Climate Action - Ericsson Owns Their Carbon Emissions

Originally published in Ericsson's 2021 Sustainability and Corporate responsibility Report

The Company’s Science Based Target to reduce emissions by 35% by 2022 covers emissions from fleet vehicles, facilities, business travel and outbound product transportation. By the end of 2021, Ericsson has achieved a 60% reduction compared to the baseline, which is ahead of the target trajectory. In 2021, Ericsson expanded its carbon neutral target for own operations into the Net Zero emissions target for own activities by 2030. The new target covers the Company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as Scope 3 categories, business travel and employee commuting (including teleworking).

Performance 2021

Facilities

Emissions from the Company’s real estate portfolio, including offices, production sites, data centers and test labs, declined to 64 in 2021 from 81 Ktonnes in 2020. This represents a reduction of approximately 21% compared to 2020. Ericsson has taken targeted actions to reduce energy consumption and procure more renewable electricity at its sites in countries such as Sweden, the UK, the US, India, China, and Hungary. Renewable electricity amounted to 67% of the Company’s total electricity consumption in 2021. Calculated as the share of total energy consumption, including heating and cooling, it equalled 62% (see Figure 2). Ericsson is on track to source 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Fleet vehicle

In 2021, Ericsson’s fleet for operational activities included approximately 5,970 vehicles, and the related carbon emissions were 32 Ktonnes, which is a 3% reduction in emissions from 2020.

In 2020, Business Area Managed Services and Business Area Networks introduced a program to decarbonize the operational fleet in line with the Company´s climate targets. The Company has started to prepare to replace vehicles with fossil fuel-free alternatives, and it has rolled out a Fleet Management System to all Market Areas. The introduction of telematics, a system to gather vehicle location and activity data through the use of GPS and cellular networks, in operational vehicles will further improve fleet management with more frequent, reliable and automated data collection processes. The telematics system is not yet fully rolled out in all Market Areas but, as this happens, will enable the Company to capture increasingly more accurate emissions data.

Business travel

The carbon emissions from business travel in 2021 were 12 KTonnes, which corresponds to a decrease of 29% compared to 2020. The Company has had a global travel restriction in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in significant reductions in travel and resulting emissions. As part of its Net Zero ambition, the Company decided to cap business travels emissions in 2022 at 50% of 2019 levels. Each Group Function, Segment and Market Area will get a specific yearly business travel emission budget.

Commuting and teleworking

Emissions from commuting and teleworking are included in the new target for Net Zero emissions from own activities. A large part of Ericsson’s workforce continued to work remotely in 2021 due to the pandemic, with related emissions amounting to 23 Ktonnes, of which teleworking is estimated to represent approximately 56%. As part of reaching the Net Zero target, Ericsson will increase focus on reducing global emissions from teleworking and commuting. Work in this area started in 2021 and will continue during 2022. It includes improving data collection and developing a target roadmap with defined actions that will support the Net Zero trajectory.