T-Systems joins pact for greener digitalization

During the uniquely challenging times of this pandemic, the issue of sustainability has at times taken a back seat. It is nevertheless clear that society's response to the climate crisis is an issue which will define the rest of the 2020s and beyond. The effects of environmental degradation and rising temperatures are already being felt, often in the world’s most vulnerable communities. Unless we take concerted action now, climate change will lead to greater instability and suffering. This makes it our clear moral responsibility – and now, following the German Constitutional Court’s ruling at the end of last month, also our legal responsibility.

I’m therefore proud to announce T-Systems’ participation in the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP). This enters us into a commitment to make data centers climate neutral by 2030. This self-regulatory initiative includes an ambitious set of goals, which cover for example energy efficiency, recycling of excess heat and water conservation. Under the banner “The Green Deal needs green infrastructure”, the Pact affirms our commitment to the European Green Deal. We believe our services will play a central role in decoupling economic development from emissions growth.

Committed to driving sustainability

It is not just our infrastructure which is going green. Our services make the whole economy greener. Our clients can cut their energy use by up to 80% by migrating from their own IT infrastructure to the T-Systems Cloud Solutions. Technologies such as the Digital Twin take processes out of the physical world, help conserve our planet’s resources and de-carbonize production. The Gaia-X initiative creates the basis for the exchange of sustainability data along the entire supply chain, enabling informed ecological decisions. But as society generates ever growing volumes of data, to fully reap the ecological benefits of digitalization, our data centers must be sustainable too. That’s why we have committed to this initiative, alongside our partners OVHcloud, AWS, Microsoft and other important industry names.  

This is part of a broader drive at Deutsche Telekom. The entire Group has obtained energy exclusively from renewable sources since the beginning of the year. We are also developing innovative green technologies for cloud computing at our data center in Biere, in partnership with Fraunhofer Institute. Sustainability is the central focus of our corporate responsibility. We are targeting climate neutrality across our entire value chain by 2040.

Sustainability is not just our moral responsibility; it also makes economic sense. Consumers increasingly demand sustainable products. This trend is generational and will no doubt continue to gather momentum. And our talk of achieving technological and data sovereignty, as well as robust supply chains, should be reflected in our energy choices – weaning ourselves off fossil fuels reduces geopolitical dependencies.

At T-Systems we are committed to offering services which drive sustainability with our clients and partners. Joining the CNDCP reflects this. We will push ourselves to reach and surpass our sustainability goals. It is the morally responsible thing to do – for ourselves and future generations.

For more information:

https://www.telekom.com/en/corporate-responsibility/climate-and-environment