Our approach
Our approach to sustainability centers around our company's purpose that we create technology that helps the world act together. It is an integral part of our corporate narrative and embedded in how we operate our business and the decisions we make in our business. We adhere to high standards of integrity and security that build trust and we help create the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world. Nokia Bell Labs, our renowned research arm, looks to help solve the future needs of humanity through technological innovation.
Our ESG Strategy
The five ESG focus areas
At Nokia we believe that there is no green without digital. We believe that ESG is a driver of value creation and new revenue streams. Our ambition as first movers is to create new competitive opportunities while creating tangible environmental and social benefits. We have built on five strategic focus areas in our ESG strategy:
Environment (climate & circularity)
In the environment arena, we focus on two areas: climate and circularity. Our greatest source of emissions comes from the use of our products in our customers’ networks. To address this, we aim for leadership in energy efficiency, building on work in silicon, software, and systems and opportunities to optimize across the network with energy orchestration and green operations. In circularity we focus on opportunities to promote hardware circularity and manage the sourcing and reuse of key source materials.
In the environment arena, we focus on two areas: climate and circularity. Our greatest source of emissions comes from the use of our products in our customers’ networks. To address this, we aim for leadership in energy efficiency, building on work in silicon, software, and systems and opportunities to optimize across the network with energy orchestration and green operations. In circularity we focus on opportunities to promote hardware circularity and manage the sourcing and reuse of key source materials.
Industrial digitalization provides the opportunity to sustainably transform physical industries and cities through digitalization and connectivity. We focus on our offering through our Enterprise business with solutions for industry and cities that enable decarbonization, resource efficiency, and safety. This has a much greater potential impact on the world’s carbon footprint in comparison to reducing our own footprint, though we understand the importance of taking action across both domains, and continually drive to minimize our environmental footprint too.
Security and privacy is positioned as the cornerstone of our reputation and product proposition. Product development follows the ‘Design for Security’ methodology, building security into the life cycle from the very start, with a strict minimum baseline for services delivered to customers. Nokia’s customer security team consists of security experts who partner with our customers to build and maintain secure networks, compliant with national regulation for critical telecom infrastructure.
We aim to bridge the digital divide using our broad product portfolio and focused partnering with non-terrestrial organizations to address different demographics and through digital skill building. Connectivity, combined with digital skills, allows for more equal access to healthcare, education and employment for individuals and the opportunity for small businesses to participate in the digital economy.
In responsible business we work to ensure our business practices are aligned to our ethical and responsible values. We apply this approach internally, in our supply chain and across our value chain. We collaborate with the aim to improve systemic issues related to the environment, mitigating the misuse of technology (and advocating for responsible AI principles), human rights, inclusion and diversity and working conditions and contributing to the responsible development of new standards
Our handprint and footprint
We believe the technology we provide enables both environmental and social benefits to individuals, industries and communities that far outweigh any negative impacts. These benefits represent the handprint of digitalization and connectivity. We have both a social and an environmental handprint. We work hard to maximize this handprint. At the same time, we know we must continually strive to minimize any potential negative impacts of technology. This is our footprint. We work to make our footprint on the world around us as small as possible. We collaborate throughout our value chain to continually minimize our footprint.
These two aspects of our approach are underpinned by responsible and ethical business practices. We strive to be a trusted, ethical company that our employees, customers, partners and investors are proud to work for and with. As part of our responsible approach, we aim for:
- Robust practices, procedures and policies that minimize risk
- Management accountability for ESG and responsibility throughout the organization
- Trust, accountability, & ethical behavior as foundations on which we operate
- Certified and audited management systems
- A robust people strategy and mature processes to attract, retain and develop talent
Governance and Materiality
Our governance model
Sustainability issues are reviewed regularly at all levels of the company. We will continue to strengthen our governance structures and the processes we have established to manage ethical business practices and corporate responsibility, reflecting the significant change in our mode of operation implemented in the company during 2021. Read more about our governance model here.
Materiality
As part of our strategy refresh and in line with good practice, we completed a materiality assessment in Spring 2022 with an external consultancy. The results of this assessment are based on desktop research, interviews and a survey conducted with internal and external stakeholder representatives (including employees, customers, investors, suppliers, partners, NGOs and academics), as well as insights from sustainability experts. The new materiality matrix was reviewed by the Group Leadership Team and the Board of Directors.
The diagram below shows the top right quadrant of our new materiality matrix. The magnified top right quadrant shows the topics that are all considered currently most relevant to our business and to stakeholders, the economy and the environment. The top 5 most material topics for Nokia are:
- Climate impact through products
- Environmental impact through products and enabling transformation in other industries
- Ethical business practices and ethical use of new technologies
- Privacy and security
- Responsible sourcing
Sources of input for the materiality work included:
- Global macro trends with impact on sustainable development
- Our regular engagement with various stakeholders
- Requirements and information requests especially from our customers and investors Our benchmarking of 23 industry peers and the leaders in sustainability Our corporate strategy and Code of Conduct
- Assessments of risks and opportunities through Nokia Enterprise Risk Management system
- Analysis of the economic, environmental and social value we can create throughout our value chain.
- Analysis of UN Sustainable Development Goals and Targets and their relevance to Nokia International sustainability frameworks such as SASB, TCFD, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 and the UN Global Compact
- Our long history and experience in sustainability
Climate, ethical business practices, and how Nokia’s products can enable change in other industries, cities and society continue to be among the most material topics. The most significant growth in importance can be seen in privacy and security, responsible sourcing and circularity.
Sustainability reporting
Our sustainability report, People & Planet, is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards. As part of our reporting, we also take into account other sustainability reporting frameworks, such as SASB, the UN Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have published annual corporate responsibility reports since 1999 and the reports are available in digital format from as far back as 2003 at our report archive.
Download the People & Planet 2022 report here. Our index on key ESG frameworks can be found on pages 117-133.
You can also watch this video about some key achievements and actions in 2022.
Our priorities and targets
We set short, medium and long-term public targets and report progress on all of them annually in our sustainability report.
In 2022, we had a total of 26 external targets, of which 22 were either achieved or on track. 1 target was not achieved, 1 target was cancelled, and 2 were not on track. Our targets for 2023 and onward are presented below.
Awards and recognitions
We are proud to have been recognized for the achievements and actions carried out by our employees to enable a more sustainable business, products and planet. A few recognitions are listed below.
Bloomberg has given Nokia a strong score in its Gender Equality Index (GEI) – the fifth time in a row that we are included in this index. In the 2023 Bloomberg GEI, Nokia achieved a Bloomberg GEI overall score of 83.03 percent – our highest score so far and considerably higher than the tech industry’s average score of 72.36 percent.
In December 2022 we were ranked as A- and Leadership status by CDP for our work on and disclosure of climate change data. In February 2023, we received a score of A- from CDP Supplier Engagement Rating (SER). It evaluates companies’ work with suppliers to reduce emissions and lower environmental risks in the supply chain.
In December 2022, we received a rating of AAA (on a scale of AAA-CCC) in the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment.
In January 2022, FTSE Russell (the trading name of FTSE International Limited and Frank Russell Company) confirmed that Nokia has been independently assessed according to the FTSE4Good criteria, and has satisfied the requirements to become a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series.
In March 2023 we were again awarded a Platinum EcoVadis Medal. This places our company among the top 1 percent of companies assessed by EcoVadis, with especially high scores for environment and sustainable procurement.
In March 2023 we were once again named by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® and were one of only two winners in the telecommunications industry and the only Finnish company to be honored. In 2023, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 19 countries and 46 industries.
In September 2022 we were recognized as best newcomer by RE100 for our work on renewable energy.
In November 2022, Nokia received an ESG Risk Rating of 9.8 and was assessed by Sustainalytics to be at negligible risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors. In February 2023 Nokia was included in Sustainalytics’ 2023 Top-Rated ESG Companies List.
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In December 2021 we were recognized as the leading European hardware company in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s Digital Inclusion Benchmark, where we were placed 22nd out of the 150 companies assessed. The benchmark measures how the world’s most influential technology companies are helping to advance a more inclusive digital society.
In December 2022, Nokia was rated ‘Prime’ by ISS ESG Corporate Rating.
In March 2023 we were certified as a ‘Nasdaq ESG Transparency Partner’ for our engagement in market transparency and in raising environmental standards.
Other awards and recognitions
We are a member of RE100, which gives us a framework to report our renewable energy related activities transparently. Nokia was selected as the winner of the Best Newcomer category in the 2022 RE100 Leadership Awards.
In 2022 we also received the Bharti Foundation's Silver Award for Social Initiative (India), and the first ever Vodafone Group planet award at the Arch Summit in Luxembourg for our work on climate challenges.
RE100 Leadership Awards 2022
Nokia and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets remain a key framework for our sustainability work and for many of our customers and partners. Goals 8, 9 and 13 are the most relevant for our business and reflect the areas in which we believe we can have the greatest positive impact. We believe digitalization and connectivity will continue to play a critical role in accelerating and achieving all 17 SDGs.
Click on the sustainable development goals icons below to learn more about how we actively support the global goals.
8. Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work.
As a global company we have significant direct and indirect economic impact. Our direct economic impact includes for example our purchasing from suppliers, wages and benefits paid to our employees, income taxes paid to the public sector, and community investments. We contribute indirectly to the economy in many ways, but the benefits of the technology we provide deliver our greatest indirect impact. Our own research has found that 5G-enabled industries have the potential to add USD 8 trillion to global GDP by 2030, as COVID-19 has accelerated medium and long-term digital investment and value creation.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
This remains the most material SDG for us in the area of improving people’s lives with our technology. It relates directly to the core of our business. The networks we supply to our customers serve billions of subscriptions, providing access to people everywhere, connecting them to more information, more public services and greater economic opportunities. We are powering the fourth industrial revolution, bringing infinite new possibilities for industries, governments and cities that dream of building a more agile, digital, resilient and sustainable future.
Read more about purpose-designed networks built for Industry 4.0 digitalization and beyond
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
We take responsibility for minimizing our own global footprint but we also aim to maximize our positive impact by driving innovation and digitalization through the technology we create to help industries, cities, supply chains and individuals to reduce their footprints. We have set ambitious targets in line with the 1.5°C warming scenario, and we are committed to reduce our emissions by 50 percent by year 2030.
Engaging with stakeholders
We work with a range of stakeholders and look for where we can increase collaboration and also respond to requirements in building sustainable solutions. The table below summarizes those key stakeholders and our interaction.
Our approach
We work with our customers to continue to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of our products. We collaborate to resolve environmental, ethical, and social issues, and look at ways in which technology can enable positive changes.
GHG emissions reduction, energy and materials efficiency, climate actions, circular products and services, recycled materials, value chain, responsible operations, inclusion and diversity.
Our approach
Our people are our greatest asset and we aim to build a culture of trust, respect, diversity and opportunity for all.
Key topics raised in 2022
New people strategy, Nokia essentials, wellbeing, health and safety, future ways of working and flexibility policies, inclusion and diversity, learning and career development.
Our approach
We have regular discussions with our shareholders and the investor community on ESG topics including our approach and policies, and our opportunities and targets.
Key topics raised in 2022
Climate targets and actions, governance and energy efficiency of our products, responsible sourcing, labor and human rights, ESG reporting and social achievements.
Our approach
We work with suppliers to drive transparency, sustainability and good ethical and business practices in our long and often complex supply chain.
Key topics raised in 2022
Inclusion and diversity, modern slavery, ethical recruitment practices, responsible minerals sourcing, climate change, circular materials and health and safety.
Our approach
We have broad and deep interaction and collaboration with many key industry bodies that are striving for economic and societal development on the national, regional and global levels, such as World Economic Forum (WEF), GSMA, and Digital Europe.
Key topics raised in 2022
Measurement methodology standards for 5G radio and Circularity related standards for telecommunications products and networks in ETSI and ITU-T. Responsible use of Artificial Intelligence standards in ISO,CEN/CENELEC, and various national committees. Energy saving features in 3GPP.
Our approach
We work with a broad range of academic institutions in areas such as collaborative research, training programs, innovation events and talent development.
Key topics raised in 2022
6G, ethical use of AI and data, industrial IoT, quantum computing.
Our approach
We engage with stakeholders such as community groups and NGOs. We work with NGOs to support programs which have a long-term impact and create a sustainable future platform in the target communities.
Key topics raised in 2022
Digital skills building, empowering diverse groups and ensuring equal access to opportunity such as education and entrepreneurship.
Our approach
We work with cities and communities to drive digitalization and smart development.
Key topics raised in 2022
Connectivity and digitalization, 5G use cases, responsible AI, public safety and health, data security and privacy, green economy transition.
Our approach
We contribute to policy debates fostering a connected society and the adoption of new technologies around the world.
Key topics raised in 2022
Digital and broadband policies, ESG topics, emerging technologies and business models.
Read more about our Government relations work here
Read how Nokia and UNESCO’s new framework helps governments to use technology to make people’s lives better