Taxonomy activity 8.2: Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions
We associate those solutions and products that are predominantly aimed at the provision of data and analytics enabling GHG emission reductions with the economic activity Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions (8.2). These are, in particular, solutions and products that we have incorporated into our Enablement Factor and Sustainable Revenue Share ESG KPIs, and/or that have been awarded our #GreenMagenta label. We have identified the following taxonomy-eligible services within our Group-wide business activities:
Business-related video conferences (saves travel-induced CO2 emissions)
Workplace and cloud solutions (increases energy efficiency by improving server utilization)
IoT solutions (saves CO2 emissions through, for example, efficient light switching)
We provide these services to a significant financial extent in the Germany operating segment, in our major subsidiaries in the Europe operating segment, and in the Systems Solutions operating segment (T-Systems).
Taxonomy-eligible solutions under economic activity 8.2 represent 0.8 percent of turnover. Business-related video conferences make a particularly substantial contribution in this regard.
A life-cycle analysis is required as evidence of taxonomy alignment. This must show that a solution results in substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions both over and beyond its entire life cycle in comparison with the relevant reference solution available on the market. We understand reference solutions to be alternative solutions that would typically be used in a company in our footprint markets. This assumes that the companies are aligned with best practices. The technical screening criteria do not stipulate a specific threshold for “substantial” reductions in greenhouse gases in comparison with the reference solution. As there are differences in the technologies of the various taxonomy-eligible solutions, we have reviewed each solution separately to determine the point from which greenhouse gas savings can be considered “substantial” in accordance with scientific findings. The requisite life-cycle analyses have been prepared for business-related video conference solutions and for the cloud solutions Future Cloud Infrastructure, Open Telekom Cloud, and SAP Cloud Services. To date, we have not prepared a life-cycle analysis for the IoT solutions and therefore we do not report them as taxonomy-aligned for the reporting year.
A comparison of in-person meetings with the taxonomy-eligible business-related video conference solutions included in the analysis provided evidence of significant reductions in greenhouse gases. For instance, hybrid meetings reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 28 percent (small meetings) or 37 percent (large meetings).
Of the workplace and cloud solutions covered by the life-cycle analysis, Future Cloud Infrastructure reduced greenhouse gas emissions by around 16 percent (in comparison with decentralized data centers operated by our customers themselves). Future Cloud Infrastructure is based on an infrastructure as a service model: the customer’s IT systems are brought together on a platform hosted by T-Systems. Centralizing the service in this way not only reduces the consumption of materials for hardware but, thanks to the highly energy-efficient operation of our data centers, also cuts greenhouse gas emissions. The Open Telekom Cloud is also offered as an infrastructure as a service model. Via a platform operated by T-Systems, businesses can flexibly purchase computing capacity, memory resources, and network resources, among other things. Improved server utilization and the highly energy-efficient operation of our data centers mean that, according to the life-cycle analysis, using the Open Telekom Cloud or SAP Cloud Services leads to savings in greenhouse gas emissions of 50 percent in comparison with the reference scenario. This scenario is based on the assumption that our customers use their own, decentralized server infrastructure for storing and processing data, rather than the cloud solution. Our SAP Cloud Services, which run on a cloud platform operated by T-Systems, achieve a similar level of savings in greenhouse gas emissions. In view of the demonstrated reduction in greenhouse gases, we classify all web conferencing, workplace, and cloud solutions included in the life-cycle analysis as taxonomy-aligned.
For the aforementioned solutions, we exclusively use infrastructure located in Germany. The requirements for the “Transition to a circular economy” conform to current EU legislation, which we enforce as part of our environment management activities at our EU sites.
The taxonomy-aligned solutions for GHG emissions reductions represented 0.5 percent of turnover, 0.0 percent of capital expenditure, and 0.4 percent of operating expenditure. For the Systems Solutions operating segment (T-Systems), the taxonomy-aligned proportion of turnover was 12.3 percent, while 0.1 percent of capital expenditure and 0.8 percent of operating expenditure were taxonomy-aligned.
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Taxonomy activity 8.2: Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions
We associate those solutions and products that are predominantly aimed at the provision of data and analytics enabling GHG emission reductions with the economic activity Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions (8.2). These are, in particular, solutions and products that we have incorporated into our Enablement Factor and Sustainable Revenue Share ESG
KPIs, and/or that have been awarded our #GreenMagenta label. We have identified the following taxonomy-eligible services within our Group-wide business activities:
We provide these services to a significant financial extent in the Germany operating segment
, in our major subsidiaries in the Europe operating segment, and in the Systems Solutions operating segment (T-Systems).
Taxonomy-eligible solutions under economic activity 8.2 represent 0.8 percent of turnover. Business-related video conferences make a particularly substantial contribution in this regard.
A life-cycle analysis is required as evidence of taxonomy alignment. This must show that a solution results in substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions both over and beyond its entire life cycle in comparison with the relevant reference solution available on the market. We understand reference solutions to be alternative solutions that would typically be used in a company in our footprint markets. This assumes that the companies are aligned with best practices. The technical screening criteria do not stipulate a specific threshold for “substantial” reductions in greenhouse gases in comparison with the reference solution. As there are differences in the technologies of the various taxonomy-eligible solutions, we have reviewed each solution separately to determine the point from which greenhouse gas savings can be considered “substantial” in accordance with scientific findings. The requisite life-cycle analyses have been prepared for business-related video conference solutions and for the cloud solutions Future Cloud Infrastructure, Open Telekom Cloud, and SAP Cloud Services. To date, we have not prepared a life-cycle analysis for the IoT solutions and therefore we do not report them as taxonomy-aligned for the reporting year.
A comparison of in-person meetings with the taxonomy-eligible business-related video conference solutions included in the analysis provided evidence of significant reductions in greenhouse gases. For instance, hybrid meetings reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 28 percent (small meetings) or 37 percent (large meetings).
Of the workplace and cloud solutions covered by the life-cycle analysis, Future Cloud Infrastructure reduced greenhouse gas emissions by around 16 percent (in comparison with decentralized data centers operated by our customers themselves). Future Cloud Infrastructure is based on an infrastructure as a service model: the customer’s IT systems are brought together on a platform hosted by T-Systems. Centralizing the service in this way not only reduces the consumption of materials for hardware but, thanks to the highly energy-efficient operation of our data centers, also cuts greenhouse gas emissions. The Open Telekom Cloud is also offered as an infrastructure as a service model. Via a platform operated by T-Systems, businesses can flexibly purchase computing capacity, memory resources, and network resources, among other things. Improved server utilization and the highly energy-efficient operation of our data centers mean that, according to the life-cycle analysis, using the Open Telekom Cloud or SAP Cloud Services leads to savings in greenhouse gas emissions of 50 percent in comparison with the reference scenario. This scenario is based on the assumption that our customers use their own, decentralized server infrastructure for storing and processing data, rather than the cloud solution. Our SAP Cloud Services, which run on a cloud platform operated by T-Systems, achieve a similar level of savings in greenhouse gas emissions. In view of the demonstrated reduction in greenhouse gases, we classify all web conferencing, workplace, and cloud solutions included in the life-cycle analysis as taxonomy-aligned.
For the aforementioned solutions, we exclusively use infrastructure located in Germany. The requirements for the “Transition to a circular economy” conform to current EU legislation, which we enforce as part of our environment management activities at our EU sites.
The taxonomy-aligned solutions for GHG emissions reductions represented 0.5 percent of turnover, 0.0 percent of capital expenditure, and 0.4 percent of operating expenditure. For the Systems Solutions operating segment (T-Systems), the taxonomy-aligned proportion of turnover was 12.3 percent, while 0.1 percent of capital expenditure and 0.8 percent of operating expenditure were taxonomy-aligned.
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