Sustainable Business: Digitalization Directly Contributes to Climate Protection and Resource Conservation

In the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2023 Global Risks Report, six out of ten highlighted issues over the next decade relate to climate. The risk of failing to reduce the impact of climate change and adapt to it, natural disasters and extreme flooding, as well as biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, hold the top four positions. When combined with the crisis of natural resource sources and potential major environmental incidents, the WEF assesses that we are least prepared for climate and ecological risks. The next decade is considered turbulent as damage to nature and climate change are intrinsically linked to the danger of failure in one area spilling over to another.

Renewable Energy

Nevertheless, the WEF believes that research and development of new technologies will continue at an intense pace over the next decade, which, among other things, can bring solutions for the climate. Digitalization, along with technology, is one of the solutions particularly important for Croatia, which the WEF identified in last year’s report as having a digital gap as one of the greatest risks.

Digitalization directly contributes to climate protection and resource conservation through innovations that enable products to be more durable and energy-efficient, but it only reaches its full potential when aimed at improving the quality of life for all people. This is also the reason why Hrvatski Telekom bases its approach to sustainability on three key areas: climate change, resource efficiency, and digital inclusion. Furthermore, for nineteen consecutive years, the company has published a Sustainability Report, making it one of the first in Croatia. HT has, in fact, already achieved its first climate goal as it has been utilizing 100% renewable energy for over two years. By 2025, it plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for direct and indirect energy consumption within the organization, a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2020, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Investment in Digitalization

From 2020 to 2022, HT reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 55%, waste by 81%, energy consumption by 7.6%, and paper consumption by 20%. Last year, it signed the first corporate Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (vPPA) in Croatia with Professio Energia, which will cover a significant part of its electricity needs from renewable sources.

HT is also behind innovative solutions for smart cities, such as smart lighting in Sveti Nedelja, the Smart City Split application, smart remote water consumption reading in the Đakovo water supply, or a series of solutions in Dubrovnik recently presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as examples of best practices in Deutsche Telekom Europe.

Just in the past year, for example, it collected and disposed of a record 339,778 different electronic devices. The goal of complete disposal of its technological waste has been met, the share of returned mobile devices compared to those sold in the previous year has increased, and this year it has taken a step further by introducing the ‘Call You Can’t Miss’ platform aimed at environmental protection and more responsible management of electronic equipment. HT also emphasizes that it has once again invested the most in the digitalization of Croatia. Last year, it invested 231 million euros, and over the past three years, a total of 708 million euros has been invested. The development of the 5G network continues: it now covers one hundred cities and encompasses more than two million residents. The optical network is also expanding, which is already the largest in Croatia. In 2022, an additional 100,000 households were covered, with a plan to cover one million.

Desirable Employer

As part of the ‘Generation NOW’ program, HT has so far invested nearly 650,000 euros in STEM education for children and youth. More than 360 educational institutions have participated, over 140 of which were involved last year. The national digital education program ‘Generations Together’ has also been expanded, covering more than fifty homes for the elderly and disabled by the end of 2022.

Last year, a thousand HT employees advanced in their careers, and the company confirmed its position as one of the most desirable employers in Croatia. For the third consecutive year, it won the Zagreb Stock Exchange ‘Share of the Year’ award and was declared ‘Share with the Highest Turnover’. Progress has also been noted internationally – Hrvatski Telekom is the first Croatian company recognized as one of the most ethical companies in the world and as one of the European climate leaders.

Content created in collaboration with Hrvatski Telekom.