Telecommunications and networking technology company Nokia announced today a new target to reach 100% renewable electricity use across its facilities by 2025. In addition to its new target, the company has called for accelerated digitalization and green energy uptake.

According to Nokia’s “People & Planet” report, in 2020, 39% of Nokia’s total purchased electricity was from renewable sources. The company now targets to reach 100% purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025 to power its offices, R&D labs, and factories.

The new target follows Nokia’s announcement from earlier this year that the company has set science-based emissions reductions targets, including a commitment to reduce emissions by 50% across its value chain, including its own operations, products use, logistics, and final assembly supplier factories by 2030, from a 2019 base year.

Nokia stated that while recent research suggests the COVID-19 pandemic sped up digitalization by an average of six years, the greater part of the world’s economy lacks access to digital technologies. According to Nokia, digitalization is critical for making industries more sustainable, as it results in less waste, more resource efficiency, and greater productivity. For example, in agriculture, digital technologies can increase yields, reduce costs, and cut water use. Across manufacturing, it can result in energy-savings gains of 10-20%, according to the company.

Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia, said: 

“There is no green without digital. Only 30% of the world’s economy is currently digitalized, and we must now work to connect the remaining 70% to ensure the world can reach net zero. 5G and related technologies play a critical role in making other industries more sustainable. At the same time the ICT industry needs to minimize its footprint and accelerate the use of green electricity.”