Telefonica Chief Hails Telecom Environmental Efforts

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, CEO of Telefonica, at the World Economic Forum in Davos said that environmental and digital transitions are firmly linked. He has highlighted the role telecoms can play in enabling other industry sectors to improve energy efficiency.

Telefonica's chief cited projections that digital technologies and services have the capacity to reduce global emissions by between 15% and 35% by 2030. “Green and digital transitions go hand-in-hand,“ Alvarez-Pallete said, calling for telecoms infrastructure to be recognized as sustainable investments, claiming smart infrastructure is a game-changer for a net-zero economy.

He pointed out to Telefonica’s ambition to achieve net-zero emissions across its entire footprint by 2040, again hailing its position as one of the industry’s leaders in this area. “At Telefonica, we are walking the walk“, Alvarez-Pallete said. The group was able to reduce its emissions by 70% in 2021, he noted.