The News: T-Mobile US has set a net-zero goal across all three emissions scopes established by the Science Based Targets initiative by 2040, and claims it is the first U.S. wireless operator to do so. Read more from T-Mobile.
T-Mobile U.S. Sustainability Efforts: Company Sets Goal of Net-Zero Emissions by 2040
Analyst Take: T-Mobile U.S. has sustainability in its sights, and announced the setting of an ambitious net-zero emissions goal by 2040 across all three emissions scopes established by the Science Based Targets Initiative , which champions ambitions corporate climate action. Science-based targets show organizations how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change. This is not by any measure the first sustainability focused initiative T-Mobile has embarked upon, but as it relates to planting a flag with a net-zero emissions goal by 2040, the company claims to be the first U.S. operator to make that bold move.
Scope one and two emissions covers the company’s direct operations and facilities, along with indirect discharge relating to electricity deals. The company is also committed to reducing scope three emissions by suppliers, customer devices, materials, and fuel required to ship products and employee travel, stating that these elements comprise around 66 per cent of the organization’s carbon footprint as a whole.
T-Mobile has also signed The Climate Pledge which is an initiative co-founded by Amazon and the environmental organization Global Optimism in 2019, which I have covered many times before. The initiative focuses on advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement, a United Nations-led accord initiated in 2016 to limit future rises in global warming.
The pledge includes regular reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, launching decarbonization schemes and employing means to offset any remaining output by 2040.
It’s good and not surprising to see T-Mobile join other organizations with their goal of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The company has set the ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2040 across scope one, scope two and scope three emissions and based on what I’ve seen from T-Mobile thus far, there’s every reason to believe they’ll reach their goals.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
Amazon Climate Pledge Announces 40 New Signers
T-Mobile Q4 2022 & FY 2022: Smashing Milestones and Competition
Author Information
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years' experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly's coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
