Using our products to reduce climate impact
Our products and services can be used to save carbon dioxide emissions in a number of ways, such as reducing the need for travel and creating intelligent energy management systems. These carbon reductions will potentially outweigh the operational impact of the telecommunications industry in the future.
In 2007/08, the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), of which Vodafone is a member, and The Climate Group commissioned a study by McKinsey into the carbon reductions that could be gained using ICT. The results, which demonstrate the energy savings that can be made by ICT across industry and the energy sector, will be released in June 2008.
Vodafone supports a range of service providers who offer ‘Machine to Machine’ (M2M) services, which enable one machine to remotely communicate with another, improving energy management. We facilitate the use of meters that are monitored remotely and in-car technology that helps drivers avoid traffic jams by providing traffic information in virtually real time. We will focus on developing M2M services to help business customers reduce their carbon emissions in the future.
Our products are also used to facilitate video and teleconferences, which help customers reduce their climate impact by replacing the need for travel. See Transport for details on how we are using videoconferencing to reduce Vodafone’s own carbon footprint from travel.