Our contribution to the SDGs
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity describes biodiversity as the diversity of all living organisms, habitats and ecosystems on land, in freshwater, in the oceans and in the air. This interpretation allows for many topics to be categorized under the heading of biodiversity. Topics such as climate change mitigation, waste, and water that we address at Deutsche Telekom have an indirect influence on biodiversity. In order to review our activities specifically in terms of their direct influence and impact on this topic, we conducted an analysis in 2023 of our impact on biodiversity and our dependence on ecosystem services all the way along our value chain. This analysis was based on the parameters of the ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks, and Exposure) tool, which is designed to aid understanding and evaluation of natural capital risks. Like our materiality analysis, it confirmed that biodiversity is not directly relevant to us as a topic. Indeed, we did not identify any significant direct impact in our own business operations. Similarly, we did not find ourselves to be heavily reliant on water resources (groundwater, surface water, water quality) in our own operations, and there were no significant issues around our operations in water-stressed regions.
However, our business activities can also impact biodiversity in other areas of our value chain – particularly with our suppliers at the start of the chain. This is why our suppliers must also comply with our environmental principles. We verify this regularly during our on-site social audits . And we have formulated it as a requirement in our Supplier Code of Conduct.
We also drew up a statement in 2022 specifying how we contribute to conserving biodiversity and protecting forests from clearance activities. This statement sets out the measures we are implementing to this end along our value chain. This includes our approach to sustainable purchasing, our climate strategy, and our practice of taking aspects of biodiversity into account in our network build-out work.
Moreover, we have taken on the role of nature sponsor during the period under review and are working as part of the Magenta Blossom project to help conserve and promote biodiversity. Flowering islands, as they are known, have been set up on an area over 40 hectares in size to provide a home for bees, insects, and butterflies. Some 22 million wildflowers and herbs have grown in amongst 3.25 million sugar beets. This co-existence of agriculture and new habitats promotes biodiversity and improves soil quality.
We also cooperate with environmental and nature conservation organizations. Proceeds from our various cell-phone collection campaigns in Germany have so far benefited the following organizations, among others: Pro Wildlife e.V.; Frankfurt Zoological Society (projects for the protection of gorillas); and Hellabrunn Zoo, Munich (species protection projects).
The safety of the electromagnetic fields used in mobile communications is a publicly discussed issue. In 2023, the possible impacts of such fields on animals and plants continued to be debated. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection has determined that there is no scientific evidence that high-frequency fields below the legal limits endanger plant and animal life.
In the fight against climate change, we support international reforestation projects. Trees store CO2, produce oxygen, regulate the water balance, provide a habitat for countless species, and thereby promote biodiversity. Many of our employees are actively involved in the Trillion Tree Campaign initiative, through efforts such as organizing tree-sponsorship donations or tree-planting campaigns. Thanks to this, the number of planted seedlings shown in our interactive tree counter keeps growing. We have now grouped the various ongoing projects throughout the Group in our Magenta Forest campaign. One and all are welcome to participate in this campaign – by having trees planted, via an online site; making donations; or joining with others to plant trees in their local areas and have them registered, along with their geodata. In addition, we have asked our employees to use the Ecosia search engine for their internet searches wherever possible. Use of Ecosia contributes to global afforestation, and to our Magenta Forest: with the income it generates from search engine advertising, Ecosia plants trees in over 30 countries, in cooperation with local organizations. In 2023, our Ecosia searches financed over 56 839 tree plantings. Our Green Pioneers ambassador program and our HR team took the initiative to set up the Magenta Pocket Forests, which sees our employees plant mini forests using the special Miyawaki method. Three of these small forests were planted at different locations in Germany during the year under review, comprising 1 000 trees in total, with more to follow. Together with the trees we planted ourselves as well as donated trees, our Magenta Forest grew by over 15 115 trees in the year under review.
Information and communications technology (ICT ) solutions form part of our portfolio of products and solutions that we use to drive pollution reduction efforts. For example, ICT solutions help to enhance transparency concerning water consumption and water management systems and to track animals as part of endangered species conservation efforts.