38 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2024
Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
Purpose (continued) Protecting the Planet We provide connectivity and digital solutions that help to enable the climate transition and aim to empower others to reduce GHG emissions, protect nature and improve the efficiency of resource usage. We are working to minimise the environmental footprint of our operations, our value chain and our products and services – by reaching net zero and improving the circularity of the technology we use and sell. This year, we continued to embed our Planet strategy across our business. Our Protecting the Planet strategy centres around three key areas: net zero, enablement and circularity. During the year, we reviewed our near and long-term Planet goals against our business plans, opportunities and external constraints, which led to the refresh of some of our goals at the end of this financial year. Our Planet goals 2025 – Match 100% of the grid electricity we use globally with electricity added to the grid from renewable sources 1,2 – Reuse, resell or recycle 100% of our network waste 2028 – Net zero GHG emissions from our operations (Scope 1 and 2) in Europe 3,4,5 2030 – Reduce GHG emissions from our operations (Scope 1 and 2) by at least 90% 2,4,5 – Halve GHG emissions from our value chain (Scope 3) 2,4 – Enable 350 million tonnes of carbon emissions to be avoided through green digital solutions 6 2035 – Net zero GHG emissions from our operations (Scope 1 and 2) in Africa 3,4,5 2040 – Net zero GHG emissions across our full value chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3) 4,7 Notes: 1. Our renewable electricity purchasing is partly enabled through the procurement of renewable electricity certificates, which certify that electricity has been added to the grid from renewable generation sources (‘RECs’), such as wind, solar and hydropower. 2. These goals are part of our SBTi-validated near-term target, which was re-validated this year. The Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions target was revised as part of the revalidation process to align with the SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard, which targets a minimum 90% emissions reduction. This target was previously presented as a 90-95% emissions reduction in our FY23 Annual Report. 3. During the year, we introduced these goals to reflect the two pathways we have set towards net zero operations (Scope 1 and 2) – specific to the regions where we operate (Europe and Africa). These regional net zero goals replace our previous goal (net zero emissions from our operations (Scope 1 and 2) globally by 2030) to support transition planning within each regional context (see our Climate Transition Plan for more detail of our transition pathway). These goals include a minimum 90% emissions reduction, with any remaining emissions neutralised through carbon offsetting from the net zero target year. 4. Against a baseline of financial year ended 31 March 2020 from our continuing operations. 5. Our Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions are those that come directly from continuing operations under our operational control and indirectly from the energy we purchase and use in those operations. 6. Cumulatively from 2020 to 2030, based on carbon emissions avoided by our business customers through the use of digital solutions (products and services) that we sell. 7. This goal is part of our SBTi-validated long-term net zero target, which was approved this year. This includes at least 90% absolute reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions. Click to download our ESG Addendum: investors.vodafone.com/esgaddendum Click to read our ESG Addendum Methodology document: investors.vodafone.com/esgmethodology Net zero Climate Transition Plan We are proud to publish Vodafone’s first Climate Transition Plan in 2024, which outlines the actions we plan for FY25 to FY27 to reduce GHG emissions in line with our net zero pathway and build resilience into our business in response to our changing climate. Our Climate Transition Plan signifies a step-change in how we have embedded decarbonisation into our business and financial planning process. Climate transition planning has enabled us to look at our business plans with greater granularity and develop emission reduction pathways appropriate to each region, whilst retaining our commitment to our SBTi-validated climate targets.
Click or scan to watch a video summarising how we plan to reach net zero by 2040: investors.vodafone.com/videos Our Climate Transition Plan includes actions to build the climate resilience of our business model in response to the physical impact of climate change and changes driven by the transition to a lower- carbon economy. Once again this year, we reviewed our exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities as part of a scenario analysis. Click to read our Climate Transition Plan: vodafone.com/ctp Goals: To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions (‘GHG’) from our own operations (Scope 1 and 2) to net zero in Europe by no later than 2028 and in Africa by no later than 2035, and across our full value chain (Scope 3) by 2040. We recognise the need to address the global climate crisis. In 2023, public awareness of the climate impact of technology continued to grow. Creating a more digital society is core to our purpose at Vodafone. This inevitably comes with increasing volumes of internet use and mobile data traffic, which have historically correlated to increased GHG emissions. We continue to work to drive down our emissions in absolute terms as well as shifting our energy mix to renewable sources, in line with what is required by science to avoid the most negative impacts of climate change. In FY24, our long-term climate goal – to achieve net zero GHG emissions across our full value chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by 2040 – was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This reinforces our commitment to science-based emission reductions from our own operations, our supply chain and the products and services we sell. Read more about our climate-related risk and opportunities in our TCFD-aligned disclosure on pages 64 to 69 Our FY24 performance: Our total Scope 1 and Scope 2 (market-based) GHG emissions decreased by 24% to 0.69 million tCO 2 e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent). This equates to a 59% reduction from our 2020 baseline. Our Scope 3 GHG emissions decreased 12% to 6.07 million tCO 2 e, representing a 20% increase from our 2020 baseline. We were proud to be A-rated by CDP for climate change again in December 2023. Net zero operations (Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions) Over the year, we continued to reduce GHG emissions from our operations and the energy we purchase and use in those operations (Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions), with a focus on driving energy efficiency across our mobile and fixed-line networks, phasing out the use of fossil fuels and increasing renewable sources of energy for both our stationary equipment and vehicle fleet. Driving energy efficiency Improving energy efficiency continued to be a strategic priority for Vodafone, to control both energy costs and GHG emissions. Energy use by our mobile access network, fixed-line network and technology centres accounted for 93% of our total global energy consumption. Energy efficiencies were achieved through a wide range of initiatives including modernisation of legacy equipment with new generation and highly efficient network equipment, new software functionality that reduces energy consumption in low-load conditions, improving energy efficiency in our data centres, digital solutions for energy optimisation, and rationalisation of our properties. We invested €31 million of capital expenditure in energy efficiency and on-site renewable projects, which led to annual savings of 11 GWh. In FY24, Vodafone launched a global tender for new network equipment for our radio access network (‘RAN’). The scope of the tender includes approximately 170,000 of our mobile access base stations. It aims to further improve network energy efficiency through deployment of the latest generation of network equipment products, such as more efficient power amplifiers, new network technology architectures such as ´OpenRAN´ and smart power-saving features.
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