Most telecom businesses are yet to define specific climate sustainability strategies

According to Telecoms.com Climate Action Survey Report, it’s still early days for clear telecom strategies and actions as 61% are either still planning or have no initiatives at all for climate sustainability.

The newly published report takes stock at the industry’s role in addressing climate change, the challenges telecoms face, and what sustainability opportunities there are for telco businesses.

Zooming in on why telcos should care about climate change, beyond the obvious reasons around protecting our planet and the future of next generations, more than half of the respondents in the survey see telecom infrastructure resiliency as critical.

In terms of challenges investigated, the report states over a third of respondents are struggling to understand which technologies will have the biggest positive impact on sustainability. While initiatives such as those driven by the NGMN Alliance on standards for a Global Green Networks Benchmark exist, the results show these are still early days for the industry.

While the report also points to financial challenges as ‘finding budget to finance [climate] initiatives’ is identified as the second biggest barrier, there is some good news as 63% of telecom businesses taking part in the survey also have reported to have allocated at least some capital – whether dedicated or not – for their climate initiatives and implementations.

More specifically on reducing energy consumption, the survey flags that while nearly 60% of respondents believe this to be critical or very important, the majority of telecom businesses, 64% to be precise, are at least somewhat concerned that energy saving solutions will have a negative impact on consumer experience.

There is no doubt that the adverse effects of climate change such as extreme flooding, extreme temperatures, and other severe weather conditions can negatively impact telecom infrastructure. As such, the results also show the industry feels some degree of responsibility and actions are being taken, at the least to self-preserve telecom capital. Nevertheless, there is still a long way ahead for telecom businesses to ensure climate related strategies are aligned with their wider internal business strategies and dedicated budgets are available.

If you fancy reading the full analysis and get access to the data sitting behind the results, you can download the report here.

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