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Measurable success: Reduced CO2 generation at data centers
We keep our goal of reducing our carbon footprint in mind when planning and operating our data centers. To achieve this goal, we take a two-step approach. It starts with optimizing energy consumption at each data center site and then continues with improving processes throughout the global data center landscape.
Data Center Energy Usage | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||
Total energy used in data centers (MWh) | 646,201 | 748,105 | 758,384 | 709,619 | ||||
Percentage of renewable energy (of total energy) | 53.5 | 62.5 | 98.3 | 99.3 |
Our aim is to increase the share of renewable energy on a yearly basis. Therefore our reported target is to increase our share in comparison to the previous year.
DT AG Health, Safety and Environment Management System and for Quality Management System
As a large corporation, Telekom assumes responsibility for environmental protection. Uniform environmental standards ensure that resource-saving behavior is anchored in all processes and in the daily behavior of employees. To this end, the Group has implemented an HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) management system in all fully consolidated companies.
There are internationally recognized standards for environmental protection in companies, such as the ISO standards (standards of the International Organization for Standardization, ISO for short). These form the basis for environmental management at Telekom. This ensures that environmental policy is implemented uniformly throughout the Group.
Telekom in Germany has been working in accordance with the international standard ISO 14001 for environmental management systems since 1998. Compliance with the ISO standard enables, among other things, resources to be used more efficiently, energy to be saved and waste to be avoided. Employees help to further increase environmental friendliness with their own suggestions.
Telekom's commitment goes far beyond the issue of climate protection: Since 2010, a uniform Group-wide HSE management system has been in place. HSE stands for the three main topics of health, safety and environment. The international standards for occupational health and safety, environmental management and quality management serve as the basis for this.
Employees and experts from all Deutsche Telekom national companies regularly exchange information and jointly develop a comprehensive management system. Internal and external audits are conducted regularly to verify that the requirements of the HSE management system are consistently implemented in the company's day-to-day operations.
Here you can find the manual for our central Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSE MS) of Deutsche Telekom Group. This means that it covers 100% of all Deutsche Telekom units.
Don’t buy, rent
We want to make sure that used routers and media receivers don’t just end up in the trash. That is why we promote the “Don’t buy, rent” approach. Our rental services conserve resources and reduce electronic waste, thus cutting CO2 emissions. When a contract is canceled, the customer returns the devices, which are then either refurbished and rented out again or professionally recycled. We have simplified the return process by introducing a returns portal. We advertise our rental service actively and successfully. The offer has been well received by our customers
the number of people using the rental service increased to just over 11,65 million by the end of 2022.
The Internet of Things
Machines and products are constantly becoming smarter. The technologies that make these developments possible are bundled under the term Internet of Things, or IoT.
IoT can help ideally coordinate the processes of various devices, vehicles, and entire industrial facilities. This increases industrial productivity and ensures efficient logistics, thus helping reduce energy consumption and conserve resources.
We also support the German federal government’s Industry 4.0 initiative through our involvement in IoT. The initiative’s objective is to maintain Germany’s competitive edge in the technology sector.
Digital Solutions: Connected Car – preventing traffic jams with connected cars
T-Systems has been developing and operating Daimler’s Connected Car platform (Daimler vehicle backend) worldwide since 2013. The platform is the technical basis for the Live Traffic service, which provides drivers with real-time traffic information, Live Traffic prevents about 30 percent of traffic jams per vehicle. This means the approximately 24 million vehicles equipped with Live Traffic consumed about 26 million liters less fuel. This translates into CO2 savings of around 65,000 metric tons.
Digital Solutions: The EU’s FENIX project – a platform for more efficient and climate-friendly logistics chains
FENIX = Federated European Network of Information eXchange in LogistiX
Development of a European federated architecture for data sharing serving the European logistics community
- More transparency through real-time information
- Standardized interfaces for ETA, etc.
- Innovative software modules (SDK) from the cloud
- Intermodal transport solutions within EU guidelines
Development, testing and validating practice-relevant services, e.g.:
- Container arrival times (ETA)
- Digitization of customs systems
- CO2 monitoring
Project goals:
- Overcome the fragmented goods transportation causing economic bottlenecks in the EU member states
- Harmonize and optimize cross-border logistics along selected European transport corridors
- Establish ICT standards for seamless communication of cargo flow addressing all modes of transport
Benefit:
Partners with profound market knowledge develop an architecture for a collaborative IT environment bringing together logistics information systems on an operational level
LCMM App (Low Carbon Mobility Management): Helps to improve individual, environmental-sensitive driving style
LCMM (Low Carbon Mobility Management) is a complete system developed for managing logistics fleets. DHL and DB Schenker,
for example, use the patented system in China and Europe and have reduced harmful emissions by an average of 20 percent (saving of 468 kg CO2 per HGV within one month). Fuel costs also went down by as much as 15 percent. This solution starts by analyzing
individual driver behavior. The app helps drivers to develop a more environmentally focused driving style. A cloud backend with corresponding dashboards helps fleet operators to manage their vehicle fleets as efficiently as possible (including up-to-date positioning of each vehicle).
In 11/2020, LCMM has been awarded with the "#GreenMagenta" label of Deutsche Telekom.
Digital Solutions: SHOW – Connecting automated vehicle fleets with the main axes of local public transport, making urban mobility more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Project goal:
SHOW aims to support the deployment of shared, connected and electrified automation in urban transport, to advance sustainable urban mobility.
- Demonstrations in 20 cities across Europe
- Integration of automated fleets in Public Transport
- Including 69 partners from 13 EU-countries
- International cooperation with organizations from the US, South Korea, Australia and China
Benefits:
- Reduction of 20% energy consumption and 10% emissions
- Reduction of overall number of private vehicles through intelligent combination of smart Public Transport solutions
- Improved traffic flow
- Establish new business models and improve virtual validation
Achieving more together: international collaboration
How can international corporations put sustainability strategies into practice across borders? Deutsche Telekom employs CR managers for the relevant business segments and national companies to reach this goal. They use the CR Manager Network to regularly share best practices and discuss new challenges, thereby jointly promoting essential CR issues. The central Group Corporate Responsibility (GCR) department is responsible for managing the network. In the year 2021, the CR Manager Network encompassed more than 100 CR Manager from 34 subsidiaries based in 20 countries across the globe.
The participants are regularly invited to virtual meetings and capacity building calls by Group Corporate Responsibility. In 2021, content and likely implications of the EU Green Deal were discussed as well as progress within the #GreenMagenta programs and the new strategic stream "Positive impact on society" defined by the EU segment. Furthermore, the network members could gain insights into issues like Impact measurement and the future of a greener mobility.
“IT remarketing” project
Our “IT remarketing” project involves reconditioning our used IT hardware to make it suitable for further use. We continue to maintain our partnership with “AfB gemeinnützige GmbH”, which offers job opportunities to people with disabilities. Within the scope of this partnership, we are giving some of our used IT hardware (e.g. laptops) to the organization for reconditioning and reselling. This will support us to save resources and to create jobs for people with disabilities as well as extend the life cycle of our used hardware.
Collaboration for the protection of minors
We want to create a safe and positive online experience for children and young people. We offer them attractive, exciting content on age-appropriate websites.
Supporting standardized child protection offers
We became a member of the non-profit organization JusProg e.V. in 2016. Its software protects children and young people on the internet by blocking certain content.
This software has been officially recognized as a general child protection program in Germany in accordance with statutory requirements (JMStV). The software was most recently evaluated in March 2017.
We donated the rights to the program codes behind our child protection software (Windows) and our child protection app, Surfgarten, (iPhone/iPad) to JusProg e.V.
Commitment to FSM
We are a founding member and part of the executive board of FSM, the Association for the Voluntary Self-Monitoring for Multimedia Service Providers. The association published the “Index for Youth Media Protection” for the first time in 2017. The 2018 youth media protection report specifically addressed teachers and educational specialists.
Together against conflict resources
Telekom has been supporting the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) since 2008. The RMI is the largest initiative in the economy for responsible raw material procurement. Its aim is to identify conflict raw materials and to prevent their extraction and trading with them. The RMI goes back to a working group founded in 2008 by the Global enabling Sustainability Initiative and Responsible Business Alliance for the sustainable extraction of raw materials. Since then, the number of metalworking and smelting companies that participate in the RMI has grown steadily.
Conflict-free Sourcing Initiative
ICT products can contain processed minerals, some of which are mined under inhumane, illegal conditions. The proceeds are often used to finance civil wars in Africa. Telekom is committed to ensuring that the devices it trades do not contain any raw materials produced under critical conditions. It supports the efforts of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which is committed to responsible raw material extraction and procurement. Their central instrument is the Conflict-Free Smelter Program and the corresponding Smelter Database, which is used to control the metalworking and smelting plants (Smelter). Independent auditors check whether the raw materials obtained come from responsible sources and create publicly available audit reports for each processed metal. To make it easier to report abuses, there are contact addresses where whistleblowers can submit their information anonymously.
Commitment to the Diversity Charter
The Diversity Charter is an independent economic initiative that is supported by around 3300 companies and institutions in Germany. Its goal is to promote the recognition, appreciation, and inclusion of diversity in everyday working life in Germany, creating a work environment that is free of prejudice. Deutsche Telekom is a founding member of the initiative.
As in past years, we participated in the seventh nationwide German Diversity Day in 2019. In addition to a conference with around 150 managers from partner companies in the Rhine-Ruhr network participated, the Deutsche Telekom headquarters in Bonn hosted a exhibition with fact, figures and statements from Board Members and employees to show how diverse DTAG is.
IoT: Roambee – “bees” make the logistics chain transparent
Since the beginning of 2017, we have offered businesses a solution for tracking and locating deliveries and assets and for monitoring the status of goods: Shipment & Asset Monitoring powered by Roambee. A “bee” equipped with sensors is attached to the consignment to record information such as temperature, humidity, light, and movement and store this information in the cloud. The bee measures all information in in defined timeframes. A web portal gives users anytime access to a full overview including the device status, location, and details on deliveries and assets.