COP29: Building on Momentum for Climate Action
Published by Colt Technology Services on November 28, 2024
COP29, the 29th annual United Nations climate meeting, took place in Azerbaijan from 11-22 November 2024, with a focus on addressing climate change.
At Colt, we are deeply aligned with the goals of COP29 and remain committed to being part of the solution. Some of the key themes that resonated with us this year include:
- Strengthening Climate Finance – Sustainability by Design: We are advancing efforts to embed sustainability by design in everything Colt does. This includes exploring incorporating a monetary value for carbon across our business operations. This “shadow price” assigns an estimate of the carbon consequences associated with specific actions, such as delivering one or more customer connections or adding, replacing, or removing network elements in the Colt network. By using this metric, we can evaluate the sustainability impact of business decisions and investments, aligning with our Sustainability by Design strategic focus.
- Renewable Energy Acceleration: Our net zero roadmap focuses on facilitating a shift towards a sustainable energy future. Our Group target is to procure 100% Scope 2 renewable power by 2030 globally. In 2023, 78.3% of the Scope 2 electricity we procured at our sites globally was renewable through the use of renewable energy certificates.
This year, COP29 reinforced that businesses must lead by example. At Colt, we are proud to share some recent milestones that demonstrate our commitment:
- Emissions reduction: in 2023, our overall carbon emissions decreased by 34.4% from our 2019 baseline.
- UNGC Participant: Colt is now a participant in the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative, based on CEO commitments, to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support the UN Goals.
- Reuse and recycling: as part of a wider end-of-life project, we partner with metals recycling company Urban Miners to recycle decommissioned SDH equipment (IT hardware). The focus is on minimising environmental impact by recovering valuable materials, reducing the need for new mining activities.
- Reducing power usage: in 2023, we completed the removal of nearly all TDM switches, their SDH backbones, and 130,000 legacy circuits – energy-intensive 1990s technology. This modernisation reduced power consumption by 14.6 GWh, advancing our sustainability goals.
Looking ahead, we recognise that there is more to be done. Driven by the desire to do the right thing and decarbonisation goals, we are committed to:
- Enhancing climate resilience in our supply chain, and engaging with our top suppliers in terms of emissions (93% supply chain emissions) to request they align to a Scope 1 and 2, 1.5 degrees science-based target by 2025. As of 2023, 73% of our suppliers are engaged on ESG topics.
- Continuing collaboration with industry peers to promote sustainable practices. Colt participates in various working groups aimed at discussing and addressing challenges related to environmental sustainability, such as the Scope 3 emissions workstream, the Circularity working group in partnership with GeSI and the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP), as well as the UNGC Climate Peer Learning Group.
- Exploring the carbon removals market as an avenue for investing our internal travel carbon tax and focusing on innovative initiatives that combine the use of latest technologies while providing co-benefits for a broader ESG ecosystem through carbon removal credits.
We invite our stakeholders, customers, and partners to join us in taking bold action. Together, we can create a future where people and the planet thrive.
For more details about our sustainability initiatives and COP29 reflections, read more in our latest Sustainability Report.
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