Telia Company supports the development of carbon removals

Telia Company is a leading Nordic multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator with 20,700 employees and 89.2 SEK billion (10.6 billion USD) in net sales.

Climate experts agree that everyone must take urgent action to reduce carbon emissions. Moreover, the world needs to reach net zero, meaning removing as much carbon as we emit each year.

In 2019, Telia, the leading Nordic telecommunications company, announced in their shareholders meeting their daring environmental ambitions: they would have zero CO2 emissions in their value chain and zero waste in their operations by 2030. To fulfill their ambition they started by shifting to 100% renewable electricity and by December 2020, they had reached two other major milestones, setting climate goals approved by the Science-Based Targets Initiative and neutralizing 2020’s emissions from own operations with carbon removal from industrial and forestry sources. 

“We want to be responsible for our corporate carbon footprint and bring our values to life by doing things that benefit society. In this case, we chose Puro.earth CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) to remove our emissions because it is science-based, verified and helps support innovative, green technology.” said Hanna Duraku, Sustainability Manager.

More specifically , Telia chose Puro.earth’s industrial carbon removal supplier Ekovilla, a producer of cellulose fiber insulation (CFI) for buildings. CFI is a construction material that insulates buildings while at the same time sequestering carbon. The insulation is manufactured from recycled newspaper sourced from sustainably managed forests that continuously capture CO2 and grow no further than 100 km from the production facility. The used newspaper is at the end of its lifecycle and would otherwise be incinerated.

When long-lived materials are produced from sustainable forests, such as Ekovilla’s insulation, the end products maintain carbon sequestered in a durable storage and therefore are a vital carbon removal pathway. One metric ton of Ekovilla’s CFI removes 1,11 metric ton of CO2 eq. from the atmosphere into long-term storage in the product with all manufacturing emissions taken into account.

“We asked ourselves how can it add deeper value and create change? As a technology company we want to support technical changes that supports the essence of the net zero ambition logic of science-based targets guidance. Our focus is on continued absolute emissions reductions, but supporting the development of carbon removals is an additional, important component in our climate strategy”, continues Hanna Duraku.

As buildings represent more than a third of the world’s carbon emissions1, it is crucial to support emerging carbon negative technologies that remove carbon and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Faster adoption of innovations like Ekovilla’s CFI will replace the use of other highly emitting insulation materials like polystyrene (EPS) or mineral wool and avoids emissions from discarded paper.

Reference: IEA Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction

Are you ready to include science-based carbon removal in your climate actions? Welcome to learn more about our Carbon Removal Suppliers and don't hesitate to book a meeting or contact us.contact us.