How are European telecoms companies addressing concerns over decarbonisation and sustainability?
The European Green Deal
Key Objectives
- Climate neutrality by 2050: Reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by balancing remaining emissions with carbon removals.
- Cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared with 1990 levels.
- Sustainable economic growth: Decouple economic growth from resource use while maintaining competitiveness.
- Circular economy: Promote reuse, repair, recycling, and waste reduction.
- Protect biodiversity: Restore ecosystems and halt biodiversity loss.
- Ensure a just transition: Support regions and workers most affected by the shift to a low-carbon economy.
How does this impact on the telecom sector?
For European telecom companies, the Green Deal has accelerated efforts to:
- Increase the use of renewable electricity for networks and data centres.
- Improve the energy efficiency of mobile and fixed-line infrastructure.
- Reduce emissions across supply chains.
- Replace copper networks with more energy-efficient fibre.
- Extend the lifespan of devices through repair, refurbishment, and recycling.
- Enhance climate-related reporting under sustainability disclosure requirements.
What are the targets?
To comply with the European Green Deal and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), European telecom assets must achieve steep, binding carbon footprint cuts by 2030. These include:
62% reduction
in total emissions required for fixed network operators between 2020 and 2030.
53% reduction
in emissions mandated for telecom data centres.
45% reduction
in emissions enforced for mobile network operators.
11.7% final energy reduction
overall across EU member states by 2030 (Energy Efficiency Directive).
What regulations and standards apply to the Telecoms industry?
The EU has refocussed its environmental expectations, there are now target-driven rules designed specifically for digital infrastructure.
The specific laws include:
EU Code of Conduct for Sustainable Telecom Networks (2026)
The code mandates a standardised framework to measure and report network environmental impacts. Telcos subscribing to this framework must publish auditable data. It targets eight critical performance metrics:
- Energy Consumption
- Energy Efficiency
- GHG Scopes 1, 2, and 3
- Renewable Energy
- E-waste, and the use of refurbished products
Digital Networks Act (DNA)
The Digital Networks Act integrates environmental transparency directly into core telecoms policy. It leverages the Code of Conduct data to classify qualifying networks as green economic activities. This prepares operators for upcoming alignments with the EU Taxonomy.
BEREC Sustainability Strategy
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) enforces rigorous tracking mechanisms across national regulators. They aim to curb the network “rebound effect” (where increased 5G capacity boosts data demand and subsequent raw power usage).
The CSRD mandates strict compliance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Telecom operators are required to map out detailed, auditable reporting of their entire environmental footprint. This includes direct operational emissions and full global supply chain data.
EU Data Centre Rating Scheme
As telecom networks rely heavily on cloud capabilities, a dedicated EU rating scheme evaluates the sustainability of data centres. This legislation forces operators to report energy use, transition to renewable power, and optimize cooling water consumption.
New Circular Economy Act & Ecodesign Regulation
This legal architecture forces hardware manufacturers supplying European telcos to design network gear and mobile devices for longevity, easy disassembly, and repairability.
Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)
The CRMA establishes secure, sustainable recycling and recovery targets. Telecoms components rely on lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements. The EU wants to reduce the reliance on carbon-intensive raw extractions from outside the EU.
How effective have the laws been so far?
Despite the electricity consumed by the telecommunications industry going up by 0.5% to 1.5% and data centres comprising an estimated total of 3% of the overall total consumed in the EU, there are some encouraging signs.
- There was a 13% drop in the reduction in global mobile operational emissions (Scopes 1 & 2) between 2019 and 2024, despite data traffic more than quadrupling.
- The average annual drop in energy intensity per gigabyte of data transmitted across modern networks went from 10% to 20%
- The energy efficiency premium (lower Power Usage Effectiveness) achieved by Northern and Central European data centres compared to warmer Southern European facilities went from 10% to 15%
- European telecom operators now source 70% of their electricity from renewable contracts, leading global regions (compared to 50% in North America).
- There was a 10% reduction in the total emissions cut achieved via infrastructure network sharing agreements, which avoids up to 3 million tonnes of CO2 annually in Europe.
- Legislation has now demanded that the minimum duration required by EU regulations for software support and hardware components is 5 years. This availability significantly extends device lifecycles.
There still remain major challenges in the carbon footprints produced in the supply chains, specifically product manufacturing and network hardware procurement.
What penalties exist to enforce regulations?
Key EU laws affecting telecom operators
EU Law | Impact on Telecom Companies | Potential Penalties |
European Climate Law (Regulation (EU) 2021/1119) | Sets the EU-wide target of climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55% emissions reduction by 2030. Telecoms are indirectly affected through national implementation. | No direct fines on operators; enforcement occurs through national legislation. |
Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791 | Requires energy-saving measures, energy management systems for large enterprises, and introduces reporting obligations for certain data centres. Relevant to telecom networks and infrastructure. | Penalties are determined by each Member State and may include administrative fines or compliance orders. The Directive requires penalties to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. |
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) | Large telecom companies must disclose climate risks, greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and, where required, 3), transition plans, and sustainability metrics under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). | National regulators can impose administrative sanctions, public statements, and financial penalties for non-compliance, depending on national law. |
EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) | Generally, does not apply directly to telecom network operations, but may affect operators with facilities covered by ETS or through electricity costs. | ETS penalties apply only where the scheme covers the relevant installation. |
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive | Requires responsible collection, recycling and recovery of telecom equipment and electronic waste. | National fines, product restrictions and enforcement actions. |
Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulations | Affect telecom equipment procurement and energy-efficient hardware deployment. | Market surveillance authorities may impose fines or prohibit non-compliant products. |
Summary
Implementing the necessary changes to achieve the climate goals of the EU involves a number of critical challenges, these include:
- The high investment costs for businesses and governments.
- Maintaining a balance with trying to achieve the climate goals while ensuring ongoing industrial competitiveness.
- Safeguarding energy security during the transition.
- Managing the social impacts on workers and regions dependent on fossil fuel industries.
- Reducing administrative burdens while maintaining robust sustainability reporting.
In an ironic twist, Telecom operators are also seen as enablers of positive climate change by providing digital infrastructure that supports smart grids, connected transport, precision agriculture, remote working, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications that can help other sectors reduce emissions.
Diameter Routing Agent
The SVI-DRA (Diameter Routing Agent) is at the core of a Diameter network providing comprehensive, carrier-grade traffic management enabling service providers’ IMS and LTE core networks to run smoothly.