The other week, Tele 2 Group announced that it will be "the first climate-neutral telecom operator in the Nordics and Baltics". For several years, ZeroMission has been pushing the issue of climate neutrality and how we must avoid such a strong concept from being watered down. Since Tele 2's statement became news, we have received several questions from our surroundings about how we see the matter. Based on the press release, we share three reasons why we find the statement problematic...

1. It is not clear from the press release whether Tele 2 follows an independent standard that regulates the concept of climate neutrality, such as ISO 14021 or PAS 2060. We believe that following a standard is a basis for making statements about climate neutrality, otherwise there is a risk of watering down the concept and contributing to conceptual confusion, not least for consumers.
2. We also see a problem with the statement that "operations" are climate neutral, but only include Scope 1 and 2 emissions. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, which Tele 2 itself refers to, divides emissions into Scope 1, 2 and 3, but the standard does not define the boundaries of where an activity goes. For example, business travel is often included in a "business" calculation even if it belongs to Scope 3. However, for most Swedish companies - especially those with long value chains - the largest indirect climate impact is in Scope 3 and this should also apply to Tele 2.
3. To reach the climate targets, the overall ambition level needs to be raised significantly in all parts of society and business. While Tele 2's ambition to achieve a climate-neutral value chain is admirable, we do not believe that in 2020 it is sufficient to only start from an "operation's" emissions in Scope 1 and 2 and communicate that it is "the first in its industry to become climate neutral", especially when the largest emissions are in Scope 3.

Honest ambition is both good and laudable, and Tele 2 is not alone in embracing the concept of climate neutrality without including Scope 3 emissions or following a standard that regulates statements like this. But we need to be careful about the terms. Because if we don't mean the same thing, how can we make the transition to climate neutrality - for real?

Here you can read you can read more about how ZeroMission believes climate neutrality claims should be accepted. Would you like to know more about climate calculations according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol with a focus on Scope 3 emissions? Let us know and we will send you a recorded version of our digital breakfast seminar on the topic!