Improving methods to estimate energy and carbon footprints of global telecommunications

Companies are increasingly estimating and reporting their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) for voluntary and mandatory purposes. This paper includes a review of the quality of company GHG reporting for the global telecommunications sector. We find that company emissions vary significantly, from 3 metric tons CO₂ equivalent per million dollars operating revenue (MTCO₂e/$M) to 215 MTCO₂e/$M. We find that company reported emissions can also vary significantly annually (over 50% in some cases). Some of this variance is due to boundary issues, exclusion of in-scope emissions, unit conversion issues, and differences in electricity GHG intensity. We also find that focusing on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions may distort a company´s GHG estimates by ignoring Scope 3 emissions, which are likely a significant part of its overall GHG footprint. We end by offering recommendations on improving reporting methods.