BT has committed to reducing the carbon emissions at both ends of its value chain, as part of an ambitious new carbon impact methodology.
The “3:1” initiative will see the company commit to reducing the carbon impact of its customers’ use of BT services by three times that of its own internal operations, while also working to reduce the carbon emissions of its supply chain.
Bearing responsibility
The initiative has been launched on the premise that the company “bears responsibility” for emissions at both ends of its value chain, from the products and services it buys from its supply chain to the products and services used by BT customers, BT said.
However, the initiative was light on specifics, and the company said it was unable to give details about how much the scheme would cost BT, or how it planned to reduce the carbon emissions of its supply chain, which accounts for 28% of its total carbon emissions.
“This approach makes both environmental and business sense for BT, including cost savings and revenue generation while reducing carbon emissions,” a spokeswoman for BT told Energy Demand. “Achieving more from limited resources will remain a key issue for business as population grows in size and affluence. Improving the carbon impact side of the equation reduces cost and improves efficiency for us and for our suppliers. Building products and services that help our customers meet their requirements to improve resource efficiency generates revenue.”
She added: “We don’t have all the answers yet in terms of how we’ll get there but most importantly, it will mean selling more of our existing products and creating new products and services which will reduce the carbon emissions for our customers.”
In addition, the company gave no details of exactly how much carbon will be saved. However, BT has committed to reducing its operational carbon emissions by 80% by 2020, a target that it is already close to meeting, as well as reducing energy consumption faster than the growth required to maintain its network.
“Proud as we are of our own record, doing less environmental damage is no longer enough,” said Ian Livingston, BT’s CEO. “We are moving beyond simply making our own business more resource-efficient to using products and services to help our customers do the same.”