Nokia’s refreshed sustainability strategy: An engine for innovation, collaboration, and long-term impact
One of Nokia’s foundational strengths continues to be our focus on sustainability where we advance connectivity to positively impact both people and planet. We have been reporting our sustainability performance through our voluntary report (People and Planet) since 1999. Fast forward to 2017, and Nokia became the first telecom vendor with a 2030 climate target validated by the SBTi. More recently, in 2023, we integrated sustainability in our strategy and incorporated it in our incentive structure. In 2024, Nokia became one of the first in the ICT sector with SBTi-validated Net Zero 2040 targets. This year, Nokia was ranked the #1 sustainable company in the communications industry by Corporate Knights, #37 in the world’s most sustainable companies by TIME and Statista, and among the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the ninth time.
It’s our relentless focus to embed sustainability in our technology and operations that has won us trust with our customers and shareholders. This focus has also helped us meet regulatory requirements and helped make our supply chain more resilient. But customer requirements are increasing, regulatory compliance demands are growing, and stakeholder expectations are expanding.
Sustainability now directly influences customer procurement decisions and continues to be a strategic focus area for investors looking to manage ESG risks and performance. It is also a key component of global supply chain resilience and helps us to address risks and opportunities in climate, circularity and bridging the digital divide.
In our industry, the AI supercycle is upon us. Nokia’s North Star, advancing connectivity to secure a brighter world, provides a new way forward. The evolving business environment requires us to enhance our sustainability focus with a performance-enabling and growth-seeking engine. We look to be the most trusted connectivity partner, driving innovation and resilience for a sustainable future.
A refreshed sustainability strategy
Over the past several months, a cross functional team across Nokia has co-created a focused sustainability strategy that is fit for the future. That sustainability strategy acknowledges the fact that our position as a trusted vendor in network connectivity technology offers us a unique opportunity to differentiate in the market, with sustainability.
Our sustainability strategy centers on four impact areas and four enablers to address impacts, risks, as well as evolving customer demands and market opportunities in sustainability.
Four impact areas
- Decarbonization & circular transition: Nokia is accelerating its decarbonization to reach Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 across our value chain. We aim for 95% circularity by 2030 for waste, and we are increasing the amount of recycled content in our products.
- Bridging the digital divide: Close to 3.4 billion people are still unconnected or underserved in terms of internet access according to the GSMA, making them more susceptible to climate-related disasters and economic marginalization. We aim to help our customers connect 2 billion mobile subscribers and 140 million new fiber-to-home customers by 2030. Our goal is to support both our customers and those currently unconnected or underserved by promoting digital adoption and providing access to connectivity.
- Supply chain resilience: Our global supply chain is a powerful engine with an annual spend in the billions of Euros and thousands of suppliers spread over 100 countries. It brings both risks and opportunities. Amid global volatility, we will amplify our responsible sourcing and sustainable supply chain programs that ensure compliance, strengthen resilience, and help us meet customer expectations.
- Responsible use of technology: Disruptive technologies like AI, 6G, and quantum are increasingly viewed as components of digital sovereignty, making responsible technology a critical differentiator for Nokia. We will be focusing on differentiating ourselves against our competitors as a trusted and responsible producer of technology.
Four key enablers
- Customer engagement: Deepen relationships with key customers, where some of our largest put a specific weighting in their technology procurement using sustainability factors.
- Ecosystem collaboration: Meaningful business and sustainability outcomes require collaboration across the ecosystem. Our key goals include unlocking public funding, convening critical partners, shaping global sustainability standards, and leveraging open-source innovation.
- Innovation: Accelerate non-linear sustainability innovation through our own research and customer co-creation.
- Digitalization: Improve ESG data management by digitalizing, automating processes, and leveraging AI to drive efficiency.
As we focus on these evolving areas of our strategy, we will continue to aim to uphold the highest standards in compliance, governance, and ethics.
The foundation that we have built on compliance, risk mitigation, and governance remains the bedrock of Nokia’s reputation and trustworthiness in the market. We’re building on top of it.
Sharpening our focus
Our technologies power more than 4.5 billion mobile subscriptions across 150+ countries and the networks of nine out of the top ten AI and cloud providers. Our refreshed sustainability strategy focuses on today’s need of connecting intelligence across the world while acting in a responsible manner towards tomorrow’s people and our planet. You can find out more information here.
Sustainability is an engine for innovation and long-term impact. It’s about focus. It’s about value creation. It’s about collaboration. We look forward to building this future together with you.
