material efficiency throughout the product life cycle, including design and manufacturing.
Nokia also has a marine fleet related to our subsea cables business, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN). ASN has an installed base of more than 650,000 km of optical submarine systems deployed worldwide, enough to circumnavigate the globe 15 times.
A fleet of 6 cable ships for installation and maintenance and associated equipment is owned by ASN. The ASN fleet represented around 63% of our scope 1 emissions in 2023.
We set short-, medium- and long-term targets in key areas. We track, measure and report transparently on these targets. We do not just set a target in the distant future but put in place targets on the way to the long-term goal to show a pathway.
We publish a sustainability report every spring and report quantitative results annually as part of Nokia’s financial reporting, and quarterly qualitative achievements in financial reports We have published some form of sustainability report since the late 1990s. Our sustainability report is called the Nokia People and Planet report and can be downloaded via our “Sustainability downloads” section.
- Achieved 2023 AirScale 5G massive MIMO BTS target with a 50% reduction in power consumption compared to 2019. This is enabled by continuous improvements in software functionalities, and new 5G products based on the latest generation of Nokia ReefShark SoCs.
- Achieved 2023 renewable energy target with 75% of purchased electricity across Nokia’s global facilities coming from renewable sources.
- Achieved a 54% decrease in logistics emissions in 2023 compared to 2019. Nokia continues to work with innovative solutions such as sustainable aviation fuel.
What is the Science Based Targets initiative?
The SBTi is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The SBTi5:
- Defines and promotes best practice in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science.
- Provides technical assistance and expert resources to companies who set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science.
- Brings together a team of experts to provide companies with independent assessment and validation of targets.
- The SBTi was the lead partner of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign - an urgent call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders, which mobilized companies to set net-zero science-based targets in line with a 1.5°C future.
