By Luise Urth Krog
"You don't solve the climate crisis by sitting in your own office and thinking big about what you are doing yourself. You will have to involve your customers and your partners in that development”.
So says Søren Christensen, Business Development at Nokia, when LederIndsigt meets with him over the phone, one morning in January 2023, to talk about Nokia, sustainability and technology.
We are curious about what companies can do to boost sustainable development, and therefore talk to Søren Christensen about how Nokia, which has a strong climate profile, is doing it - and what the rest of us can learn from Nokia's approach the climate challenge.
Traditionally, companies work to solve the sustainability challenge by focusing on their own backyard. That is to have control over own value chain, productions, consumption, recycling etc.
Søren Christensen says that 80-90% of Nokias Emissioner is in the customer's home. "This means that we must help our closest customers and telecom operators to get a more efficient use of our products”, continues Søren Christensen.
If you really want to reduce your emissions, according to Søren Christensen, a different mindset is needed.
"If you think about sustainability, you have to go into the customer's area and say: 'Perhaps it would be a good idea to put together your structure in a slightly different way or make some changes that make your energy consumption more efficient'". says Søren Christensen.
You can also consider whether products or hardware that are taken out of the infrastructure can be reused or their lifetime extended in a place where the requirements are not so high. And it is this type of consideration that, according to Søren Christensen, you can take together with your customers and suppliers.
"It is therefore some form of mindset shift that must take place between supplier and customer," says Søren Christensen and continues, "That is probably one of the challenges. We have to find out how to cooperate in a new way”.
FACT BOX
What are scope 1, 2 and 3?
A company's emissions are often divided into three so-called "scopes". Where scope 1 and 2 are emissions the company has a direct or indirect influence on. Eg. whether the company's cars are electric or petrol-powered. Or whether the company buys green or black energy. Scope 3, on the other hand, is more difficult to control, as emissions including, among other things, covers how your customers use the company's products and what they do with them when they no longer need to be used. For most companies, scope 3 accounts for the vast majority of a company's emissions. Likewise for Nokia.
Definition of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions
Basically, scope 1 and 2 are the emissions that are owned or controlled by a company. Where scope 3 emissions are the consequences of the company's activities, but which are created by sources not owned by the company.
Scope 1 emissions
Covers emissions from sources a company owns or directly controls. Eg. Consumption of fuel in the company's cars.
Scope 2 emissions
Are emissions that a company causes indirectly when the energy it buys and uses is produced. Eg. the emissions created when electricity is produced for the company's electric cars.
Scope 3 emissions
Includes all emissions not created by the company itself. But emissions that come from the company and are indirectly responsible for and down through the company's value chain. An example is when we buy, use and throw away products from a supplier. Scope 3 includes all emissions not included in scope 1 and 2.
For many companies, scope 3 emissions account for the vast majority of companies' emissions. Unfortunately, these are also often the most difficult to reduce.
When Pekka Lundmark, Nokia's CEO, speaks at the Mobile World Congress in 2022, he paints a gloomy picture for the future, but fortunately also emphasizes that there able to something is done.
Among other things. Nokia is working on technological solutions that can help make a big difference for our planet in the future.
According to Lundmark, technology is the solution. And here, Nokia's communication technology helps manage the many new technological solutions that already exist and are on the way.
CASE: Nokia Bell Labs and AeroFarms
pin this way, Nokia helps Bell Labs, AeroFarm reduce their emissions
AeroFarms is a vertical farm, located not far from New York. Here, food is produced on shelves several meters high located indoors in a large hall.
Nokia and their research department Bell Labs have, together with AeroFarms, i.a. developed drones that fly around and keep an eye on production. With the help of artificial intelligence, the drone can be trained to keep an eye on whether some plants need extra water, whether there are some that grow unevenly and therefore need extra attention, etc.
This joint project means that AeroFarms is more sustainable than traditional farming. The farm has up to 390 times greater productivity per m2 per year than traditional farming and at the same time the 95% uses less water and zero pesticides. In addition, says Søren Christensen, the farm's location close to consumers means that transport and shipping are saved.
Nokia works closely with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to find sustainable solutions. In addition to developing advanced digital solutions, Nokia develops new sustainable solutions by bringing together interested customers, business partners, suppliers and experts, where they look together at how they can jointly solve some of the challenges they face.
When I ask Søren Christensen how a small company, without as many resources as Nokia, gets started, he gives these three pieces of advice along the way:
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