Spanish Telecom On Track to Reach Emissions Goal Decades Early

Spanish telecom Telefónica says that the company is likely to reach its 2050 zero net emissions goal for four main markets by 2030, two decades earlier than anticipated.

Telefónica currently operates in 14 countries, has revenues totaling more than $55 billion, and reported more than 344 million subscribers in January 2020.

COO Ángel Vilá recently announced on YouTube that the telecom is revising its zero net emissions timeline. Last December Telefónica declared intentions to become carbon-neutral by 2050. At that point the targets were to:

• Reduce energy consumption per unit of data traffic by 85% in 2025.
• Reach 85% of renewable electricity consumption in 2025 and 100% in 2030.
• Halve emissions in 2025, reduce them by 70% in 2030, and become carbon neutral, meaning zero-net emissions, in 2050.
• Reduce the emissions per euro purchased of their supply chain by 30% by 2025.
• Avoid 10 tons of CO2 for every ton produced through products and services by 2025.

The telecom’s new target is to reach zero net emissions for Spain, Germany, the UK, and Brazil by 2030 at the latest, according to the company. Telefónica said that in 2019 it avoided 3.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through customers adopting digital services.

In May, the company was one of many global corporations urging world leaders to achieve a net-zero emissions recovery from covid-19. Telefónica is also a member of the RE100, having committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity globally by 2030, with an interim target of 50% by 2020. This week, the telecom signed a power purchase agreement with Acciona for 100 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy.

“We need a balanced energy mix, but our ultimate goal must be a transition that leads to complete decarbonization,” said Emilio Gayo, CEO of Telefónica Spain.