Environmental sustainability is a key precedence for TELUS, a world-leading communications know-how firm. It continues to rank within the high 100 most sustainably managed corporations on this planet, and seeks to make a more healthy planet for all by leveraging its global-leading know-how, compassion to drive social change and scale back our collective carbon footprint by progressive applied sciences and sustainable enterprise practices.
TELUS surpassed its sustainability aims in 2019 and is now on a journey to acquire all of its electrical energy from renewable or low-emitting sources by 2025. Subsequent, it goals to realize web carbon neutrality for its operations by 2030. TELUS has additionally been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 21 consecutive years, a feat unmatched by another North American telecom or cable firm. In 2021, it grew to become the primary firm in Canada to launch a Sustainability-linked bond (SLB) framework and full an SLB providing, formally linking TELUS financing to its environmental efficiency.
“We’ve spent the final decade changing into a worldwide chief in sustainability, serving to make the planet more healthy by making certain that our operations are as environmentally accountable as attainable,” mentioned Geoff Pegg, Head of Sustainability and Atmosphere at TELUS.
Partly, TELUS’ technique is concentrated on three key areas:
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Search the very best renewable vitality choices obtainable
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Concentrate on migrating workloads to the cloud
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Embrace a multiplier impact by the usage of sustainable companions
Renewable vitality influence
A part of this environmental accountability includes investing closely in renewable vitality sources by energy buy agreements (PPAs) that assist renewable vitality suppliers like wind farms and photo voltaic corporations develop their infrastructure. TELUS executed PPAs with 4 Alberta-based photo voltaic and wind services to offer 100 per cent of its electrical energy load demand in a province the place one-third of the grid is powered by coal.
As a know-how firm, electrical energy represents a big portion of TELUS’ vitality wants: 80 % of the operational carbon footprint comes from the facility necessities for TELUS’ community and administrative buildings, Pegg explains. Whereas TELUS is utilizing renewable vitality sources and low-emitting vitality grids to energy its buildings and community, there’s additionally the often-forgotten a part of the carbon emissions equation: the vitality it takes to energy information facilities. Because the Worldwide Power Company not too long ago reported, information facilities symbolize 1 % of the worldwide electrical energy demand and that determine is anticipated to maintain rising because the world will increase utilization of data-heavy applied sciences.
“It is most likely no shock that everybody, whether or not you are a enterprise or a shopper, is anxious about decreasing carbon emissions,” mentioned Chris Talbott, the Google Cloud Sustainability Lead. “Plenty of us take into consideration the carbon emissions related to our automobiles or with the electrical energy that powers our properties, however oftentimes we overlook concerning the carbon emissions that come from the digital companies that we use or the networks required to ship that information.”
As a pacesetter in sustainability, how can TELUS meet the vitality calls for of its prospects whereas additionally defending the setting? A technique is thru the corporate’s beforehand introduced collaboration with Google Cloud. The 2 corporations are working collectively to construct a extra sustainable world by know-how and scale back TELUS’ carbon footprint, create worth alongside all the provide chain, and optimize trade options for social influence by information analytics and machine studying.
Taking a cloud first strategy — decreasing carbon emissions with inexperienced cloud computing
Google grew to become carbon impartial in 2007 and has achieved 100 per cent renewable vitality matching yearly since 2017. Google has invested in renewable vitality to match the electrical energy we use throughout our whole operations, together with Google Cloud, that means each workload that TELUS runs on Google Cloud has been matched with renewable vitality purchases.
“The operational carbon footprint of operating something on Google Cloud is zero,” Talbott mentioned. Additionally, by working with Google, TELUS will get the advantage of economies of scale utilizing much less electrical energy. Not solely is TELUS leveraging Google information facilities, it’s additionally counting on the digital collaboration made attainable by Google Workspace to cut back the quantity of journey required by workers attending conferences in numerous workplaces. Collaboration instruments like Google Meet can scale back the carbon footprint of in-person conferences by 94 %.
Google compensates for the environmental footprint of any electrical energy used within the information middle and out to the sting community. “You may really feel fairly good about utilizing Google Meet as a result of it’s carbon-neutral,” Talbott mentioned.
Multiplier by sustainable partnerships — inexperienced cloud computing radiates out
By supporting TELUS in its environmental sustainability efforts, Google Cloud can be enabling TELUS to do the identical for its numerous partnerships. For instance, powered by Google Cloud’s infrastructure and information analytics capabilities, TELUS is partnering with Picacity (previously NXN Digital) and Google Cloud to ship an ecosystem of built-in sensible applied sciences that allow cities to enhance the lives of their residents.
From dynamic visitors signaling that reduces congestion and emissions, to information analytics that create smarter, extra environment friendly metropolis planning, the partnership is remodeling the best way municipalities function in our more and more digital world.The partnership is constructed on 4 foundational pillars of infrastructure and environmental sustainability, clever transportation, public security and safety, and well being. Within the case of clever transportation, this implies sensors, cameras, and different units are constructed into or close to roads, sidewalks, and bike paths to offer information for progressive software program to enhance visitors circulation in actual time. The information can then foster knowledgeable choices about infrastructure, metropolis planning, fleet optimization, and public security.
All of those environmental measures could appear small in comparison with the enormity of the issue that’s local weather change, however as Talbott mentioned, “Change begins with the small choices we make day by day corresponding to listening to the practices of corporations that we have come to depend on each day within the fashionable world. They might appear small and within the margins, however at scale, that is how we are able to make an actual influence.”
