AT&T said recently that it has committed to become carbon neutral across its global operations by 2035.
The telecom operator is also expanding its Climate Change Analysis Tool (CCAT) across the United States to identify the potential impacts of climate change on the network and operations – up to 30 years into the future.
AT&T will achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by focusing on six initiatives:
# Virtualization
AT&T will be eliminating significant portions of energy-intense network equipment and rely instead on low-cost, energy-efficient hardware that can virtualize the functions of the network equipment. The company currently has 75 percent of its core network functions virtualized.
# Optimizing routes
AT&T will bring down emissions from its operational fleet by optimizing routes, switching to hybrid vehicles and reducing the overall size of the fleet. The company is also planning for the decarbonization of its fleet.
# Energy efficiency projects
Each year, AT&T implements thousands of energy efficiency projects across its network and operations, bringing down electricity use and reducing costs.
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# Renewable energy
By entering into power purchase agreements with renewable energy developers, AT&T reduces its emissions footprint, hedges against rising energy costs and helps to add more clean electricity to the U.S. power grid.
# Carbon offsets
The company will invest in carbon offsets to cover the associated emissions since there may be some sources of emissions that cannot be eliminated.
AT&T invested more than $135 billion in its wireless and wireline networks, including capital investments and acquisition of wireless spectrum and operations, over the past 5 years (2015-2019).
