AKANE OKUTSU, Nikkei staff writer
TOKYO — Japanese telecom conglomerate Nippon Telegraph & Telephone aims to achieve carbon neutrality by fiscal 2040 by using more renewable energy and operating new network infrastructure that consumes less power, the company said Tuesday.
NTT aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by fiscal 2030 from 2013 levels, in its own operations and also in other power sources. It says its mobile phone business NTT Docomo and data centers will be carbon-neutral by 2030.
NTT has revised its climate commitments from last year, after the Japanese government announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The company had previously aimed to increase the use of renewable energy to over 30% of total consumption by fiscal 2030, but it has now dramatically raised the target to 80%. It will generate half of the renewable energy it uses.
By 2040, the company also hopes to reduce greenhouse gases through the implementation of its next-generation, high-speed broadband infrastructure, Innovative Optical and Wireless Network, or IOWN. IOWN is expected to consume less energy than other networks.
“We aim to achieve both the contradictory goals of zero environmental harm and economic growth, through business activities and innovations that break boundaries,” said NTT CEO Jun Sawada at a news conference.
The company said that while increasing data traffic would mean a doubling of greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 from 2013 levels, IOWN and its renewable energy production would offset some of those emissions.
Building and operating renewable facilities will cost an additional 10 billion yen ($90 million) by 2030, Sawada said. On the other hand, he said that a range of management and workstyle reforms, including digital transformation, will help to cut costs by over 200 billion yen by fiscal 2023 from 2017 levels, in addition to the previous target to cut 800 billion yen.
NTT also announced that it would implement an internal carbon pricing system, which will take into account the carbon cost of procurement, by fiscal 2022.
NTT Docomo also announced Tuesday that it was aiming to increase renewable energy consumption to offset its 5G operations with the view of promoting “Green 5G” from October. The company will increase the use of renewable energy at its shops, as well as work with suppliers to reduce emissions.
