Huawei sustainability report focuses on digital divide, climate change

NEW DELHI: Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies has launched its 2015 Sustainability Report entitled ‘Connecting the Future’ which sets out its contribution, during the past year, to the fight against global climate change; new initiatives to address the digital divide; the company’s responsibilities to maintaining the stability and security of telecommunications networks; along its work in supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Kevin Tao, chairman of Huawei’s Corporate Sustainability Development (CSD) Committee, remarked, “Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is crucial for human progress in modern society, and connectivity-centered ICT technologies are catalyzing transformation in every industry. In addition to boosting business efficiency and enriching people’s lives, ICT is transforming societies in ways that create economic opportunities, protect the environment, and make our world more sustainable.”

Huawei has been optimizing its effort for sustainable development and aims to integrate sustainability firmly across the company so it is aligned with corporate business strategies. “Business growth is not our only goal, as we are equally committed to fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities and pursuing sustainable development. We hope to join hands with our partners to build a harmonious business environment and for a Better Connected World,” said Mr. Tao.

For Huawei’s sustainability development priorities and directions, Mr. Tao commented, “With the rapid change in technology development, the way of technology application is ever evolving. Our stakeholders are placing increasingly high requirements on us, and we are striving to turn these challenges into competitive advantage. In 2016 we will focus our efforts on bridging the digital divide and enabling information access for more people, optimizing our eco-design skills to provide more energy-efficient products and solutions, implementing our circular economy strategy to minimize the environmental impact of our smartphones, and continuing the supplier energy conservation and emissions programs to build a greener global supply chain.”

Huawei’s role is to responsibly build a Better Connected World by fulfilling its sustainability vision and working closely with industry partners to – bridging the digital divide and promoting the harmonious and sustainable development of the economy, the environment, and society.

Highlights from the 2015 sustainability report include:

Bridging the Digital Divide

· Deployed more than 50% of wireless base stations, over 70% of LTE networks, and at least 50,000 kilometers of optical fiber cable in Africa to provide better digital connectivity to the continent

· Collaborate with customers to build over 500 new base stations in Sri Lanka, reaching numerous households, 80% of which had never accessed broadband before

· Provided network access for 50,000 Ethiopian students across 64 schools to learn more efficiently and transform education

· Expanded ‘Seeds for the Future’, Huawei’s flagship CSR programme in 67 countries and regions and nurtured over 15,000 next generation ICT talents

· Held joint initiatives with the Bangladesh government and local telecom carrier to provide ICT training to 240,000 Women across 64 districts

· Provided a professional telemedicine platform in Henan province, China, which allows more than 10,000 remote consultations and 30,000 remote diagnoses per year

Supporting Stable and Secure Network Operations and Protecting User Privacy

· Ensured reliable communication for nearly 3 billion people worldwide, and supported network stability during more than 130 major events and natural disasters

· Responded to the 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Nepal, restoring key base stations at hospitals, government agencies, disaster relief centers and embassies within 24 hours, and ensuring vital communications services were available to emergency services and victims, particularly during peak network usage

· Established and implemented an end-to-end and trusted global cyber security assurance system in terms of policy, organization, process, management, technology, and specifications.

· Received the Transparency Award for cyber security from the governments of four cities in Lower Saxony Germany, and the 10-year Excellence in Information Security Award from the International Computer Security Association Labs.

Promoting Environmental Protection

· Developed the lower powered chips and improved hardware design, software and dynamic energy management, which in turn helped to increase energy efficiency of core routers and wireless based stations by 25% and 20% respectively.

· Six Huawei handsets obtained leading environmental certifications based on the UL110 standard, with five of them achieving platinum level. Huawei’s entire range of campus network switches were also certified with the Green Product Mark of TÜV Rheinland.

· Saved 44.3 million kWh of electricity, reducing energy consumption per unit of sales revenue by 13.8% year-on-year

· Generated 20 million kWh of electricity through our in-house solar power stations, reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 18,000 tons

· Worked with suppliers to reduce over 72,000 tons of CO2 emissions

· Introduced clean energy programs through increased employee awareness, energy management, improved technology, refined product packaging and redesigned logistics and transportation systems to reduced Carbon emissions from manufacturing to save 9,639,800 kWh of electricity, equivalent to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 9,011 tons

· Expanded a global green recycling program to recycle used mobile phones in 23 countries, helping to maximize product value and ensure legal disposal

Seeking Win-Win Development

· Ensured an employee localization ratio of 72% outside China and invested over US$1.4 billion in employee benefits

· Enforced strong corporate governance and commitment by establishing effective compliance systems in subsidiaries outside China and appointed and trained compliance officers in 85 key countries. 99.4% of Huawei employees had also signed the business conduct guideline.

· Continued to perform strong supply chain management by refining Huawei’s conflict minerals management strategy, investigated 977 suppliers with their use of conflict minerals and operate in accordance to responsible procurement practices.

· Initiated social contribution projects globally, such as supporting ICT innovation and start-ups; facilitating local communities’ green initiatives, and cultural, sports, and traditional events; enabling ICT talent education; offering support to local charity organizations; and supporting underprivileged groups.

· Efforts recognized by industry peers, including being awarded the Gold Award at the BT Better Future Supplier Forum (British Telecom), the ‘Extraordinary Contribution to Project Spring’ Award from Vodafone, and gold medals from other peers for Huawei’s sustainability efforts