How Verizon is Building a Sustainable & Inclusive Future

One of the biggest telecommunications companies, Verizon, is putting its efforts behind sustainability to reduce its environmental impact on the world. Headquartered in New York City, it is the world’s second largest telco with revenue of US$133.9bn in 2023.

Here, we look at Verizon’s plans for a sustainable and inclusive future.

Verizon’s sustainability goals

More than 90% of the company’s carbon footprint comes from the electricity it uses to power its networks. By 2025 the company expects to source renewable energy equivalent to 50% of its annual electricity usage, increasing to 100% by 2030.

Verizon is running initiatives such as recycling e-waste, reducing water use and planting 20 million trees by 2030. It aims to reach net zero operational emissions by 2035.

“Industry-wide, there is a constant balance between the need for digital innovation, the needs of our customers, and ensuring we develop sustainable solutions,” says Marissa McInnis, Senior Director for Sustainability at Verizon. “Digital solutions should help reduce our total emissions and help communities adapt to increasing and more intense natural disasters. The time to move on these solutions is now. There is so much work to build on, and such a great need for digital innovations with purpose.”

“Operating as a responsible business is essential to earning our customers’ trust and building a world-class brand,” said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Verizon. 

With over seven years steering the ship, Hans Vestberg has played a pivotal role in achieving Verizon’s recent successes. 

Before joining Verizon, Vestberg spent over 20 years working at Ericsson. This period saw him take on a wide variety of management positions for Ericsson in China, Brazil, Mexico and the United States, culminating in his appointment as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ericsson Group. 

“By championing digital responsibility and inclusion, promoting diversity, mitigating climate risk and creating meaningful work for our employees, we are forging a purpose-driven and resilient business, with long-term growth and strong financial stability,” he added.

Verizon’s security and community initiatives

Verizon recently published the Verizon Mobile Security Index (MSI) which explored mobile security defences.

Results showed that post-pandemic, employers are supportive of employees working remotely, from home, the airport, a hotel or even a local coffee shop. 92% of survey respondents said that their organisation supported remote connectivity, which means that personal mobile devices are embedded into business-critical workflows. 80% of respondents said they agreed that mobile devices were critical to the smooth running of their organisations and 46% of respondents agreed that mobile devices are a critical business tool. 

In its own work, Verizon puts its employees and the communities it serves at the heart of its ESG strategy. It has achieved 100% pay equity in salary for women and men globally and with respect to race and ethnicity in the US.

More than 60% of its US-based workforce is made up of women and minorities, and it has invested US$2.6bn in healthcare benefits and services. 

Since 2019 it has provided more than 2.1 million volunteer hours in communities and prepared more than 45 thousand individuals for jobs of the future.

As of February 2024 it has issued US$6bn in green bonds.

James Gowen, Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP for Global Supply Chain at Verizon, says: “We are proud to help accelerate the transition to greener electrical grids across the U.S. as we work to meet our environmental and social impact goals. 

“Our green bond initiatives will help us source renewable energy equivalent to 100% of our annual electricity consumption by 2030 and achieve net zero operational emissions by 2035.”

James will be speaking at Sustainability LIVE London 2024 next month as part of a panel on Sustainability and Responsibility.

Verizon has around 3.6GW of anticipated renewable energy under contract as of February 2024.

It has also achieved a 22.3% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and a 15.1% reduction in Scope 3 emissions between 2019 and 2022.

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