Taking action for the climate: looking back at a year of tangible progress

Taking action for the climate: looking back at a year of tangible progress

?By Thomas Reynaud, ILIAD CEO

?A year ago, on January 21, 2021, we announced our climate strategy and our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. Since then, several key factors have made us more determined than ever to take action.

?First of all, the IPCC report issued in June 2021, which confirmed the truth that some still don’t want to hear: global warming is affecting every region on Earth. The recent torrential rains in Germany and Belgium are a dramatic illustration of this. And secondly, the growing certitude that the climate and biodiversity go hand in hand. Nature-based solutions are indispensable allies in the fight against climate change. A recent study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows that ecosystems alone could provide around a third of the climate mitigation needed between now and 2030.

?Another key issue is the carbon footprint of digital technologies, which is increasingly being debated as it accounts for 3 to 4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. We clearly have to contain that footprint in the long term, and above all we need to use digital technology as a powerful technological weapon in our arsenal for fighting climate change. And lastly, there’s the COP 26 which, setting aside all the successes and disappointments this type of summit can bring, served to reaffirm a shared international framework and established a set of principles and goals for action on climate change.

?The overall goal is one we know well: to limit global warming to 1.5° C. And we already have the framework as well: the United Nations Global Compact, which the iliad Group/Free has recently joined, as well as the Science Based Targets initiative – an approach that enables companies like ours to set objectives for ourselves across all of our different business processes with a view to effectively taking action for our planet.

?Taking action means applying a method and bringing together people who want to drive change. And it also means mobilizing the resources needed to meet the challenges we face. Free/Iliad has decided to devote €1 billion to its climate goals over a period of 15 years. A sum of money that clearly demonstrates the scale of our projects, and a sum that has to be used wisely.

?Taking action also means changing practices. And I’m proud to say that we have started to apply an in-house carbon price of €50 per metric ton. This floor price, which is still a minimum and is voluntary, was not chosen by chance and it has already helped us make purchasing decisions or refuse certain purchases because the carbon cost was too high, with the investment ultimately proving more costly than the carbon savings actually achieved.

?And lastly, taking action means not wasting time, and even speeding things up whenever possible. So I’m also proud to say that in 2021 we met our 100% renewable electricity target and that we’ve launched our first projects to develop carbon sinks in France. These actions are a continuation of the efforts we’ve been making for years now, notably in the areas of transport – by using sea and river shipping instead of air freight – and the environmental performance of our Freebox, in terms of both their components and their electricity consumption, as well as our work on enhancing the energy performance of our networks (e.g. by switching off certain frequencies at night and choosing more energy-efficient equipment).

?As a global community we have an all-important decade ahead of us. Each degree counts and every delay will be costly if it means we have to react urgently and in an uncoordinated way. We need to totally transform everything we do: our ways of living, consuming, traveling, lighting and heating.

?Digital technology is a major asset that can help achieve this transformation, as pointed out by Ademe – France’s Agency for Ecological Transition – in its latest report entitled 2050 Transitions, or by RTE – France’s electricity transmission system operator – in its work on Future Energy for 2050. It’s thanks to digital that we’ll be able to more effectively manage and optimize our energy use, and in turn drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels. And it’s thanks to digital we’ll be able to develop carbon sinks, and, with the help of artificial intelligence, to anticipate and adapt to the consequences of climate change. Through its ability to accurately measure and foresee the outcomes of our choices, digital technology will help us reach our goals for the common good more quickly.

?Some see digital as a threat. But as long as we set a proper framework for how it’s used, it’s actually an incredible opportunity. It’s the resource that’s been given to today’s world to help us tackle the huge task ahead. Yesterday’s digital revolution has been and gone. A new digital revolution is coming, which is both digital and ecological. And when it comes to revolution, Free is always ready for action.

https://www.environnement-magazine.fr/cleantech/article/2022/02/07/138065/tribune-agir-pour-climat-retour-sur-une-annee-avancees-concretes