Nokia showcase its green efforts in People & Planet Report 2019

Nokia has published today its annual sustainability report. The People & Planet Report 2019 covers the company’s last year’s sustainability performance, covering four priority areas – from improving the lives of people and its employees using technology to Nokia’s certain efforts to counter climate change.

Nokia, as a business, has always been committed to improving the lives of its employees while maintaining both business integrity and its environmental efforts. In fact, Ethisphere has recently named Nokia as the most ethical company in the world.

“Nokia’s People & Planet Report 2019 looks at how we can improve the lives of people – our employees, customers, and wider society – and better care for our environment at the same time,” said Rajeev Suri, then a President and CEO for Nokia.

Nokia has always been known for its diversified workforce, in line with its own Human Rights Policy. Last year, Nokia has completed its first external human rights assessment for the Global Network Initiative (GNI). GNI found that Nokia’s business aligns with GNI Principles on freedom of expression and privacy.

The new report also coincides with the current COVID-19 situation, where physical interactions were limited to help contain the spread of the disease. Nokia promotes social distancing through the use of the internet, demonstrating the critical roles of networks and connectivity.

“The context our report is being published in has changed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the fundamental issues remain the same, and, if anything, now have greater urgency because of the challenge the world faces,” Suri said.

As for the actual report, the company claims that Nokia-supplied network gears have supported over 6.4 billion subscriptions worldwide. Nokia also said that the company has delivered zero-emission products to over 150 customers globally. Furthermore, the company said to have modernized existing customer base-station sites in 2019, resulting in a 46% less energy consumption on average compared to those that are not subject to modernization.

Probably the most interesting of all is the company’s efforts to reverse climate change. Scientists expect a 2-degree Celsius increase in global temperature as early as 2023. A 1.5-degree Celsius temperature increase, for example, could result in irreversible large-scale catastrophes such as ocean acidification. Ocean acidification will make it impossible for thousands of marine species like oysters, crabs, and corals to form their protective shells.

During the United Nations’ climate summit last year, Nokia joined the group of 87 companies committed to recalibrating existing science-based climate targets in line with the 1.5°C warming scenario.

You can download and read the full People & Planet Report 2019 here.