Vodafone UK has reduced its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 92% in a three-year period between March 2020 and March 2023.
Since March 2020, the amount of emissions created by Vodafone in the UK annually has been reduced by 86,360 tonnes of CO2e, to only 7,154 tonnes a year, as reported in its latest Carbon Reduction Plan.
The phone provider aims to reach net zero across Scope 1 and Scope in its UK operations by 2027, half its Scope 3 emissions by 2030 and across all scopes by 2040.
The main way it is achieving this is through different programmes to ensure 100% of all electricity consumption is generated via renewable energy, which was achieved first in July 2021.
In April, Vodafone announced it had installed 720 solar panels at a Mobile Telephone Exchange in Gloucester which will produce around 240,000 kWh of renewable electricity a year, supplying around 12% of the site’s annual energy requirement, reducing its reliance on the National Grid.
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Other initiatives during the period include the installation of a self-powering mobile phone mast in Wales, agreements with electricity companies to part-fund the construction of new solar farms and progress towards creating an all-electric fleet of vehicles for engineers to use while keeping the network running smoothly.
Vodafone’s Scope 3 emissions make up just under 80% of its total carbon footprint. The brand hasn’t stated the biggest factors in contributing to Scope 3 emissions but has invested in enhanced ESG reporting capabilities in improving data.
Vodafone UK chief executive officer Ahmed Essam said the brand continues to work with our supply chain to address Scope 3.
“Collaboration with partners has always been one of our best sources of innovation across the business and it will be a key pillar to tackling this challenge,” he added.
To reduce emissions from its supply chain, Vodafone requires suppliers to set a 1.5°C science-based carbon target and to report on environmental performance to CDP.
Vodafone also launched a new environmentally linked supply chain financing programme in March 2023, to collaborate with our smaller suppliers on net zero programmes.
