The telecom industry claims it's one of the most heavily saturated with net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, and research from GSMA Intelligence shows operators can use that momentum to support the decarbonization of other key industries.

GSMA reported one-third of telecom operators by market share have made public net-zero commitments, and "that's one of the leading rates worldwide," Tim Hatt, who heads up research and consulting for GSMA Intelligence, said during a Nokia webinar on industry decarbonization. The private sector overall stands at 25%, and less than 20% of governments have made legislative net-zero targets.

"I think that really reflects the strategic imperative of being involved in this space and making a clear commitment that's accountable and that quite often has a science-based target attached to it," Hatt said, adding that "telecom operators are certainly putting their money where their mouth is with these commitments."

In drawing a roadmap for worldwide decarbonization — a necessity for avoiding the impacts of climate change — it makes the most sense to first focus on decarbonizing the energy and utilities sectors. A net-zero energy structure will accelerate the decarbonization pathways and strategies of other industries, Clare McCarthy, Nokia's society lead for CSP solutions, explained.

Progress within the energy industry is expected to stem from shifts to more sustainable fuels like hydrogen-based fuels and other polymers, and a successful transition away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels.

According to GSMA Intelligence, mobile and digital technology has the largest potential to impact the energy and utilities sectors.

A range of digital technologies promise to make power grids cleaner, including private networks, IoT sensors, and cloud-based analytics. GSMA expects mobile technology to help the energy sector avoid 4.2 gigatons of carbon emissions before 2030. That's equivalent to avoiding 60 million car journeys per year, Hatt explained.

Nearly half (46%) of the energy sector's necessary emissions reductions can come from connected solar and wind grids, Hatt said. IoT sensors can be deployed on renewable grids that in turn connect to a mobile network, cloud, or end user premises, whether that's residential or commercial.

"The big picture point is that when we think about smart grids and the enabling technology to power those, this is part of a shift to what are called smart energy systems (SES), which means that all aspects of a grid — its suppliers and its users — become connected to each other to enable a higher rate of energy efficiency, less wastage, and therefore lower emissions," Hatt explained.

GSMA expects the share of solar and wind grids that are IoT connected will increase to 75% by 2050.

While eliminating reliance on fossil fuels is crucial in the big game against climate change, it's not enough on the scale of individual companies to power your operations with solar or wind and call it a net-zero business.

Although clean energy is a big step forward, it only addresses one out of three categories of GHG emissions, McCarthy explained.

Direct emissions from purchased electricity that a business uses for heating or cooling fall into the scope two emissions category. But "other areas need to be to be looked at, particularly these scope one and three areas, to be properly net zero," she said.