Vodafone powers entire European network with renewable energy
Vodafone has announced its entire European operations will be 100 per cent powered by electricity from renewable sources next month.
The FTSE 100 telecoms firm’s mobile and fixed networks, data centres, retail and offices will all be powered more sustainably from July 1.
The announcement comes after a decision this time last year to bring its plan to purchase 100 per cent renewable energy in Europe to July 2021, from its previous target of 2025.
Vodafone then pledged in November to reduce its total global carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 — ten years earlier than originally planned.
The plans are in line with the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Vodafone reported that while its mobile data traffic increased by 47 per cent year-on-year in the last year, its energy use has remained broadly flat due to its adoption of more energy efficient mobile technology – including M-MIMO, which it said is around 70 per cent more efficient than 4G.
The company has also invested €65 million during the last year in energy efficiency and on-site renewable projects.
Vodafone CEO Nick Read said: “This is a major milestone towards our goal of reducing our own global carbon emissions to net zero by 2030, helping our customers reduce their own environmental footprint and continuing to build an inclusive and sustainable digital society in all of our markets.”
Amid a push to improve sustainability, over 2,000 companies globally have already signed up to the Race to Zero campaign, placing their operations in line with efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.