2

3
GREEN FUTURE NETWORKS TELCO 
SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY
by NGMN Alliance
Version:
1.0
Date: 
17th January 2023
Document Type:
Final Deliverable (Approved)
Confidentiality Class:
P - Public
Project:
Green Future Networks
Editor / Submitter:
Saima Ansari (Deutsche Telekom)
Contributors:
Javan Erfanian (Bell Canada), Saima Ansari (Deutsche Telekom), Jenny Sandahl 
(Ericsson), Lee Valerius (HPE), Marc Peters (IBM), Richold Van der Wal (KPN), 
Pary Arpoudam (Orange), Ioana Lupu (Orange)
NGMN Programme Office:
Chris Hogg (Executive Programme Manager)
Approved by / Date:
NGMN Board / 16th December 2022
The information contained in this document represents the current view held by NGMN Alliance  e.V. on the issues discussed as of the date 
of publication. This document is provided “as is” with no warranties whatsoever including any warranty of merchantability, non-infringement, 
or fitness for any particular purpose. All liability (including liability for infringement of any property rights) relating to the use of information 
in this document is disclaimed. No license, express or implied, to any intellectual property rights are granted herein. This document is distri­
buted for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. Readers should not design products based on this document.
© 2023 NGMN Alliance  e.V. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means 
without prior written permission from NGMN Alliance  e.V.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The mobile industry is leading the race towards net-zero emissions, by setting climate 
action targets in alignment with the Paris Agreement. According to the latest Carbon 
Disclosure Project (CDP) report, data disclosed by the majority of the operators indicate 
that a significant portion of emissions are generated in the value chain. This is obviously 
greater for the network operators that have managed to switch fully to renewable energy 
in their operations. These emissions are part of those termed ‘scope 3’ (a company’s in- 
direct emissions from its supply chain and from the use of its products by its customers) 
according to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. Sustainable supply chains should also 
be guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, with 
environmental, economic, and social considerations incorporated into all of the supply 
chain operation areas. 
In this publication, the key challenges mobile operators face in developing sustainable 
supply chains are outlined. A review of the emerging regulatory and standards environ­
ment is conducted and approaches and best practices in developing sustainable supply 
chains are identified by relating the emerging business and regulatory environment to 
examples of the changes that operators and their supply chain partners may need to 
make both at a strategic and operational level. The key conclusion is: Integrating sustai­
nability goals into the operator’s core objectives is of key importance as well as selecting 
suppliers whose own sustainability strategies are aligned with these goals.
Finally, a practical checklist (Annex A) based on the best practices in the industry is provided 
to support operators in developing a sustainable procurement strategy. Examples from 
across the industry are included that highlight that companies are already embracing 
many of the concepts identified in this report.

5
CONTENTS
01
06
02
07
03
08
04
09
05
10
INTRODUCTION.................................................. 6-7
CONCLUSIONS...............................................  20-21
SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY 
CHAIN CHALLENGES...................................... 8-9
ANNEX A: 
GUIDE FOR TELCOS TO PROCURE 
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS................ 22-23
SUPPLY CHAIN 
EMISSIONS REDUCTION 
LEVERS FOR TELCOS.................................10-11
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................24
SUPPLY CHAIN REGULATORY 
ENVIRONMENT..............................................12-13
REFERENCES................................................................25
CRITICAL SUCCESS 
FACTORS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN 
SUSTAINABILITY...........................................14-19
BEST PRACTICES.....................................................26
5.1 Developing ESG goals.............................................14
5.2 Strategy and aligning with ESG goals.............15
5.3 New Processes............................................................15
5.3.1 Supply Chain Management 
and Procurements............................................................16
5.3.2 Product / Service Development / 
Devices....................................................................................16
5.3.3 Marketing and Communications..................18
5.3.4 Logistics......................................................................18
5.3.5 People and Human Resources......................19
5.3.6 Networks....................................................................19
5.4 Tools and techniques..............................................19 
4.1Supply Chain Regulations......................................12
4.2 Supply Chain Standards........................................13
Deutsche Telekom............................................................27
Ericsson...................................................................................28
HPE............................................................................................29
IBM.............................................................................................30
KPN............................................................................................31
Orange.....................................................................................32

6
01 INTRODUCTION
Supply chain emissions account for 
80% - 95% of overall emissions for 
operators using renewable energy
The mobile industry is leading the race towards net zero 
by setting climate action targets in alignment with Paris 
Agreement [1].
SCOPE 1: 
Direct emissions from an operator, 
such as from running its fleet for net­
work maintenance and using diesel 
to operate base stations in hard-to-
reach areas.
Figure 1-1: Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions as defined by GHG protocol
SCOPE 2: 
Indirect emissions from the gene­
ration of purchased energy, from 
a utility provider. In other words, 
all GHG emissions released in the 
atmosphere, from the consumption 
of purchased electricity, steam, heat, 
and cooling.
SCOPE 3: 
All other indirect emissions that occur 
in a company’s value chain, including 
manufacturing of purchased goods 
and services, capital goods, and use 
of sold products such as user equip­
ment.
According to GSMA’s Mobile Net Zero 2022 report, 82% of 
the operators by revenue disclose their climate impacts [2] 
and this data shows that a significant portion of emissions 
are generated in the supply chain. Supply chain emissions 
account for around 80% - 95% of the overall emissions for 
the network operators that have managed to switch fully 
to renewable energy in their operations [3]. 
These emissions form the ‘upstream’ part of scope 3 ac­
cording to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) [4] which 
sets global standards to measure and manage GHG 
emissions. GHG protocol defines following categories of 
carbon emissions:

7
in the design of products are needed, including extending 
the life of products from the outset and ensuring that 
re-use and re-cycling is built in.  The impact of choice of 
material or product choices should be considered for 
company operations as well as in the use of the offered 
products and services. Taken together, these changes 
represent a paradigm shift for the industry.
 
This publication also contains several ‘best practices’ 
contributed by industry players who helped develop this 
publication. These best practices highlight that many com­
panies in the mobile industry are already implementing 
end-to-end measures. These measures encompass con­
siderations including eco-design, management systems, 
energy efficiency and renewable energy usage, product 
modularity and recycling, reduction of waste, as well as 
organizational focus and supplier engagement. 
Achievement of net-zero targets 
is becoming a clear commitment, 
though it still needs the collective 
work of all players in the value 
chain, and the alignment of 
the entire ecosystem.
This publication primarily focuses on telecom supply 
chain sustainability
Due to size, diversity, and complexity of the supply chain, 
a number of key challenges, and thereby requirements, 
exist. These generally relate to integrity and uniformity 
of the data, but also to the need to balance multiple co-
existing goals. The integrity and comparability of the data 
include the following requirements:
•	 boundaries within a complex and heterogeneous 
supply chain
•	 data availability, disclosure, and granularity
•	 traceability (of data flow, as well as the product and 
financial flows)
•	 uniformity and standard approach in reporting
•	 insights and visibility in procurement to enable 
appropriate decisions and actions
 
In the context of the overall goals and targets, there are 
existing and growing regulations, with fundamental simila­
rities in different markets. As expected, these regulations 
mandate social and environmental responsibilities of 
organizations in their own operations and through their 
value chains, by identifying, preventing, mitigating, and 
accounting for their adverse societal rights, and environ­
mental impacts, and having adequate governance, ma­
nagement systems and measures in place. Some of these 
rules go as far as setting requirements on such aspects as 
product durability and re-usability, among others.
Furthermore, standardization initiatives provide guidelines, 
on one hand, and certifiable aligned data, on the other. A 
number of common and collaborative approaches, such 
as Carbon Disclosure Project reporting and, Science-Ba­
sed Targets initiative, among others, complement the key 
pillars and success factors in energy efficiency, renewable 
energy, product modularity, lifecycle assessment, and 
minimization of water and carbon footprints.
 
To transition to sustainable value chains, companies 
need to move from linear value chains to circular ones. 
This means rethinking and reconnecting supply chains - 
looking at adding value to complete systems rather than 
individual process steps. Furthermore, novel approaches

8
02 SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY 
CHAIN CHALLENGES
CHALLENGE #1
CHALLENGE #2
DATA AVAILABILITY AND GRANULARITY
It is difficult for operators to get the data if vendors do not disclose emissions 
via CDP or other platforms. It therefore follows that one of the biggest chal­
lenges in supply chain emission accounting concerns data. Suppliers might 
not provide accurate emission data or provide something based on standard 
emissions which are averaged across the industry thus representing a gene­
ral value and not an exact one. This is also a matter of transparency:  when 
collecting data internally versus data reported externally. 
There are many challenges for the operators 
striving to reduce supply chain emissions since 
they are generated outside of their organizational 
boundaries. 
Below are some of the significant challenges 
faced by the operators
DATA INTEGRITY, STAKEHOLDER DYNAMICS, 
AND THE NEED FOR STANDARDS
A second key challenge is that of data integrity and stakeholder dynamics. 
Although operators often work closely with and engage their suppliers on a 
long-term basis, they are still separate organisations and as such are subject 
to their own organisational dynamics and incentives - setting their objectives 
and strategies based on their own views of how the market and business 
environment (including regulations) are developing.  These dynamics make 
for challenges in the integrity of data for example due to different suppliers 
having different net-zero plans and taking different approaches to measuring 
and declaring the carbon footprint of their products and services.

9
CHALLENGE #3
CHALLENGE #4
A key challenge is to encourage an industry wide, standardised approach to 
how carbon emissions are measured and reported to minimise the transaction 
costs to both sides (operators and suppliers) of gathering and communicating 
this key information.  The Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder initia­
tive led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development on scope 
3 emission transparency and decarbonization provides one such approach [5]. 
Among its key merits, this initiative helps connecting different stakeholders 
across the value chain to facilitate data transparency regarding verified pro­
duct-specific primary emission data and secure data exchange through open 
technology standards. 
Finally, as data analytics, smart sensors and blockchain technologies are further 
adopted by operators’ supply chains to optimize operations and processes, 
further improvements in measuring, reporting, and tracing of carbon emissions 
across the supply chain should be possible.
VISIBILITY AND DECISION SUPPORT IN 
THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Procurement needs the required insight / visibility, simulation and optimi­
zation capabilities and hands-on access to data and projections to support 
appropriate decision-making. Planning Analytics capabilities could provide the 
required tooling but needs appropriate data to be provided through supply 
chain and equipment providers. 
Procurement is not the sole decision maker in most operators especially during 
the eco-design phase, where many other environmental parameters, such 
as energy efficiency, are important. Marketing departments play key roles 
and need to be aligned with supply chain requirements to both support and 
reinforce sustainability principles. The need for an operator to fully align its 
operations and its supply chain to its sustainability objectives and strategy is 
further explored in chapter 5.
ORGANISATIONAL
Reporting of Scope 3 data may come across as a challenge for it requires 
dedicated staff, expertise and proper processes which are seldom available 
simultaneously. It is ultimately a question of securing appropriate leadership 
support to coordinate efforts from different part of the organizations.

10
The SBT Value Chain report [6] 
outlines seven key industry agnostic 
levers that can be used to reduce 
supply chain carbon emissions.  

These levers can be applied to the 
telco sector as follows:
Business Model Innovation: Business Model Innovation 
can be a driver for enhancing sustainable development 
capabilities within the telco industry. As we consider not 
only companies’ operational and profit-making strategic 
approaches, but also value creation processes and the 
overall technological and economic transformation, our 
business models must be increasingly resilient to make a 
difference. In this regard, circular economy considerations 
are bound to influence more growth business models 
as Telcos commit more to sustainability goals. Business 
models including a sustainable share of refurbished 
products would require adapted supply chain operations 
and processes to support qualitative and quantitative 
device sourcing in a highly competitive market (fragmen­
ted between OEMs’ own refurbished product offers and 
specialised refurbishing companies).
Supplier Engagement: More and more telcos are engaging 
with their larger suppliers to align on climate targets. For 
the suppliers who do not have enough resources or skills 
to report their carbon emissions in platforms like CDP, 
several tools are currently being developed to help them 
understand and report emissions without going through 
a large set of questionnaires. Some operators also report 
on the number of suppliers which have committed to 
reduce their supply chain emissions. In these cases, the 
best starting point is to identify companies in the supply 
chain which are the biggest emitters and by that contri­
bute most to the scope 3 upstream emissions. A similar 
approach can be cascaded further down in the supply 
chain via the tier 1, tier 2 suppliers and so on. To lower 
carbon emissions it is effective to set requirements that 
reach further than only 1st tier. By requesting suppliers 
to also set public targets to halve absolute emissions by 
2030 and align with the 1.5°C-target it is possible to reach 
further down in the supply chain.
Procurement Policy and Choices: Telcos can significantly 
reduce their emissions by changing their procurement 
policy in a way that supports purchasing from the suppliers 
with lower footprint. This approach should come from 
the top management of a company in alignment with the 
procurement team. Implementing sustainability criteria as 
a part of the weighting besides technical and commercial 
aspects by telcos creates pressure towards the suppliers 
as it directly impacts the business of those companies. This 
publication presents a checklist for operators who plan 
to implement sustainability criteria in their procurement 
process. Please see Annex A for details.
Product and Service Design: integrate circular economy 
principles in products and service design. From an operator 
perspective, we would expect to see a growing trend of 
service portfolio and product mix revision, focusing on 
new and refurbished devices and leveraging the latter at 
the core of the smart innovation commercial strategy. A 
paradigm shift in this vein would make sense in light of 
product eco-design trends that are being confirmed through 
bespoke policies, such as the EU’s upcoming Eco-design 
for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR) regulation, with 
additional specific requirements for product categories 
to follow by 2030. In addition, the European Commission 
has also issued a proposal draft regarding the creation 
of an EU-wide energy label to complement handsets’ 
(smartphones and tablets) repair index. Such policies 
are bound to impact circular economy-driven business 
models and, of course, service offers within commercial 
strategies in terms of initial and extended warranty, repair 
and refurbish authorizations to be agreed with OEMs, as 
03 SUPPLY CHAIN 
EMISSIONS REDUCTION 
LEVERS FOR TELCOS

11
well as early upgrade and/or loan schemes, to name but 
a few. Therefore, as a first step to prepare for the ESPR 
change patterns, a review of current LCA in telco portfolios 
appears as a first-level priority. Furthermore, by aiming 
to increase product lifespan and contributing to reduce 
new product-related emissions, telcos may also need to 
review their relationship with customers as upfront costs 
are bound to increase, unless there is a shift in the owner­
ship approach. Here again, telcos could push forward a 
service-driven approach to traditionally bought-and-ow­
ned products by promoting loan and early or controlled 
upgrade schemes.  
Customer Engagement – Although not the focus of 
this publication, to fully develop circular supply chains 
customer engagement will be critical. Interventions may 
include education, collaboration, and compensation, or 
alternatively, marketing strategies to influence behaviour. 
At minimum, this can foster circular end-of-life treatment 
of products, but it may also include other aspects such 
as energy efficiency behaviour. An obvious challenge is 
limited control, in particular downstream towards custo­
mers, once the product leaves the company.
Operational Policies – This lever, in general, includes in­
ternal protocols and guidelines to align business goals and 
general operation policies with GHG reduction measures. 
These guidelines are particularly important for companies 
with significant commuting and business travel emissions 
and companies that produce large amounts of waste.
  
Conflicting objectives – one challenge are conflicting 
environmental objectives, or other objectives. How to 
choose between better energy performance in a new 
product or the higher resource efficiency achieved by 
using a refurbished product. These are challenges that 
need to be handled in systematic way.

12
04 SUPPLY CHAIN 
REGULATORY 
ENVIRONMENT
There is a trend of increasing regulation related to 
reporting of a company’s sustainability performance 
over the full value chain. This trend is valid for 
both environmental and social issues. 
4.1	 SUPPLY CHAIN REGULATIONS
Below is a non-exhaustive list of such rules and regulations, but in addition 
to these it is also worth mentioning a diverging EU regulatory scene where 
member states develop their own taxes and reporting schemes.  
EU proposal on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: the proposed Directive [7] 
will set out a horizontal framework to foster the contribution of businesses 
operating in the single market to respect human rights and environment in 
their own operations and through their value chains, by identifying, preventing, 
mitigating, and accounting for their adverse human rights, and environmental 
impacts, and having adequate governance, management systems and measures 
in place to this end. The law applies to all companies or organizations located 
in the EU that employ at least 500 people or have an annual net turnover of 
EUR 150 million. This law covers the full value chain including suppliers several 
tiers down in the value chain (supplier of the suppliers).
Supply Chain Act in Germany (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz)
This German law [8] requires companies to monitor environmental and human 
right risks in their supply chains. The law will come into effect in 2023, only 
applying to companies with over 3000 employees in its first year. In 2024, 
the provisions of the law will extend to apply to all companies with over 1000 
employees. Here supply chain includes only direct suppliers and fines are 
imposed as penalty for violations.
 
Although many different initiatives exist there are some commo­
nalities. One trend is the use of reporting to drive a wanted behavi­
our through increased value chain transparency on environmental and 
social issues.

13
EUs new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 
(CSRD): From 2024 this Directive will require more detailed 
reporting by companies regarding environmental rights, 
social rights, human rights, and governance factors. It also 
introduces a certification requirement for sustainability 
reporting [9].
US SEC rules on Climate Disclosure: These proposed 
disclosure rules are similar to those that many companies 
already provide under frameworks such as the Task Force 
on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the 
Greenhouse Gas Protocol [10]. 
	
EU proposal for Eco-design for Sustainable Products 
Regulation (ESPR): This will replace the existing eco-design 
directive and widen the scope to product requirements 
beyond energy efficiency and make it applicable to a 
broader range of products. A Digital Product Passport 
(DPP) is proposed to become the norm for all products 
regulated under the ESPR and the proposal also includes 
mandatory transparency requirements which could im­
pact the supply chain.  It will also include requirements 
on product durability and reliability, product re-usability 
and product upgradability, repairability, maintenance and 
refurbishment [11].  In addition, the European Commission 
has recently proposed draft regulations that would have 
the effect of including smartphones and tablets as pro­
ducts that will be covered by EU eco-design directives [12].
Right to repair: ‘Right to repair’ related initiatives have 
emerged in several markets such as USA and EU but also 
in Australia, Canada, Philippines, and South Korea. Some 
of these schemes may become part of the local regulatory 
environment. The main purpose of “right to repair” is to 
avoid early replacement or disposal of products through 
“right to repair and reuse”, i.e. increasing the possibilities 
for repair and reuse, including increase of consumers 
ability to repair products.  In most cases, ‘right to repair’ 
does not cover business to business products.  For this 
reason, telcos would need to work bilaterally with their 
infrastructure suppliers in order to encourage similar 
lifecycle extension of the products used in networks (net­
work infrastructure, data centres).
4.2	 SUPPLY CHAIN STANDARDS
The following is a non-exhaustive list of standards that 
relate to sustainable procurement.
ISO sustainable procurement 
ISO 20400:2017 provides guidance to organizations, in­
dependent of their activity or size, on integrating sustai­
nability within procurement, as described in ISO 26000. It 
is intended for the stakeholders involved in, or impacted 
by, procurement decisions and processes.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) 
standards
Focusing on disclosures and indicators most relevant to 
our business by drawing from the sector-specific indicators 
of both the Software and IT Services and the Hardware 
industry standards. 
Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) 
GRI is the independent, international organization that 
helps businesses and other organizations take responsi­
bility for their impacts, by providing them with the global 
common language to communicate those impacts

14
05 CRITICAL SUCCESS 
FACTORS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN 
SUSTAINABILITY 
Effectively developing and managing a sustainable supply chain requires that 
operators build ESG goals into their overall strategic plan and align their organisation 
and partners around that strategy. This will require changes to the operator’s systems 
and processes; up-skilling of staff; and the development of new business models.  
Development of more telco industry-specific supply chain sustainability KPIs could be 
an important follow up activity for a next initiative.
Operators can use 
Science Based Targets 
Initiative (SBTi) [13] to 
align their climate goals 
with UN targets.
Set ‘Science based Targets’ to align climate goals with 
UN targets: Science-based targets provide companies 
with a clearly defined path to reduce emissions in line 
with the Paris Agreement goals. Moreover, Science-based 
targets provide a clearly defined pathway for companies 
to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, helping to 
prevent the worst impacts of climate change and to fu­
ture-proof business growth.
Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line 
with what the latest climate science deems necessary to 
meet the goals of the Paris Agreement - limiting global 
warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels 
and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. More than 
2,000 businesses around the world are already working 
with the SBTi.
5.1	 DEVELOPING ESG GOALS
Successfully developing and managing a sustainable supply 
chain starts with the operator defining and committing to 
clear ESG goals and ensuring that these are integrated into 
the company’s overall corporate and business objectives.  
Essentially the ESG goals should be fully consistent with 
the company’s wider goals and no goal or strategy should 
conflict with the overall vision of creating an operator with 
sustainability as one of its core values.  
Ensuring that ESG goals are fully integrated into the 
company’s objectives and its strategic plan helps to en­
sure that the entire operation of the operator - including 
supply chain management and product/service provision 
to end-customers will align with the ESG goals.

15
5.2	 STRATEGY AND ALIGNING 
WITH ESG GOALS
In addition to setting clear objectives and goals that meet 
the operator’s business needs and have ESG goals deeply 
embedded, operators will also need clear strategies to 
achieve their objectives.  
Given the size of the challenges, this will be a multi-year 
programme that needs to span multiple iterations of pro­
ducts and services (product/service and business model 
innovation); multiple generations of networking technology; 
as well as being relevant for entirely new products and 
services (corporate strategy). To be successful all internal 
departments and functions (procurement, marketing, fi­
nance, human resources, network operations etc); people; 
as well as external stakeholders (suppliers, customers) 
will need to be aligned and operating in harmony with 
the direction set.  
5.3	 NEW PROCESSES
Ultimately, over time - as strategic alignment around 
ESG business objectives and strategies is achieved - the 
operator and their suppliers will need to adopt new pro­
cesses to ensure that the objectives can be consistently 
delivered.  New processes will be needed across the 
operator’s business.  
The following is a non-exhaustive list of new processes 
organised by impacted departments, functions, and 
stakeholders. Where possible, existing mobile and ESG 
industry initiatives that offer tools for companies to adopt 
and implement new processes are identified.

16
05 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN 
SUSTAINABILITY 
5.3.1	 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGE­
MENT AND PROCUREMENT
Operators will need to adapt (and potentially introduce 
new) supply chain processes as follows:
Supplier Selection Processes: Supplier selection processes 
should be adapted to ensure that suppliers are chosen for 
their ability to provide the supplied products and services 
whilst also meeting the operator’s requirements around 
ESG goals and in particular reduction of carbon emissions. 
Operators will need to update their RFQ/RFP processes to 
include specific sections on ESG and will need to develop 
a scoring mechanism that provides sufficient weighting 
to ESG aspects whilst ensuring overall commercial goals 
in relation to supplier selection can be met. For example, 
to ensure the operator can accurately determine the 
carbon emissions of its products and services, operators 
will require their suppliers to provide data on the carbon 
emissions of their products and services. 
Operators could encourage sharing information through 
CDP: Carbon Disclosure Project is a global organisation 
driving disclosure of Sustainability data and has become 
a de facto standard for company transparency regarding 
sustainability performance.  ESG ratings (if included in the 
RFP/RFQ) should be based on an independent trusted 
source. 
Supplier Management Processes: In addition to supplier 
selection, operators will need to manage their suppliers 
with ESG in mind throughout their ongoing supplier 
relationships. This includes working with (and selecting) 
products and suppliers that help the operator to meet 
its goals with respect to its own product and service de­
velopment (see 5.3.2).   Operators should have a supplier 
code of conduct and should have processes in place to 
regularly audit suppliers to ensure that the code of con­
duct is being fulfilled. The Responsible Business Alliance 
(RBA) is a useful resource for developing supplier codes 
of conduct [14].
5.3.2	 PRODUCT / SERVICE 
DEVELOPMENT / DEVICES
In many countries, operators are the primary channel 
through which consumers buy their smartphones and 
service subscriptions.   Operators will need to adapt (and 
potentially introduce new) product and service develop­
ment processes as follows:
Policy on extending device / product life: Operators 
should work with their device suppliers to encourage 
them to extend the life of devices.  Potential solutions to 
be considered include embracing modular design (which 
could enhance repair-ability and enable easier recycling).  
As operators are often the major channel for retailing de­
vices to consumers device manufacturers and operators 
will need to work together to ensure sufficient forward 
and reverse logistics are in place to meet the needs of 
consumers who want to buy such devices and be able 
to easily get the device repaired and/or buy new parts. 
(Please see also 5.3.4). 
Eco-Packaging: Operators should work with their suppliers 
to reduce packaging and as far as possible use bio-de­
gradable materials in place of plastics. 
Business Model innovation - moving towards ‘Product 
as a Service’: Given the need to extend the life of physical 
products such as smartphones, routers and IoT devices 
as well as to encourage their re-use and recycling it may 
be useful for operators to consider offering devices as a 
‘service’.  This could enable the operator to have greater 
control over when devices are returned and to better 
manage customer expectations in relation to the lifecycle 
of the device.
    
E-waste management and reverse logistics: Operators 
should have processes and plans in place to aim for full 
circularity and reduce e-waste.

17
In working with suppliers to develop new 
sustainable products there are two fra­
meworks that are useful in determining 
the environmental footprint of a product:
Lifecycle Analysis (LCA): LCA is a sys­
tematic tool that allows for analysis of 
environmental loads of a product (and 
service) in its entire life cycle and the as­
sessment of its potential impacts on the 
environment. The main purpose of LCA 
is to identify environmental hotspots to 
structure improvement work; it is not 
well suited for comparing products in a 
purchasing decision. For products that are 
part of a system, such as network products, 
the usage of LCA on a product level is 
not always useful. There are four phases 
in an LCA, goal and scope definition, life 
cycle inventory analysis, life cycle impact 
assessment and life cycle interpretation. 
The ISO 14044:2006 standard, Life Cycle 
Assessment, addresses quantitative met­
hods for the assessment of the environ­
mental aspects of a product or service in 
its entire life cycle stages. Other compa­
rable standards include: The International 
Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 
handbook (EU), which was developed by 
the European Commission Joint Research 
Centre. Furthermore PAS 2050 (UK) pro­
vides a method and guidelines for calcu­
lating greenhouse gas emissions “within 
the life cycle of goods and services.” The 
BPX 30-323 series (France) describes the 
method for assessing the life cycle en­
vironmental impact of various products. 
EcoLeaf (Japan) describes the methodology 
for assessing the environmental impact 
of products throughout their life cycle. 
Carbon footprint of products (CFP) (Korea) 
provides guidelines for assessing the life 
cycle carbon footprint of products.
PCF - Production Carbon Footprint from 
an IT equipment perspective — PAIA 
(product attributes to impact algorithm) 
is one way to calculating PCF for IT equip­
ment [15]. It is a set of streamlined me­
thodologies and tools. Although it can 
be seen that through models like PAIA, 
there is an effort by the industry to stan­
dardize PCF models there is still variety 
in terms of individual configurations, 
origin of integrated components, specific 
shipping situation and also the overall 
distance between manufacturing site 
and deployment site.

18
5.3.3	 MARKETING AND COMMU­
NICATIONS
Operators will need to adapt (and potentially introduce 
new) marketing and communications processes as follows:
Brand: Consider updating the brand to support efforts 
around marketing and communication of sustainability 
credentials to all stakeholders (customers, suppliers, in­
vestors, government). 
Communicating sustainable products/services to 
customers: In addition to brand updates, operators will 
need methods to be able to clearly articulate and commu­
nicate the sustainability of the products and services they 
offer.  Device eco-ratings (whereby devices are labelled 
according to a sustainability metric) can offer one way of 
simplifying communication for customers (see for exam­
ple [16]).  Operators will also need ways to measure and 
communicate the sustainability of their network and the 
services available to their customers to enable them to 
maximise the repairability of their device and to recycle 
devices or their constituent parts where appropriate.
5.3.4	 LOGISTICS
Operators will need to – working with their channel part­
ners and suppliers - adapt (and potentially introduce new) 
logistics processes as follows:
Traceability: Operators need assurance that the products 
they are buying (devices, network infrastructure) meet 
their sustainability requirements in relation to the use of 
scare resources (e.g., rare earth metals) and in relation 
to the carbon footprints of the constituent parts of the 
product.  This implies that systems will be required to 
track and trace products and their constituent parts right 
through the value chain from raw materials to the end 
customer.  Given that all industries are facing a similar 
challenge it would make sense to pursue and use systems 
that are not specific to any given industry, and which do 
not lock-in stakeholders in the chain to a particular set 
of business relationships. The 3 main axes in terms of 
flows of a Supply Chain are products flow, data flow & 
financial flow. For an efficient and optimized Supply Chain 
management, the ability to trace those flows of finished 
goods is vital not only on ecological and environmental 
considerations but also on economic as well as corporate 
and social responsibility levels.  
Recycling: Operators will need to expand their recycling 
operations to include not only device recycling but poten­
tially also the recycling of device parts.
Repairs: If devices are increasingly designed to enable 
repairs, then operators will need to ensure that repair 
options are available to their customers.  This would 
involve establishing and ensuring sufficient capacity at 
repair centres; determining contractual relationships 
and the legal framework for the repair (e.g., what is an 
‘approved’ repair and what warranties are offered to the 
customer by the operator and/or manufacturer in relation 
to the repair).  
5.3.5	 PEOPLE AND HUMAN 
RESOURCES
People provide the driving force behind most businesses.  
To ensure that the operator can meet its ESG and wider 
business goals, people related processes will need to be 
adopted to ensure the operator has the right job roles to 
get the work done; the right people to fill these roles; that 
people have the right skills; and that sufficient incentives 
and policies are in place to ensure the organisation as a 
whole moves forward on its journey to being a sustaina­
ble business. 
In addition, operators will need to be aware of cultu­
ral transformation needs of the organisation and will 
need to foster sustainable thinking and acting within the 
workforce. Training and development programmes and 
workshops may be a useful tool in helping to develop the 
organisation’s culture.
05 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN 
SUSTAINABILITY

19
5.3.6	 NETWORKS
In relation to networks, operators - working 
with their networking equipment suppliers 
- will need to adopt new processes and 
technologies in relation to:
Energy Efficiency: Although the consump­
tion of purchased electricity is classed as 
‘scope 2’ in the GHG Protocol operators 
need to continue to work with their infras­
tructure suppliers to maximise the energy 
efficiency of network infrastructure.  NGMN 
Alliance has published a report [17] on the 
opportunities and challenges of network 
energy efficiency and continues to work 
on recommendations for how to increase 
network energy efficiency.  
Migration towards cloud-based solutions 
for networking infrastructure: Operators 
are investigating if software-based solutions 
for networking and use of cloud hosting 
(public/private/hybrid) may be more energy 
efficient compared to their existing opera­
tions.  Disaggregated networking including 
the move towards the use of cloud-native 
solutions may further enhance energy 
efficiency (and thereby reduce carbon 
emissions) as the technology in theory will 
allow for greater use of shared resources 
(pooled compute resource) as well as the 
ability to scale the network to more closely 
follow and match user demand.   Based 
on statistics from HPE  moving to a cloud-
based service not only saves cost and TCO 
(Total cost of ownership) by 30% but it 
also saves energy by 33%, mainly because 
hardware and operation are optimized. 
Although these efficiency figures are to 
be welcomed – and demonstrate how the 
industry is considering energy efficiency – 
they do however represent only a single 
data point.  As technology evolves and as 
operators gain more operational insights it 
can be expected that the industry will have 
a greater appreciation and understanding 
of the energy efficiency of cloud-native 
networks.
In addition, as also outlined in 5.3.2 in re­
lation to devices, operators will also need 
to work with their infrastructure suppliers 
to ensure that future infrastructure is 
eco-designed and that issues such as mini­
mising packaging are considered.  NGMN 
Alliance’s report on ‘Network Equipment 
Eco-design and end to end services foot­
print’ [18] provides a number of important 
recommendations in this area.
5.4	 TOOLS AND 
TECHNIQUES
Operators should leverage tools and tech­
niques to manage their supply chain sus­
tainability. This includes amongst others, 
things like supply chain reporting and 
ESG reporting. It also includes sustainable 
supply chain simulations and optimizations 
alongside the holistic picture.
This requires high quality, auditable data, 
and automated and trusted processes for 
data collection and integration.
Figure 5-1: IT efficiency in the cloud (source: HPE)

20
06 CONCLUSIONS
With the climate emergency, all indus­
tries are facing the challenge of how to 
cut their carbon emissions and become 
carbon neutral. The mobile industry is no 
different and is already taking action to 
cut emissions. To facilitate that action, it is 
important for the industry to collaborate; 
share best practice; and learn from each 
other.  It is in this context that NGMN All­
iance’s Green Future Networks initiative 
seeks to support the industry by providing 
timely and actionable advice.
In this publication, the issue of ‘Telco Supply 
Chain Sustainability’ has been considered. 
Managing and developing the supply chain 
in order to ensure climate and wider Envi­
ronmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) 
goals can be met is especially important in 
the mobile industry given that operators 
report the vast majority of their carbon 
emissions are in their supply chain. To 
address this key issue operators will need 
to re-orientate their businesses; building 
ESG into their business plans and working 
with all of their stakeholders (suppliers, 
customers, investors) to ensure they are 
aligned in terms of their outlook, plans 
and approach. Although the scope of this 
publication is the supply chain, in analy­
sing the impact on the supply chain it is 
important to consider the wider impacts 
on the operator as, for example, choices 
made in relation to product and service 
development and changes to how the 
operator sells its products and services will 
clearly have an impact on their suppliers. 
For this reason, a methodical approach has 
been taken to outlining how ESG impacts 
key activities within an operator.
The following key conclusions and recom­
mendations can be drawn:
1.
Adopt ESG goals as an integral part 
of the operator’s objectives.
2.
To reduce scope 3 emissions, 
ensure alignment of major stakehol­
ders (in particular suppliers) with 
the ESG goals.
3.
Update processes (in particular in 
relation to supply chain management) 
to include ESG.
4.
Encourage suppliers to disclose 
carbon emissions data.
In support of these recommendations, several tools and resources have 
been identified as well as a review conducted of existing and emerging 
regulations.  A simple guide to implementing a telco sustainable supply 
chain is provided in Annex A.  In addition, several examples highlighting 
best practice are offered to highlight the steps the industry is taking on 
this critically important journey.
As this area evolves - and as the wider transformation of operators into 
sustainable businesses gets fully underway - NGMN Alliance anticipates 
that this publication will be updated and maintained as new regulations, 
processes and tools emerge.

21
The NGMN Alliance’s 
Green Future Networks 
initiative seeks to support 
the industry by providing 
timely and actionable advice
Managing and developing the supply chain 
in order to ensure climate and wider Environ­
mental, Societal and Governance (ESG) goals 
can be met is especially important in the mobile 
industry given that operators report the vast 
majority of their carbon emissions are in their 
supply chain.

22
07 ANNEX A: 
GUIDE FOR TELCOS TO 
PROCURE SUSTAINABLE 
PRODUCTS
Many good practices already exist in the mobile 
industry which are outlined in the case studies pre­
sented in this document. As mentioned in section 
3 above, sustainable procurement is one of the key 
levers for reducing supply chain emissions. 
Several key criteria are listed in the table below which could support procure­
ment decisions. It is not an exhaustive list, and it might not be applicable for 
each supplier either, however it provides a starting point for the purchasing 
team to understand the sustainability at both the product and supplier level 
and how to buy lower carbon footprint products. 
The above questions should help the purchasing team to evaluate the impact 
of the products which are to be purchased and this information could be used 
to further emphasize on areas of improvement for vendors. A separate list of 
requirements should be ideally drawn up using above criteria based on the 
product/product-family. In addition, if a company is including the sustainability 
criteria as a decision-making factor, the steps should be:
•	 Define scoring methodology including weight for each criteria matching 
your sustainability strategy
•	 Define product/product category specific criteria based on the available 
internationally recognised standards from ITU or ETSI

23
Sourcing Criteria
Evaluation  
Net Zero Targets 
Is the vendor/supplier setting net zero targets matching to the operator?
Renewable Electricity usage 
Is the product manufactured using as close to 100% renewable electricity as 
possible (depending on the availability)?
SBTi commitment
Is the vendor/supplier setting science-based targets?
CDP reporting
Is the vendor/supplier reporting emissions in CDP and is this data verified by 
a trusted third party?
Independent ESG rating tools
Is the vendor able to provide any independent ESG rating matching to the 
threshold of your strategy
Waste Management
Is the vendor setting targets and KPIs for moving towards zero E-waste?
Water Footprint reporting
Is the vendor reporting the water consumption (during product manufactu­
ring, cooling, etc)?
Product modularity
Is the product modular?
End of lifecycle/Reusability/ 
Recyclability
Is the product reusable/recyclable?
Reselling
Is the vendor enabling the reselling of the product?
Repairability
Is the product repairable?
Take back program 
Is the vendor offering a take back option?
Packaging
Is the product packed in an eco-friendly manner (as less material as possib­
le, no single use plastic, recycled material usage)?
Product housing and packaging
Is the product housing and packaging eco-friendly?
Alignment with RBA 
Is the supplier aligned with the code of conduct from the Responsible Busi­
ness Alliance?
LCA availability
Is the product’s LCA available according to the recognised standards?
PCF availability 
Is the Product Carbon Footprint available according to the recognised stan­
dards?
Energy consumption 
Is the product energy efficient?
Conflict minerals/hazardous sub­
stances
Is the product containing hazardous substances?
Social impact
Is the vendor compliant according to sustainable supply chain conditions 
including child labour, occupational and health safety, human rights, etc.?

24
08 LIST OF 
ABBREVIATIONS
CDP
Carbon Disclosure Project
ESG
Environmental, Social and Governance
ESPR
Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation
GARS 
Global Asset Recovery Services
GRI
Global Reporting Initiative
LCA
Lifecycle Assessment
OEM 
Original Equipment Manufacturer
PAIA
Product Attributes to Impact Algorithm
PCF
Production Carbon Footprint
PELM
Product End of Life Management
RBA
Responsible Business Alliance
RFP / RFQ 
Request for Proposal / Request for Quotation 
SBTi
Science Based Target initiative
SDG
Sustainable Development Goals
TCO
Total Cost of Ownership

25
09 REFERENCES
[1] ITU-T L.1023: Assessment method for circular scoring
[2] ‘Mobile Net Zero. State of the industry on Climate 
Action 2022', GSMA, May 2022, https://www.gsma.com/
betterfuture/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Moble-Net-
Zero-State-of-the-Industry-on-Climate-Action-2022.pdf
[3] ‘The next level of emission reductions in telecom 
operators’, OliverWynan, May 2021, https://www.oliver­
wyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2021/may/next-le
vel-of-emission.html 
[4] ’Greenhouse Gas Protocol’, https://ghgprotocol.org 
[5] ‘Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder: Enabling 
decarbonization through Scope 3 emissions transparen­
cy’, WBCSD, March 2021. https://www.wbcsd.org/Pro­
grams/Climate-and-Energy/Climate/SOS-1.5/Resources/
Value-Chain-Carbon-Transparency-Pathfinder-Enabling-de
carbonization-through-Scope-3-emissions-transparency 
[6] ‘Value Change in the Value Chain: BEST PRACTICES IN 
SCOPE 3 GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT’, Science Based 
Targets Initiative, November 2018. https://sciencebased
targets.org/resources/files/SBT_Value_Chain_Report-1.pdf 
[7] Just and sustainable economy: Commission lays down 
rules for companies to respect human rights and en­
vironment in global value chains https://ec.europa.eu/
commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1145
[8] German Supply Chain Due Diligence Law https://www.
bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Gesetze/Wirtschaft/lieferketten
sorgfaltspflichtengesetz.html
[9] Sustainable economy: Parliament adopts new reporting 
rules for multinationals: Corporate Sustainability Reporting 
Directive (CSRD). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/
en/press-room/20221107IPR49611/sustainable-economy-
parliament-adopts-new-reporting-rules-for-multinationals 
[10] ‘Understanding the SEC’s proposed Climate Risk 
Disclosure Rule’, McKinsey & Company, June 2022. https://
www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-
finance/our-insights/understanding-the-secs-proposed-
climate-risk-disclosure-rule
[11] Eco-Design for Sustainable Products Regulation https://
ec.europa.eu/info/energy-climate-change-environment/
standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-
requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustaina
ble-products_en
[12] ‘European Commission Consults on New Ecodesign 
Requirements for Smartphones and Tablets’, Latham & 
Watkins LLP, September 2022, https://www.globalelr.
com/2022/09/european-commission-consults-on-new-
ecodesign-requirements-for-smartphones-and-tablets/ 
[13] ‘Science Based Targets Initiative’, https://scienceba
sedtargets.org/about-us
[14] Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct 
https://www.responsiblebusiness.org/media/docs/RBA
CodeofConduct7.0_English.pdf
[15] ‘Product Attributes to Impact Algorithm (PAIA)’, Quan­
tis [website accessed Nov 2022], https://quantis.com/
who-we-guide/our-impact/sustainability-initiatives/paia/ 
[16] Device Eco-Ratings scheme: https://www.ecorating
devices.com/#about-us
[17] ‘’Green Future Networks: Network Energy Efficiency 
v1.1’, NGMN, December 2021 https://www.ngmn.org/
wp-content/uploads/211009-GFN-Network-Energy-Effi
ciency-1.0.pdf
[18] ‘Network Equipment Eco-Design and End to End 
Services Footprint’ (V1.0), NGMN, July 2021 https://www.
ngmn.org/wp-content/uploads/210719-NGMN_Green-fu
ture-Networks_Eco-design-v1.0.pdf

26
10 BEST PRACTICES
This contains captured 
best practices from 
several industry players 
who have contributed to 
the development of this 
publication.

27
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM
Sustainability and social responsibility have played a key role in our corpo­
rate activities for more than two decades. We see ourselves as a responsible 
company and have made that a core element of our Group strategy. To be 
able to enter into a business relationship with us, suppliers have to register 
on our supplier portal and undergo a qualification process. Those who do so 
are fully informed of Deutsche Telekom’s fundamental principles and values – 
also regarding corporate responsibility and sustainability. As of 2022, ~98% of 
overall emissions from Deutsche Telekom are generated in the supply chain.
SUSTAINABILITY IN PROCUREMENT
Sustainability is considered while making procurement decisions. As of 2022, 
the sustainability criteria are also being applied to selected (high-volume) in­
vitations to tender for the supply of IT and network hardware products, and 
for choosing suppliers. Sustainability accounts for a weighting of 20 percent 
in relation to supplier selection.
SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
We collaborate as partners with our suppliers to make sure they are able to 
meet our high sustainability criteria.
Since 2018, we have continued the former Deutsche Telekom supplier de­
velopment program as an industry approach (called ‘Sustainable Development 
Program, or SDP’). Telefónica and Swisscom have since joined this program.
BINDING SUSTAINABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Our Supplier Code of Conduct must be accepted by all suppliers. It sets out 
fundamental human rights, along with our ethical, social, and ecological stan­
dards. In addition, specific sustainability criteria are checked and evaluated 
when selecting suppliers and products.
SUSTAINABILITY REVIEWS
Our suppliers must regularly submit to internal and external sustainability 
reviews. A standardized auditing process is used to regularly assess the on-
site working, social, and living standards, and the environmental situation, 
particularly for suppliers who are of strategic importance or are associated 
with higher risk.
SUPPLIER TRAINING SESSIONS
We train our suppliers using specific online training modules, for example, on 
compliance topics such as corruption prevention and anti-trust law, on human 
rights, and on other sustainability issues.

28
Approaching the full supply chain via the 
Supply Chain Leaders Initiative
By engaging high-emitting and strategically chosen suppliers Ericsson can 
reach 90% of its downstream supply chain emissions, and not only emissions 
from 1st tier suppliers. 
The aim is for suppliers to halve their emissions. This is done by suppliers 
setting their own 1.5°C aligned climate targets covering their downstream 
supply chain emissions. By committing to this, suppliers should halve their 
emissions by 2030, and publicly communicate on the targets. 
The biggest value of this way of working is that it supports a transition of the 
supply chain for the whole sector since supply chains often are shared bet­
ween companies in the same industry. Ericsson does this jointly through the 
1.5 degree Supply Chain Leaders and the SME Supply Chain Hub which are 
partnerships under the Exponential Roadmap initiative (https://exponential­
roadmap.org). It is a tool to engage and facilitate SME’s and other suppliers 
in the transition to low carbon operations.  The initiative provides common 
guidance in setting climate targets, common way of working and support with 
tools and guidelines. Suppliers should set public 1.5-degree climate targets and 
promote the initiative towards their own suppliers and request that they also 
set climate targets.  By developing public resources such as guides and tools 
that anyone can use, not only members, the aim is to support all companies 
to de-carbonize and engage with their respective suppliers; something our 
whole industry can benefit from.
ERICSSON

29
OVERVIEW AND APPROACH
With our vision of a climate-resilient and digitally inclusive world, we are committed 
to developing technology solutions that have a positive social and environmental 
impact while maximizing the benefits to our customers, shareholders, team mem­
bers, and communities in which we operate. Our approach enables our customers 
to reduce the environmental impacts of their infrastructure without compromising 
performance and to make data-driven decisions that boost the sustainability of their 
operations and, in many cases, the positive impact of their products and services.
PARTNERING/SUPPLIER TRAINING
Reaching our net-zero goals requires close collaboration with our global manu­
facturers and suppliers. We actively partner with the top 95% of our supply chain 
manufacturing spend to help them improve their management of GHG emissions, 
water, and waste.
Using supply chain data management software we share supplier-facing GHG 
emissions management dashboards. This provides suppliers with company-spe­
cific emissions data, modelled science-based GHG emissions reduction targets, the 
ability to track progress toward their publicly stated emissions reduction goals, and 
allows them to view their own performance against that of their peers. In addition 
we are working with our top-spend suppliers on renewable energy projects.
PRODUCT ECO-LABELS AND MARKET STANDARDS
HPE products have obtained eco-labels such as the Electronic Product Environmental 
Assessment Tool (EPEAT), ENERGY STAR®, 80 Plus, the China State Environmental 
Protection Agency (SEPA), and the China Energy Conservation Program (CECP). 
BINDING SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY 
REQUIREMENTS
HPE’s industry-first supply chain management program requires our production 
suppliers—which contribute to nearly 25% of HPE’s global carbon footprint—to set 
science-based emissions reduction targets for their own operations and publicly 
disclose their emissions and progress annually. These requirements are part of 
our supplier Social and Environmental Responsibility (SER) scorecards and are 
referenced in key procurement decision-making which is backed up by regular in­
dependent audits and reviews.
HPE

30
COMMITMENT 
From its founding over a century ago, IBM has anchored itself in a set of 
fundamental values that shape and define our company and permeate all 
our relationships – with employees, investors, clients, communities where 
we operate, and our global network of suppliers. IBM has long committed to 
doing business with responsible suppliers.  
SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
(environmental, social, ethical, etc.)
IBM is a founding member (2004) of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), a 
non-profit industry group that helps its members support continuous impro­
vement in the social, environmental, and ethical responsibility of their supply 
chains. IBM itself adheres to the RBA Code of Conduct (CoC) which contains 
provisions on labour, health and safety, environmental requirements, ethics, 
and management systems, and we require our first-tier suppliers of hardware, 
software, and services to adhere to the RBA CoC.  
Through RBA and other business associations, we collaborate with peers and 
suppliers to build tools, share learning, conduct assessments and audits to 
continually improve performance and increase transparency across the areas 
of corporate responsibility.
 
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPLIERS
IBM has issued environmental requirements for suppliers dating back nearly 
5 decades such as environmental evaluation of suppliers; and has continued 
to enhance our programs.  The following are two more recent examples:
•	 Since 2010, IBM set new requirements for all of its first-tier suppliers and 
among them, maintaining a management system to address their social 
and environmental responsibilities; measuring performance, setting goals 
and publicly disclosing results; and cascading the requirements to their 
suppliers who perform work material to the goods and services provided 
to IBM.
•	 In 2021, IBM set a goal requiring key suppliers in emissions-intensive 
business sectors to set an emissions reduction goal by 2022, addressing 
their Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions, that is aligned with scientific re­
commendations from the UN IPCC to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees 
Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Find out more here:
https://www.ibm.com/impact
IBM

31
KPN is working constantly towards sustainability. KPN has already achieved 
the target for scope 2 and scope 1 emissions and aims to achieve the goal of 
carbon neutrality by 2040.
 
 
Goal of KPN (Source KPN annual report)
 
As we can see from the above diagram, KPN has a goal to go net zero CO2e 
emissions in the value chain.
COLLABORATION TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE 
VALUE CHAIN
Over the past decades, KPN has established itself as one of the world's greenest 
telecom businesses, motivated by our conviction that sustainable business is 
better business. KPN upped their target this year to achieve net-zero carbon 
emissions by 2040. Suppliers and customer participation are critical across 
the value chain to build the solutions required to reach KPN's ambitious goal 
of being net zero by 2040.
 
COLLABORATING TOWARDS ZERO WASTE 
AND ZERO EMISSIONS
KPN's sustainability strategy is to affect the environmental effect of our who­
le supply chain, from suppliers to customers. KPN's primary objective is to 
achieve near-perfect circularity by 2025. KPN has established an objective of 
redesigning at least 15 typical KPN goods for circularity by 2022, for example, 
by utilizing recycled material. This covers network equipment as well as in-
home devices like modems and set-top boxes. KPN's goal for outflow material 
is to maximize reuse and recycling while avoiding incineration and disposal. 
KPN is decreasing CO2e emissions from our business vehicle fleet by adopting 
zero-emission cars.
KPN

32
Sustainable sourcing targets are defined both at the Group and country levels 
to develop long-term and trusted relationships with suppliers, complying with 
our company’s responsibility commitments and our strategy. Altogether, ten 
key principles govern our responsible sourcing actions: financial equity, focus 
on strategic suppliers, limitation of risks, deep involvement in the sector, TCO 
approach, integration of environmental and social aspects, territorial impacts, 
fair purchasing process, Supplier Relationship Management, trained and cer­
tified sourcing and Supply Chain professionals.
From an operational standpoint, in 2020 the Group Supply Chain department 
has launched an innovative project called O’GREEN to measure and reduce 
the carbon footprint of the Group's Supply Chain activities, mainly in terms 
of warehouse energy consumption and deliveries to customers and shops. 
The O’GREEN project name stands for Orange Gas Reduction Emissions & 
Energy Indicators.
•	 Between the end of 2019 and the first semester of 2020, we tested the BEC 
tool (BearingPoint’s Emission Calculator) on Orange France & Orange Romania 
flows. This tool proved to be optimal for collecting the CO2 emissions data 
and making computations.
•	 Since the beginning of 2022: under the coordination of the Group Supply 
Chain Centre of Excellence, the O’GREEN program successfully achieved a 
major objective: the measurement of the carbon footprint of all customer 
equipment distribution flows and warehouse logistics operations, in all 
European countries, for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. Additionally, we 
were able to include the measurement of network flows for Orange France.
•	 In the beginning of 2022, we started on-boarding MEA Countries to the 
O’GREEN program, firstly with Orange Morocco, followed by Orange Egypt. 
In parallel, we have been collecting the data on infrastructure network flows 
across the Orange footprint in Europe (besides France). 
O’GREEN acts on four elements to contribute to Orange Group’s Engage 2025 
strategy:
•	 Having reliable KPIs to measure supply chain emissions adequately (logistic 
flows and warehouse energy consumption).
•	 Feeding all extra-financial reports in close collaboration with Group CSR teams, 
and especially feeding the Group’s Scope 3 emissions calculation processes.
•	 Ensuring data reliability (cross-country and historical data per country)
•	 Enabling a sound action-impact analysis regarding acting directly on supply 
chain CO2 emissions, by enabling a sound measure of the impact of all actions 
taken, thanks to the reliable data (cross-country and historical per country).
In a nutshell, the O’GREEN program is key to measuring and reducing supply 
chain Scope 3 emissions and to achieving Orange’s goal of a 14% reduction 
in scope 3 emissions by 2025 (compared to 2018).
ORANGE

VISION
The vision of the NGMN Alliance is to provide impactful 
guidance to achieve innovative and affordable mobile tele­
communication services for the end user with a particular 
focus on supporting 5G’s full implementation, Mastering 
the Route to Disaggregation, Sustainability and Green 
Networks, as well as 6G.
MISSION
The mission of the NGMN Alliance is
•	 To evaluate and drive technology evolution towards 
5G’s full implementation and the three major priori­
ties for 2021 and beyond:
Route to Disaggregation: Leading in the develop­
ment of open, disaggregated, virtualised and cloud na­
tive solutions with a focus on the end to end operating 
model.
Green Future Networks: Building sustainable and 
environmentally conscious solutions.
6G: Emergence of 6G highlighting key trends across 
technology and societal requirements plus use cases 
to address.
•	 to establish clear functional and non-functional requi­
rements for mobile networks of the next generation.
•	 to provide guidance to equipment developers, stan­
dardisation bodies and cooperation partners, leading 
to the implementation of a cost-effective network 
evolution
•	 to provide an information exchange forum for the 
industry on critical and immediate concerns and to 
share experiences and lessons learnt for addressing 
technology challenges
•	 to identify and remove barriers for enabling success­
ful implementations of attractive mobile services
NEXT 
GENERATION 
MOBILE 
NETWORKS 
ALLIANCE e.V.
NGMN, established in 2006, 
is a global, operator-led alliance 
of over 80 companies and orga-
nisation spanning operators, 
manufacturers, consultancies 
and academia.  
© 2023 NGMN Alliance e.V. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written 
permission from NGMN Alliance e.V.