AT&T said it wants to be carbon neutral across its entire global operations by 2035. The company added that it is also expanding its Climate Change Analysis Tool (CCAT) across the contiguous US (the 48 states that touch each other) to identify the potential impacts of climate change on the network and operations, for up to 30 years into the future. Climate impacts will include flooding, hurricane, drought and wildfire projections. Google recently announced it had eliminated its entire carbon footprint, and compensated all the carbon it created up to this point. Facebook, Lenovo, TalkTalk and Verizon have all also recently expressed new environmental goals, as has Amazon and other companies.
AT&T said it will achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions, the yearly equivalent of over 1.1 million homes worth of electricity use, by focusing on six key initiatives:
- The company will virtualise many of its network functions, eliminating much energy-intense network equipment and relying instead on low-cost, energy-efficient hardware that can virtualize the functions of the network equipment. AT&T currently has 75 percent of its core network functions virtualized.
- There will be a transitioning to a low-emissions fleet. This will include optimizing routes, switching to hybrid vehicles and reducing the overall size of the fleet. The company is also planning for the decarbonization of its fleet.
- AT&T will accelerate energy efficiency and network optimization efforts across its network and operations, in general, to bring down electricity use and reducing costs.
- The company will expand sustainable feature film and TV production. AT&T explained here that WarnerMedia reduces the energy and resource consumption associated with film and television production through cleantech systems, sustainable products, and reuse and waste reduction efforts.
- The company will also support the renewable energy marketplace by entering into power purchase agreements with renewable energy developers, reducing its emissions footprint, hedging against rising energy costs and adding more clean electricity to the US power grid.
- Finally, AT&T will invest in carbon offsets to cover unavoidable emissions.
