30 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2026
Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
Protecting the Planet continued
Scope 3 GHG emissions As a service provider, 96% of our emissions are generated as an indirect result of the Company’s activities or business model (referred to as ‘Scope 3’). The majority of our Scope 3 emissions originate from the production of goods and services that we buy, the use of our products or services by our customers and the activities we finance through our investments. We monitor our Scope 3 emissions in comparison to our target emission reduction trajectory, which aligns to our long-term ambition to reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 90% and reach net zero across our value chain by 2040. As an interim milestone, our trajectory includes a 50% reduction target in Scope 3 emissions by 2030. Working with our value chain partners to reduce emissions helps make them more prepared for a low-carbon future, which in turn leads to a more resilient value chain. Securing more sustainable products, services and partnerships with a lower environmental impact positions us to keep pace with the expectations of our customers in relation to ESG performance. Strategy We seek to reduce our Scope 3 emissions through five priority areas of action: 1. We are working to improve the availability, accessibility and consistency of our Scope 3 data and to leverage supplier and product data as levers for value chain carbon reduction. 2. We work with our strategic suppliers to align their climate ambitions with ours and accelerate the implementation of their decarbonisation plans. We also consider supplier climate ambitions, plans and performance during the procurement and supplier selection process, and include carbon reduction clauses into our supplier contracts. 3. We support the companies we invest in to develop, implement and, if possible, accelerate the decarbonisation of their networks and operations.
4. We communicate with our customers to encourage them to choose lower-carbon and more energy efficient devices, and to use them in ways that reduce emissions during the use phase. 5. We aim to reduce the emissions from the use of the devices we sell through initiatives to extend the lifetime of our devices, design lower carbon devices and engage with original equipment manufacturers to encourage them to adopt circular design principles. These initiatives support our device circularity programmes. Read more about our approach to device equipment e-waste and circularity on page 32 Click to read our climate transition plan: vodafone.com/ctp This year We scaled our supplier engagement programme by introducing a new tool to assess and drive the maturity of our suppliers’ environmental programmes. We have already onboarded 60% of strategic suppliers and are now able to suggest and track specific actions to accelerate reductions in their net zero emissions, contributing to the overall reduction of emissions in our supply chain. This progress was reinforced through introducing environmental standard terms in supplier contracts and ongoing supplier engagements. We continued to collaborate with our peers to reduce supply chain emissions in our sector. Through industry initiatives such as the Joint Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility (‘JAC’), we supported 46 suppliers in decarbonising their activities by identifying priority actions for emission reduction, validating reduction pathways, and tracking progress against their decarbonisation plans. Likewise, through our procurement partnership with Telenor, we have jointly strengthened our approach to supplier environmental criteria during both selection and contractual processes to accelerate the development of their environmental programmes. We continued to reduce our downstream GHG emissions through our efforts to drive awareness among consumers and enterprise customers of
the environmental impact of product use, and by integrating sustainable features in our product designs. This year, we launched a programme within Vodafone Business to calculate the carbon footprint of our top enterprise solutions and engaged our Product Management community to explore key themes within sustainability. We actively engaged our investment companies to share best practices and support the development and implementation of effective emission reduction plans. This year, our engagements have helped us understand their pathway towards decarbonisation: currently three out of four of the network operators and tower companies that we invest in have set net zero targets and have a plan in place to achieve their ambitions. We seek to support them in achieving these where possible. Scope 3 GHG emissions 2026 million tonnes CO 2 e 2025 million tonnes CO 2 e Total Scope 3 (upstream) 4.17 3.97 Total Scope 3 (downstream) 1.94 2.88 Total Scope 3 6.11 6.85 In FY26, our Scope 3 GHG emissions decreased by 11% compared to the previous year. This represents an 18% decrease compared to our FY20 baseline year, primarily driven by a reduction of equity stake in our investments, such as in India. While we have made progress in establishing the foundations to reduce Scope 3 emissions across our value chain, reported emissions are not yet tracking in line with our target trajectory towards interim and long‑term Scope 3 reduction targets. This reflects the fact that our Scope 3 emissions reduction depends on decarbonisation actions by suppliers, customers and investee companies. Our influence over these third-parties is limited and they face their own external constraints to decarbonising their operations and the products they sell to us. In addition, Scope 3 emissions are modelled rather than directly measured and remain sensitive to changes in emissions factors
and methodological updates, which may not reflect real‑world emissions in the short term. We are working to bridge the gap between Scope 3 reduction actions and data through industry collaboration and supplier engagement in order to accelerate the reduction in our reported Scope 3 emissions towards our near- and long-term targets. Looking forward Our strategy to reduce Scope 3 emissions will centre on engaging strategic suppliers to advance emission reductions. We seek to develop specific carbon reduction plans for select procurement categories, and integrate these into procurement strategies where emission reductions are most needed. We will also involve more suppliers to set and deliver credible carbon reduction targets. We aim to conduct targeted outreach, capacity-building initiatives, and closer collaboration to ensure suppliers are equipped to measure, report, and improve their emissions performance. We seek to strengthen our use of carbon data analytics to gain deeper insights into Scope 3 and supply chain emissions. This will inform how we prioritise our actions to deliver the greatest emission reductions. We will also set stretch targets for employees managing the procurement of different categories of products we buy to continue onboarding the remaining strategic suppliers to our programme. By empowering our employees with actionable data and best practices, we can progress towards our aim to integrate emissions reduction into procurement decision-making and transform towards a more sustainable supply chain. Read more about Responsible Supply Chain on page 48 . Strengthening partnerships with our suppliers builds a more resilient, adaptive supply chain and ensures long‑term business continuity. At the same time, securing sustainable goods and services positions us to meet rising demand for sustainable products and keep our portfolio aligned with future market expectations.
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