Man­age­ment approach

Limiting the global rise in temperature is a major challenge for our society. In our role as an IT and telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions provider and as a major consumer of energy, we are intensively and proactively concerned with climate protection and energy efficiency. We operate the largest telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions and IT in­fra­struc­ture in Switzer­land and one of the largest fleets of company and commercial vehicles. Added to this are our office and op­er­a­tions buildings, shops and data centres. Every year we procure goods and services worth 2.8 bil­lion and provide many cus­tomers with a wide range of products and services. We want to use our influence to make a significant contribution to a climate-friendly Switzer­land. To this end we have drawn up an ambitious climate strategy and a com­pre­hen­sive raft of mea­sures.

Our climate protection strategy is also based on the IPCC reports (Special Report of 2018, 6th Assessment Report AR6 of August 2021), which represent a tightening of the Paris climate target, recommending that a maximum temperature increase of 1.5 degrees be observed. Our reduction path is aligned with climate science up to 2030 (Science Based Targets). In line with these targets, we have also identified new mea­sures, including the electrification of our fleet and the use of heat pumps for our heating systems and the reduction of emissions from our supply chain.

We manage all mea­sures to protect the climate using an en­vi­ron­mental management system. We use norms, standards and internal directives to implement the planned savings and efficiency mea­sures systematically. All sub­sidiaries with op­er­a­tions that are of significant en­vi­ron­mental im­por­tance are certified according to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. These are Swisscom (Switzer­land) Ltd, Swisscom Broadcast Ltd and cablex Ltd. Our Italian subsidiary Fastweb S.p.A. is also ISO 14001-certified. The en­vi­ron­mental management system used and its efficiency are subject to an annual external audit. We have determined our energy re­quire­ments on the basis of scenarios and defined energy efficiency and CO₂ reduction targets. In addition, we have concluded target agreements with the Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW) and the federal ‘Exemplary Energy and Climate’ initiative.

Building on an 80% reduction in our direct green­house gas emissions over the past 30 years, we intend to continue on the reduction path to reach 90% by 2025. We aim to decarbonise our op­er­a­tions and supply chains further and faster and to limit our direct and indirect CO₂ emissions to 235,000 tonnes between 2020 and 2025. We have been completely offsetting the remaining, unavoidable operational emissions with myclimate since 2020. As a result, we have become a climate-neutral company.

From 2025 onwards, we aim to fully offset the impact on the climate caused by the emissions from our operational activities and our supply chain. At the same time, as we continue to move down the reduction path based on the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) set at 1.5 °C we will aim to achieve the net zero target in 2025 according to the SBTi re­quire­ments.

Periodic analyses of our impact on the en­vi­ron­ment prove that our energy con­sump­tion is the most im­por­tant internal lever for reducing CO₂ emissions. By 2025, we want to increase our overall energy efficiency by a further 25% compared with the level on 1 January 2020. In addition, we will focus even more strongly on renewable electricity in the future. By purchasing certificates of origin, we already use 100% renewable energy today. In the coming years, we want to further increase the proportion of solar power we generate ourselves and reduce the use of fossil fuels. These conversions cannot happen without investment. We are currently examining our climate-related risks and op­por­tu­ni­ties on the basis of the official Swiss climate scenarios (climate scenarios CH-2018) and will align our business strategy accordingly as required. We follow the rec­om­men­da­tions of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in the areas of governance, strategy and risk management, and publish in­for­ma­tion on our approach to adaptation and mitigation as well as on our conclusions. In this way we will ensure the long-term resilience of our business and create the basis for our investors to trust us and accompany us on this path. In the year under review, we successfully issued another CHF 100 million green bond. Reports on the allocation of the capital and the impact achieved are publicly accessible on our website.

Our ambitions do not stop at net zero emissions. Through our portfolio and together with our cus­tomers, we aim to increase CO₂ savings to 1 million tonnes per year by 2025. These savings correspond to around two per cent of Switzer­land’s green­house gas emissions. In this way we are making a significant contribution to climate protection in Switzer­land. We promote and develop services that enable people in Switzer­land to lead a climate-friendly lifestyle.