Reflecting on becoming Australia’s first Climate Active-certified telco
Published on 21st Dec 2021
How we got there, and why we’re changing course in 2024.
In December 2019, our mobile and broadband services were certified by Climate Active. This meant we calculated their greenhouse gas emissions, then offset them by paying for activities that prevent, reduce, or remove emissions.
Since then, a lot has changed – even if we’re just talking about climate action. A lot more companies are getting involved and doing the work they need to do to reduce their impact on the planet.
It feels like there’s real momentum to do the right thing by the planet. That makes it a great time to look at what we’ve learned since getting certified and what we need to do next.
If you’re going to do it, do it right
Here’s what our offset journey looked like:
We figured out how much carbon was produced by our business (both by how we run it and how our products are sold and used).
We cut those emissions as much as possible, either by investing in new tech or changing how we work.
We bought carbon credits to offset any remaining emissions. Carbon credit units come from activities that prevent, reduce, or remove greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
Before we invested in those carbon offsets, we whittled down thousands of projects. We chose projects based on factors like developer track record, transparency of documentation and social and environmental impact. For example, we selected projects that don’t contribute to the extinction of fragile flora and fauna, helps the local economy in a responsible way, that kind of thing.
And we ended up with some pretty cool projects – from savanna burning in Queensland, to run-of-the-river hydroelectric in India.
Continuing the work
In the years after certification, it felt good to earn two Finder Green Awards recognising the work we’d done.
While offsets were a great starting point, we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to be an environmentally responsible business in the years since. That’s why in 2024 we’ll be shifting our approach to climate action – wrapping up our Climate Active arrangement and focussing on reducing our emissions instead. As part of Telstra, we’ll do this under their guidance.