VOD Vodafone Group PLC

   By Maitane Sardon 
 

U.K. telecoms giant Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 3% in fiscal 2019, it said Thursday, as the telecommunications industry comes under increasing pressure from consumers and investors to tackle pollution.

Vodafone said its direct emissions--which exclude those generated by users of its products, its suppliers and its joint ventures--over the financial year ended March 31 were 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, down 23% from 2.58 million tons in fiscal 2018. It attributed the decrease mainly to increased purchases of electricity from renewable sources and reduced usage of carbon-intensive power sources.

Vodafone's estimated indirect emissions for fiscal 2019, which include emissions from users, suppliers and JVs, totaled 12.9 million tons of CO2 equivalent.

The company's greenhouse gas emissions intensity--measured in tons of CO2 for each petabyte of mobile data traffic on its networks-- fell 36% to 371 tons from 577 tons.

The telecommunications, information and communications technology industry faces growing challenges as its carbon and energy footprint increases, with a recent study from Cisco Systems estimating that the sector's worldwide energy consumption is growing by around 9% a year.

Vodafone, which this year committed to halving its environmental impact by 2025, says it will meet that goal by making its networks more efficient and only purchasing electricity from renewable sources.

Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2019 11:56 ET (15:56 GMT)

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