Today, there can no longer be economic performance without environmental and societal performance. Putting sustainable development at the heart of operators’ strategy is a question of long-term sustainability. It is also a source of innovation and performance.
What are the sustainable development challenges for companies?
Faced with the challenges of sustainable development, we observe an increase in stakeholders' expectations of companies. This increase is massive, international and particularly prevalent on the issue of climate change. This is a global phenomenon with local consequences, which calls for a response in the form of rapid and collective actions. While public opinion expects states to define a regulatory framework for combating global warming, it also expects companies to seek and implement long-term operational solutions.
The sustainability of companies now ties in closely with their ability to respond to the environmental and societal challenges on which they are held to account, as well as on their economic performance. Investors, industrial analysts and rating agencies demand that we demonstrate the ability of our business models to ensure sustainable performance. Adopted in 2020, the European "Taxonomy" regulation leads us to communicate the share of our activities and investments considered to be "sustainable", whereupon the green orientation of financial flows becomes a structuring element to consolidate the development and sustainability of companies.
In this context, what specific challenge do telecom operators face?
Digital technology will be a major driver of both the ecological transition and societal progress. The GSMA, which represents all the world's mobile operators, has calculated that smart technology (mobile connectivity) could account for a contribution of up to 40% of the carbon emission savings needed to achieve neutrality by 2050. Another illustration: while underscoring the reality of the digital divide, including in developed societies, the health crisis has clearly demonstrated the vital role of digital, in all its facets – telecommuting, e-commerce, telemedicine, distance learning, etc. – to ensure the sustainability of our activities. According to a post-Covid 19 study by the BCG1, recourse to telecommuting purportedly saved 250,000 jobs in France and prevented a drop of $86 billion in France's GDP.
And yet, growing distrust of the usefulness of progress, be it scientific (antivax) or technological (4G, 5G, AI), is stirring public debate. Whatever the viewpoint, technology is not inherently good or bad; it is what humans make of it. The challenge for operators is not only to produce technology, but to steer innovation towards a responsible and sustainable form of digital technology. It is up to us to corroborate Stéphane Richard's statement in 2019: “Digital is a small part of the problem, but a large part of the solution!".
Which strategies can operators develop in order to meet the economic growth, environmental protection and social progress?
The telecommunications sector took its responsibilities with regard to sustainable development very early on. Two years ago, the GSMA decided that the sector should reach carbon neutrality by 2040, ten years ahead of the commitments made internationally! The sector has also been involved in extra-financial reporting on sustainable development issues, through the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) for climate, the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) for carbon, and the SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative) which validates companies’ decarbonization trajectories.
Attentive to their markets’ penchant for low-carbon products, telecom operators have placed sustainable development at the heart of their strategy: they have re-examined their business models in order to develop sustainable solutions for their customers, but also to reduce their own carbon footprint. With hindsight, this commitment to the planet is proving to be a source of innovation and performance. At Orange, for example, the risk we took two years ago of taking out green energy purchase contracts over the long term has become an opportunity for substantial savings in the current context of rising prices for traditional energies; the same goes for our focus on revisiting the energy efficiency of our networks, buildings and vehicles.
Which operational levers can a sustainable development strategy use?
Sustainability must be based on principles of action common to all companies:
- Ethics: respect for human rights, engagement of our value chain, listening to our stakeholders.
- The fundamentals of a comprehensive HR performance policy: employability, skills development, well-being, health, safety at work, diversity, professional equality and social dialog.
Operators are fortunate in that they have two specific levers, linked to their core business, which are also the cornerstones of Orange's CSR strategy: they have the power to optimize their environmental footprint and that of other sectors by turning to renewable energies, the circular economy and the eco-design of products and services, and the power to reduce inequalities by providing connectivity to as many people as possible but also by deploying inclusive offers and services.
What are Orange's commitments regarding the social and environmental challenges of the digital transition?
Our rationale, enshrined in our articles of association, drives our Engage 2025 strategic plan, which supports Orange's social and environmental commitment.
Our objective of digital equality is based on four key actions:
- Extend the coverage of our fixed and mobile networks.
- Propose a social offer by country in Europe (such as “coup de pouce” [boost] in France, or “Tarifa social” [social price] in Spain), along with products and services accessible to all.
- Market multimedia terminals at accessible prices in each country, such as Sanza in Africa and the Middle East.
- Deploy support programs for digital uses, thanks to our Orange Digital Centers, our Foundations, and our digital workshops.
In terms of the environment, our commitment to the planet is for “Orange to be carbon neutral by 2040” with, from 2025, a 30% reduction in its CO2 emissions compared to 2015. This commitment is based on three levers:
- Improving the energy efficiency of our networks, buildings and transport.
- Using electricity from renewable sources.
- Deploying the circular economy in our processes and our businesses.
In addition, we are building carbon sinks to address our residual emissions, and engaging our skills and facilities to contribute to various global conservation programs: CREA Mont-Blanc, Euro-Argo, Copernicus, etc.
It's up to us to demonstrate that digital technology, beyond its societal utility, is indeed an essential part of the solution to the ecological transition.
From our white paper Digital technology faced with sustainable development challenges
1International study on the economic impact of remote working and video communications solutions during the pandemic, carried out for Zoom, published on 26 March 2021
