ICT to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 15%, says report

Swedish Technology Company, Ericsson has revealed that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions are capable of helping to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 15 per cent by 2030, more than the current carbon footprint of the European Union and United States combined.

Ericsson revealed this in its 23rd yearly Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report released at the weekend.

According to the firm, in 2015, it met the target to offset twice the amount of CO2 from its own carbon footprint with solutions such as smart grids and intelligent transport.

It disclosed that for customers, hardware platforms like the Ericsson Radio System, new software and rural coverage solutions are all designed to help customers optimize energy performance.

“In 2015, Ericsson exceeded its goal to reduce CO2e emissions per employee by 30 per cent – two years ahead of schedule. This amounted to a 42 per cent reduction compared with the 2011 baseline”, the firm stated.

The report also highlighted how ICT can enable all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and even has the potential to accelerate their achievement.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson, Hans Vestberg, said: “The SDGs lay out a clear path to a more sustainable world, and ICT is a powerful lever to make that happen. We intend to build on our momentum from 2015 so everyone can benefit from the opportunities afforded by the Networked Society.”

Ericsson disclosed that by the end of 2015, an estimated 20 million people had been directly impacted by Ericsson’s Technology for Good initiatives.

In the areas of development, the firm disclosed that the ‘Connect To Learn’, a global education initiative by the Earth Institute of Columbia University, Millennium Promise and Ericsson, has now been launched in 22 countries, where it is benefiting over 76,000 students. Nine of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa – Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Cape Verde.

For mobile financial services development, Ericsson informed that is doing a pan-African rollout in several countries with operator MTN, including Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Swaziland. Work is ongoing with operator Millicom’s Tigo platform in Senegal. In 2015, Ericsson Mobile Financial Services was also launched in Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and the Ivory Coast.