We see ourselves as a responsible company and have made that a core element of our Group strategy. Our Corporate Responsibility strategy is derived from this. We identified four particular focal points where we aim to lead the way, two of which are related to the environment:
Our strict commitment to climate-neutral business practices
Our determined efforts to ensure our products and services are compatible with the principle of circularity
More information about our focus topics is available in the relevant section of the strategy chapter.
To support the Group’s climate strategy and achieve the Group’s ambitious targets, the national companies have developed and implemented their own climate change mitigation strategies, concepts, and measures.
Our integrated climate strategy is based on four pillars: emissions from the value chain; renewable energy; energy efficiency; and enablement (positive climate change mitigation effects for our customers). We have defined objectives and/or key performance indicators for each of the four pillars.
The four pillars of our integrated climate strategy
We record all direct and indirect emissions using the globally recognized Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. As of 2021, all of the electricity we use comes from renewable energy. This has enabled us to reduce the emissions generated to zero (see “Renewable energy”). Additionally, we are modernizing our network to make it twice as energy efficient (see “Energy efficiency”). We are also taking measures to reduce emissions tied to the use of gas or oil. For example, we are transitioning to e-mobility and are carrying out facility-space consolidations. This has enabled us to significantly reduce emissions and contribute to our goal of climate neutrality by 2025 for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Indirect emissions from the upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3 emissions) pose the greatest challenge. Our goal is to become entirely climate neutral by 2040 at the latest. We consult closely with our suppliers in order to reduce the emissions generated during production, and to have products manufactured that are energy-efficient in their utilization phases.
Emissions from the value chain
Since 2021, we have been drawing all of our electricity from renewable sources, having converted the entire Deutsche Telekom network, throughout the spectrum from mobile communications to high-speed DSL, to use renewables-only power. We are scaling up our in-house generation activities and concluding power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a view to reducing our reliance on the electricity grid. A PPA is a long-term electricity supply contract. For us, this additionally means that the electricity supplied always comes from renewable sources. We aim to meet 50 percent of our energy needs through PPAs by 2025. In Germany, PPAs already account for over 26 percent of the power we use. As of the end of 2023, 32.5 percent of the power used throughout the Group was obtained via PPAs. In 2020, we published a guide for the Deutsche Telekom Group, the purpose of which is to support our national companies in choosing the ideal solution for their individual needs by providing information on the various options they have available for the purchase of green electricity.
Renewable energy
The rapid growth in data traffic and the resultant need for network expansion must not also lead to a corresponding rise in energy consumption. This is why we have committed to doubling our energy efficiency in Germany and Europe by 2024, relative to 2020 levels. This will involve producing more data while using a similar or far lower volume of energy. Two key means of reducing our energy consumption are network modernization and the phasing-out of old technologies.
One example of this has seen us migrate our entire network infrastructure to IP technology. In addition, we are working to concentrate data traffic on a small number of data centers that are especially efficient. The PUE metric serves as one indicator for energy-efficiency enhancements in our data centers. We determine this metric using the method recommended by the EN50600 standard for data centers. In order to measure our progress, we also use the key performance indicators (KPIs) “Energy Intensity” and “Carbon Intensity”.
Energy efficiency
Many of our products and services provide sustainability advantages. They can help reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, improve healthcare and make logistics more efficient. In addition to our own carbon footprint, we also calculate the positive carbon effects facilitated for our customers through using our products and solutions. We assess both variables in relation to the Enablement Factor ESG KPI. This helps us evaluate our overall performance in relation to climate protection.
By offering increasingly sustainable products and solutions and by reducing our own emissions, we aim to consistently keep the enablement factor well above 1.0 in order to make a positive contribution to climate protection.
Enablement: Helping our customers protect the climates
We are helping to mitigate climate change, and contributing to compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. Our current climate targets were adopted by the Board of Management in 2019 and have applied since 2020. Our ambitions were raised again in 2021. In March 2023, we replaced our previous science-based target on our journey towards climate neutrality with more ambitious interim and final goals, which have now been confirmed by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). Energy consumption and CO2 emissions have been a factor in the Board of Management’s remuneration since 2021. Achieving these KPIs has also been a factor in the remuneration of executives in Germany and Europe and employees not covered by collective agreements in Germany since 2022.
Our climate goals are:
We achieved 100 percent electricity from renewable energy sources across the Group (Scope 2, market-based method) at the end of 2021.
We are aiming to reach climate neutrality across the Company by the end of 2025 (Scope 1 and 2). As we cannot avoid all emissions, we intend to offset around 5 percent of the remaining emissions through compensatory measures.
As a new interim goal on our journey towards climate neutrality along the entire value chain, we have committed to reducing CO2 emissions across Scopes 1–3 by 55 percent in absolute terms by 2030 compared with 2020. This interim goal is considerably more ambitious than our previous goal, which was to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 25 percent per customer (compared with 2017) by 2030. As a result of our systematic efforts to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, the majority (over 98%) of our carbon footprint now occurs through the production and use of our products. We maintain a close dialog with our suppliers in order to reduce the emissions generated during production and to ensure the products manufactured consume less energy during the utilization phase.
We want to reach net zero by 2040 across all three scopes along the entire value chain. We want to cut emissions by at least 90 percent, so that we only need to offset up to 10 percent. This goal is also in line with the targets set out by the European Green Digital Coalition, of which Deutsche Telekom is a founding member.
As a general principle, where there are CO2 emissions that we cannot avoid by using renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, or agreeing climate goals with suppliers, for example, we will offset these using compensatory measures that mean they are removed from the atmosphere in the long term, such as through natural sinks in which natural ecosystems absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. We have set ourselves the quality requirement for offsetting that we only use high- quality removal projects in accordance with Oxford category IV and V, i.e., the removal of carbon through short- and long-term storage.
We developed our Group-wide climate goals in line with the current scientific and political conditions. For the current targets, the SBTi once again confirmed in the reporting year that our climate protection goals contribute to compliance with the Paris Agreement even under its stricter new guidelines. We developed a Climate Target Transition Plan in 2023 that we will detail further in 2024 in accordance with the future requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The plan enables us to manage and monitor the success of our reduction measures internally. It also helps us to inform our stakeholders about our journey towards net zero emissions. The SBTi also gave a positive assessment of the targets set by our subsidiaries in the United States and Hungary. The national companies are taking different steps to achieve these targets. These include power purchase agreements (PPAs) for procuring electricity from specific sustainable sources, such as wind and solar power. At the end of 2023, we were obtaining 32.5 percent of our electricity through these PPAs (prior year: 27.7%). By 2025, we intend to increase this percentage in Europe to 50 percent of our power consumption. Our aim is to actively support the sustainable production of electricity from renewal energies
Impact assessment for our materiality analysis Greenhouse gas emissions are associated with a detrimental impact on humans and the environment. For this reason, we have identified climate change mitigation as a key topic throughout the value chain in the impact assessment conducted as part of our materiality analysis. Analysis of the criteria “probability of occurrence” and “severity” has revealed that significant greenhouse gas emissions could be generated in the upstream value chain in particular (during raw material extraction and supplier activities), as well as in the downstream value chain, which comprises the utilization, disposal and recycling of products.
Climate Target Transition Plan: our journey towards net zero
In the reporting year we started developing a Climate Target Transition Plan. The plan will also enable us to manage and monitor the success of our reduction measures internally. The transition plan shown here is an initial, simplified illustration that we use it to inform our stakeholders about our journey towards net zero emissions.
The Transition Plan is based on greenhouse gas calculations from previous years, as well as our short-, medium- and long-term climate targets. These targets include achieving climate neutrality by 2025 (Scopes 1 and 2), as part of which around 5 percent of unavoidable remaining emissions will be offset through high-quality neutralization projects (removal projects). We are also aiming for a reduction in total emissions by 55 percent in absolute terms by 2030 compared to 2020, and achieving net zero emissions by 2040. By this time, we will have reduced at least 90 percent of emissions in absolute terms and offset the remainder through high-quality neutralization projects (removal). The climate transition plan that we want to deploy to put our climate goals into practice particularly focuses on core levers such as the power consumption of our networks, fuel consumption in our fleet, thermal energy consumption in buildings, reducing emissions in supplier production processes, and increasing product efficiency in the utilization phase.
Practical measures to reducing emissions for Scopes 1 and 2 include:
Continued procurement of electricity from renewable sources, with a focus on expanding power purchase agreements (PPAs) and our own generation
Energy efficiency measures by usinge more efficient and decommissioning obsolete technologies
Space reduction and modernization in buildings
Electrification and reduction of our vehicle fleet
Progressive electrification of heating with heat pumps.
In line with our sustainable procurement strategy a Group-wide task force is currently managing an initiative aimed at reducing emissions at supplier and product level. This task force plays a key role in coordinating efforts across all segments and ensures a consistent approach is taken to reducing emissions.
Other measures in a Scope 3 context include:
extended product life
Improving the energy efficiency of devices sold
Increasing the proportion of renewable energy used by suppliers and customers
sustainable procurement of materials and packaging
In this context, we intend to expand financial planning for implementing the envisaged emission reduction measures. The energy data and the Scope 1 and 2 emissions were integrated into the financial planning processes in 2022, with specific investment funding allocated to the reduction measures. Beginning in 2024, we will also integrate Scope 3 emissions into this predictive planning process. The details of the Climate Target Transition Plan will be fleshed out in close cooperation with the various segments and departments within Deutsche Telekom. The transition plan is based on current information, knowledge and indications and is regularly reviewed, developed and updated.
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Our approach to measuring our progress with climate change mitigation
We calculate our emissions for our climate targets along the entire value chain, taking account of our own energy consumption (Scopes 1 and 2) and that of our upstream and downstream activities along our value chain (Scope 3), based on the method of the internationally recognized Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. We have broken down all our CO2e emissions in detail here.
Indirect emissions from upstream and downstream activities along our value chain make up the majority of our total emissions. By recording them, we lay the foundation for reducing emissions in our value chains through targeted measures together with our suppliers and customers.
The emissions data enter into various KPIs that we use to measure our contribution to climate change mitigation and make our progress transparent. The Carbon Intensity and Energy Intensity KPIs are used to analyze the relationship between our CO2e emissions or energy use and the transmitted data volume. Using data volume as a reference parameter makes it possible to create a direct link to the performance of our networks. We draw on the additional Enablement Factor and Renewable Energies KPIs to make our climate change mitigation activities more transparent and easier to manage.
The Board of Management is informed each year in detail by the Group Corporate Responsibility (GCR) unit about the status of the programs we have implemented to achieve our climate targets.
At the end of the year, our progress toward our targets was as had been forecast.
Electricity from 100 percent renewable energies Since 2021, 100 percent of the electricity we use, Group-wide, has been sourced from renewable energies (Scope 2).
Climate neutrality by 2025 (Scopes 1 and 2) Our targets call for us to achieve climate neutrality in the company by late 2025 (Scopes 1 and 2). We intend to offset around 5 percent of the remaining emissions through compensatory measures.
In the year under review, we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 95 percent with respect to their 2017 levels.
Climate neutrality by 2040 We want to be climate neutral (net zero) in all three Scopes by 2040 at the latest, so that we no longer have any carbon footprint at all. To date, we have achieved 23 percent of this ambitious target. To allow us to better monitor our progress, in 2023 we replaced our interim target of reducing Scope 3 emissions by 25 percent per customer (compared with 2017) by 2030 with a more ambitious interim target: by 2030, we want to have achieved an absolute reduction of 55 percent in Scope 1 to 3 emissions (compared with 2020).
The “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)” was established at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Its aim is to develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures. In 2017, the TCFD published specific recommendations for putting these disclosures into practice, recommendations that companies can use as a guideline to inform investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders about the risks climate change presents for their business model. The final standard of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) was published concurrently with the recommendations for the climate sector in 2023. It concerns nature-related opportunities and risks. You can find details on Deutsche Telekom’s biodiversity work here.
We welcome the aims tied to the TCFD, and we are moving forward with TCFD-based reporting relative to those aims. As is already becoming increasingly clear, the physical risks posed by climate change include extreme weather events. In addition, transitional risks, such as the trend in carbon prices, are increasingly affecting political debate in this context. This directly influences our operations and our stakeholders. The risks applying to the continuation of our operations are analyzed, and those risks are operationally managed by our business units. In addition, we evaluate internally how reporting on climate-related financial risks and opportunities can be aligned with the TCFD’s recommendations. Ideally, such alignment would build on existing approaches for strategy, controlling, and risk management.
Governance
Strategy
Risk Management
Metrics and Targets
Governance
Disclosures
Input
a) Describe the supervision of the Board of Management relative to climate-related opportunities and risks.
Since sustainability and climate change are important issues for Deutsche Telekom, efforts to address these issues are managed at the top level of the company. Our CEO, along with the other members of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management, has responsibility for addressing climate-related issues throughout the entire Group. This extends to our climate strategy, our climate targets, and our climate-related opportunities and risks.
The Deutsche Telekom Board of Management is informed annually concerning the current status of the company’s climate target achievement and regarding other company-related climate issues. Climate indicators (ESG KPI “Energy Intensity,” ESG KPI “Carbon Intensity”) also form part of the quarterly report submitted to the Board of Management. As of January 1, 2022, the CEO has this responsibility.
In addition, Deutsche Telekom’s risk management team reports to the Supervisory Board’s Audit Committee regarding ESG risks and opportunities on a quarterly basis. When unforeseen risks occur outside of the regular-reporting framework, they are flagged on an ad hoc basis, and reported to the company’s Board of Management and Supervisory Board. The key risks for the Deutsche Telekom Group are reported in our annual report.
b) Describe the management’s role in assessing climate-related opportunities and risks.
Responsibility for managing the company’s efforts in connection with CR- and climate-related issues lies with the Group Corporate Responsibility department (GCR), supported by the Group-wide risk management team. That responsibility extends to evaluation of climate-related opportunities and risks. Responsibility for implementing the climate strategy rests with the Group business areas and segments.
An overview of Deutsche Telekom’s complete CR-organizational structure is available in the CR report.
a) Describe the climate-related opportunities and risks that the organization has identified for the short, medium and long terms.
The central climate-related risks include the possible failure of the network infrastructure, as a result of damage to the secondary infrastructure (such as through power failures) or failures of cooling systems. Another risk consists of possible network damage or failure as a result of network-infrastructure damage resulting from extreme weather events or changes in climate conditions. While these risks can result in short, medium and long-term damage, climate-related physical hazards are expected to increase in the future.
The primary transitional risks mentioned include carbon prices and regulation of products and services – for example, via increased energy-efficiency requirements. In addition, there is a risk of negative stakeholder feedback and reputational damage. For the most part, the time horizon for these risks is seen as medium-term to long-term.
With regard to opportunities, we have identified our increasing use of energy-efficient technologies, and growing demand for climate-friendly products and services, as significant climate-related opportunities.
b) Describe the impacts of climate-related opportunities and risks on the organization’s business operations, strategy and financial planning.
Climate-related opportunities and risks have affected our business operations in many different ways. Energy efficiency, for example, is of great importance for Deutsche Telekom, since the network’s energy consumption strongly affects operational costs. It is also important in light of the Group’s strategic approach to climate change mitigation and of the growing concerns and expectations of our stakeholders. Consequently, we are now aiming to at least keep our annual energy consumption stable, despite the anticipated increase in data consumption. In Germany and Europe, we have set ourselves the target of doubling the energy efficiency of our networks by 2024 (compared with 2020) and thus reducing energy consumption further. Cutting energy consumption and reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions have each been declared as remuneration-related targets, with a 50-percent weighting in each case.
For this reason, we have launched a number of programs for improving energy efficiency at our locations and in our operations. We have studied our value chain in order to identify potential for enhancing resource efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions. We have also identified central action areas for future measures that are expected to make our company’s operations more sustainable overall. The measures include, for example, labeling of products that are especially sustainable.
c) Describe the resilience of the organization’s strategy, taking account of various climate-related scenarios, including a scenario with 2°C or less of warming.
We updated and expanded our physical climate risk assessment in 2023, analyzing physical climate risks at selected Deutsche Telekom locations in Germany and internationally. These locations included mobile and fixed-network sites and data centers whose functionality gives them a significant influence over our business operations. Thus, more than 2 500 locations were analyzed in light of different climate scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): a business-as-usual scenario (RCP 4.5/SSP2-4.5), with a global temperature increase of more than two degrees, and a four-degree scenario (RCP 8.5/SSP5-8.5). The RCP-2.6/SSP1-2.6 scenario, which entails a temperate increase of less than two degrees, was also available. Further details are provided here in the CR report.
Currently, we are extending our scenario analysis to additional international locations, with a view to a full assessment of our organization’s long-term resilience. In a first step in this effort, we brought several of the largest national companies into the process: the OTE Group in Greece, Magyar Telekom in Hungary, and Hrvatski Telekom in Croatia. With the help of comprehensive materiality assessments, the companies’ key locations in this context were identified and analyzed in terms of the physical risks they face. The same physical risks and climate scenarios are applied in all cases throughout the Group.
In addition, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE Scenario), which is a 1.5-degree scenario, was applied with regard to transitory opportunities and risks. That scenario considers political, social and technological changes that the transition to a low-carbon economy would bring and that would lead to various risks and opportunities for our company. The Net Zero Scenario has thus supplanted the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) in this role.
a) Describe the organization’s processes for identifying and evaluating climate-related risks.
In 2023, we updated our climate risk analysis once again: within the framework of various workshops with experts from the areas of technology, procurement, and strategy and risk management, we defined the main climate-related opportunities and risks and began weighting them. In the process, we considered the consequences, for our business operations, that could result from the physical impacts of progressing climate change. In addition, we analyzed the impacts resulting from political, technological, and social developments tied to the transition toward a low-carbon economy that has been initiated. Further details are provided here in the CR report.
The process for identifying the opportunities and risks tied to climate change comprises the following:
Screening of media and NGO publications
Actively supporting the work of various industry associations that are studying the issue of climate change, such as GeSI, econsense, Stiftung 2°, ICC, GSMA, and ETNO
Initiating and participating in stakeholder dialogs on the issue of climate change
Analyzing responses to the CDP supply-chain program
Analyzing relevant inquiries of rating agencies, such as S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), CDP, Sustainalytics, etc.
The process for evaluating the opportunities and risks tied to climate change comprises the following:
Identifying and quantifying the important trends
Calculating the impacts on operations
Analyzing the impacts on the value chain • We financially quantified our transitory risks in 2022 in order to verify the qualitative materiality analysis from the workshops. The quantification for a number of risks was already published in the CDP questionnaire 2022. The resulting financial impacts will then be taken into account in the company’s planning. Management instruments for taking account of climate change mitigation in investment decisions are regularly reviewed for feasibility and benefit (instruments such as an internal carbon price, for example).
b) Describe the organization’s processes for addressing the climate-related risks.
On an expert-knowledge basis, opportunities and risks are evaluated in terms of their potential financial impacts (on EBITDA-AL) and of the probability of their occurrence. Where opportunities and risks cannot be quantified, their potential impacts can be reported in qualitative terms. Once risks and opportunities have been identified, they are analyzed and evaluated, in detail, in terms of the probability of their occurrence and their potential financial impacts. This can be done with the help of a scenario analysis, for example. Then we decide what concrete measures need to be taken in order to reduce the risks or exploit the opportunities. As a next step, in each case the relevant risk owner implements the measures, and monitors and evaluates their effectiveness. As necessary, the above steps are repeated and adjusted in light of the latest pertinent developments and decisions.
CDP questionnaire, C2.2 Risks and Opportunities – Description of processes
c) Describe how the processes for identification, evaluation, and management of climate-related risks are integrated within the organization’s risk management.
Our processes for identification and evaluation of climate-related risks are completely integrated within company-wide, multidisciplinary processes for risk identification, evaluation, and management. On a quarterly basis, risks and opportunities (with impacts of over EUR 100 million on EBITDA) are identified via a Group-wide risk management process (RMP) that has been developed, and is managed, by the Group Risk Governance department. The RMP provides methods and systems for identification and evaluation of risks and opportunities. The responsibility for reporting on Group risks and opportunities is divided among the relevant business units; consequently, GCR is responsible for climate risks. Further information on the risk process is available in our annual report.
The risk area also works closely with GCR to identify material climate-related opportunities and risks, and participates in internal workshops.
CDP questionnaire, C2.2 Risks and Opportunities – Description of processes
Performance indicators and goals
Disclosures
Input
a) Disclose the types of measurements that your organization uses, in accordance with its strategy and risk management process, to evaluate climate-related opportunities and risks.
The most important performance indicators for measurement and management of climate-related opportunities and risks are as follows:
The carbon intensity for Deutsche Telekom’s network operations is published annually in the company’s CR report and annual report (ESG KPI “Carbon Intensity”). This KPI shows CO2 emissions in relation to managed data volumes.
c) Describe the goals the organization uses in the context of efforts to manage climate-related opportunities and risks, and performance, in relation to goals.
The two non-financial performance indicators “energy consumption” and “CO2 emissions” (Scopes 1 and 2) have been included as components of the variable remuneration of the members of the Board of Management since 2021, and in 2022 were also made relevant for our international executives (excluding T-Mobile US), as well as all Group employees in Germany not covered by collective agreements. For selected important functions, achievement of targets oriented to specific areas of responsibility enters into the calculation of performance-based remuneration. This also applies to goals based on the ESG KPI “Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)” and on the target “Listing of T-Shares in sustainability indexes/ratings”, which reflect climate-change issues and the CR KPIs “Energy Intensity” and “Carbon Intensity,” which are directly related to those issues.
Deutsche Telekom AG’s climate targets are published in the CR report.
Our targets with regard to energy efficiency are disclosed here.
The most important key figures for measuring and managing climate-related opportunities and risks
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Progress in implementation of the TCFD recommendations
In 2020, we carried out a gap analysis to determine the extent to which our measures already conform to the TCFD recommendations (see here). During the year under review, we supplemented the gap analysis and, operating within the framework of the EU Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD, ESRS E1), incorporated other requirements into the corporate climate risk analysis.
In 2023, we again updated our climate risk analysis: within the framework of various workshops with experts from the areas of technology, procurement, and strategy and risk management, we defined the main climate-related opportunities and risks and began weighting them. In the process, we considered the consequences, for our business operations, that could result from the physical impacts of progressing climate change. In addition, we analyzed the potential impacts resulting from political, technological, and social developments tied to the transition toward a low-carbon economy that has been initiated. The analysis also involves a financial quantification of transitory risks.
The important climate-related risks include possible network-infrastructure failures as a result of damage to secondary infrastructure (involving power failures, for example) or failures of cooling systems. Another risk consists of possible network damage or failure as a result of network-infrastructure damage due to extreme weather events or changes in climate conditions.
The important climate-related opportunities we have identified include the increasing use of energy-efficient technologies (in network operations, for example), and growing demand for climate-friendly products and services.
In a next step, we analyzed selected Deutsche Telekom locations in Germany, Hungary, and Croatia with regard to their physical climate risks. These locations included mobile and fixed-network sites and data centers whose functionality gives them a significant influence over our business operations. We analyzed over 2 500 locations in total, using the Climate Change Edition of reinsurance company Munich Re’s Location Risk Intelligence software. The analysis covers nine indexes (see graphic). We considered the risks for the various locations in light of two climate scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): a business-as-usual scenario (RCP 4.5/SSP2-4.5), with a global temperature increase of more two degrees, and a four-degree scenario (RCP 8.5/SSP5-8.5). In addition to studying the climate scenarios, we looked at risks in various time frames: currently, for the years 2030, 2040, 2050 and for 2100.
The following graphic shows a simplified excerpt of the results: the risks for the year 2050, in keeping with the four-degree scenario:
Tropical Cyclones Maximum intensity of cyclones with a probability of exceedance of 10% in ten years (corresponds to a return period of 100 years).
River Flood (defended) Areas at risk of extreme floods with return periods of 100 or 500 years. Flood protection is taken into account.
Sea Level Rise** Hazard zones derived from statistical data on sea level rise and altitude data for the respective projection year and scenario.
Fire Weather Stress Index The Fire Stress Index describes current meteorological fire conditions based on fire hazard models. These combine inflammation probability, speed and spread probability, and fuel availability into a combined metric. The Fire Stress Index includes information on the length of the fire season and extreme fire danger days, for example.
Drought Stress Index The Drought Stress Index describes the change in water balance derived from the modelled standardised precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). This multi-scale drought index is based on climatic data and is used to determine the duration, intensity and severity of drought conditions compared to normal conditions (in reference periods).
Heat Stress Index The Heat Stress Index describes the current meteorological threat from heat. The threat is derived from information on e.g. heat waves, annual maximum temperature and tropical nights.
Cold Stress Index The Cold Stress Index describes the current climatological threat from cold, combining several temperature-related parameters such as frost and ice days and annual minimum temperature.
Precipitation Stress Index The Precipitation Stress Index describes the current meteorological threat of heavy precipitation. The threat is derived from information about e.g. one-day heavy precipitation events and long-lasting precipitation events.
The scenario analysis shows that only minor physical risks apply for the majority of the company’s locations in Germany. We anticipate moderate risks, due, for instance, to heat, for our Croatian and Hungarian locations. We are prepared for the impacts of physical risks, such as changes in precipitation patterns and extreme weather variability. As shown by examples such as the fierce forest fires in Greece 2023, and the disastrous floods of July 2021, extreme weather events are already capable of causing local damage to our telecommunications infrastructure. Consequently, our risk management is based on multiple pillars – we structure Deutsche Telekom’s telecommunications networks with built-in resiliency. For example, we use ring structures to ensure that failures of individual network components do not affect the services we provide for our customers. For most of our critical locations, we use uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems incorporating batteries and mobile and stationary diesel generators. Such systems can normally provide emergency power for several hours in the event of power failures. Our crisis management also helps with rapid recovery in the event of disruptions. The risks of damage to buildings and to Deutsche Telekom’s network infrastructure are covered by insurance policies. Further information is available in the chapters “Addressing climate risks” and “Risk and opportunity management”.
The analysis has been extended to other countries and we are currently working on a full-scale international roll-out.
The continuing refinement of our risk management, in keeping with the TCFD requirements, is also important from a regulatory perspective, especially in light of the EU Taxonomy guidelines. The criteria for the environmental goal “Climate change adaptation” require – as does the TCFD – companies to study physical climate risks and to be aware of the potential impacts on their business activities. With our TCFD process, we have laid the foundation for the climate risk analysis that is needed to fulfill the taxonomy criteria. More information on the implementation and the results of the taxonomy-aligned climate risk analysis can be found in the “EU taxonomy: compliance” section.
The most important key figures for measuring and managing climate-related opportunities and risks
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Addressing climate risks
In the context of our integrated climate strategy, we determine climate-related risks and opportunities for us as a company and for our stakeholders. Our Board of Management is informed quarterly about current climate risks in a Group Risk Report. You will find more information on risk management in the “Risk and opportunity management” section of our annual report.
Physical risks Extreme weather conditions as a consequence of climate change will have a negative impact on our business processes and will inevitably lead to incidents or even network outages. Among the effects of such breakdowns is their massive impact on the management of rescue operations, for example, sometimes even rendering such emergency efforts entirely impossible. In order to be able to react appropriately in these cases, we have defined the necessary responsibilities, processes, and measures in our internal “Group Policy on Continuity and Situation Management.” Additionally, the policy outlines how to handle emergency and crisis situations like floods.
We also take possible consequences of climate change into account when planning our future business activities. For example, our network infrastructure is set up to be better protected from storm conditions, changes in temperature, and high winds and keep mobile supply infrastructure on hand for emergencies.
Financial risks Climate change also carries financial risks, whether from levies on CO2 emissions or through an increase in energy costs. Our contribution to the mitigation of these risks includes measuring our own energy efficiency and developing measures for improvement. To prevent infrastructure failure due to extreme weather events, additional investment in a more robust infrastructure might be necessary.
Prevention We also help our customers reduce their own carbon footprint, thus helping to mitigate climate change, by providing them with innovative solutions. Examples include projects in the area of sustainable urban development and mobility, and also a real-time solution for agriculture (precise positioning). It can be used, for instance, to correct GPS data that is often too inaccurate for agricultural purposes and transmit precise location data in real time – using 5G mobile technology. Our low-threshold, comparatively inexpensive solution helps farmers deploy their machinery with greater precision, to reduce emissions, dose fertilizer and seeds more accurately, and increase their yields. That way we can also make an indirect contribution to achieving the second sustainable development goal (SDG) of “zero hunger.”
We also help our customers deal with the adverse effects of climate change (adaptation). In the event of an imminent catastrophe, our infrastructure can be used, for example, to send alerts via early warning apps. Climate change adaptation is part of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, which we discuss here.
The most important key figures for measuring and managing climate-related opportunities and risks
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United States segment: climate targets
The mission of T-Mobile US is to be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world by enabling them to stay digitally connected with the help of its products and services. At the same time, the company recognizes that providing connectivity to its customers also has an impact on the environment. By taking bold steps to reduce its environmental footprint, T-Mobile US can help create a more sustainable future for everyone. Mobilizing network, people, and partnerships to support a thriving planet is a key focus area of the ESG approach adopted by T-Mobile US.
A science-based approach to net-zero In 2023, T-Mobile US announced its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions across its entire carbon footprint by 2040. This makes it the first in the US telecommunications industry to set a science-based commitment to become net-zero. The target has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) using its Net-Zero Standard and includes near-term and long-term commitments to bring about a 55 percent reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030 and a 90 percent reduction by 2040, from a 2020 base year.
The Climate Pledge Knowing that collaboration is key to tackling climate change, T-Mobile US also signed onto The Climate Pledge, a cross-sector community of companies and organizations working together to solve the challenges of cutting global carbon emissions for a sustainable future. The Climate Pledge was co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism in 2019 to establish a collective commitment to achieve net-zero emissions ten years ahead of The Paris Agreement. Organizations signing up also agree to measure and report greenhouse gas emission on a regular basis.
Climate risk and oversight The network resilience strategy pursued by T-Mobile US evaluates technology disruptions and climate-related impacts to mitigate risk. We track progress on network resiliency and evaluate our network sites for vulnerabilities to environmental change.
Day after day, we work to
develop climate-neutral business
practices and establish circularity
In ramping up our climate targets, we have fulfilled the stringent criteria of the Science Based Targets initiative and become the first DAX-40 company to have a recognized, science-based net-zero climate target.
For the first time, we are outlining our route to net zero here in the form of a climate transition plan. We are already implementing the key measures set out in the plan. We achieved significant improvements in our KPI “Energy Intensity” by introducing efficiency measures in our networks and data centers.
To reduce Scope 3 emissions, we set up a task force that works closely with suppliers to explore new approaches to recording CO₂ emissions. Other sustainability criteria are applied to procurement decisions to create an economic incentive. One of the main criteria is the requirement to observe the principle of circularity for network technology and devices from the design and procurement stage onwards. When it comes to devices in particular, circularity can only be achieved in cooperation with customers. We addressed these stakeholders directly in 2023 by means of programs to purchase used devices, special initiatives, and our infotainment magazine “Heute retten wir die Welt! Ein bisschen.” (English: “Today we save the world! A little bit.”) on MagentaTV.
We support our customers in their efforts to adopt a more climate-friendly lifestyle. Our products and solutions generated positive CO₂ effects for our customers amounting to 16.9 million metric tons in Germany alone in 2023.
Further examples of our progress in 2023, from the perspective of the Group and that of our segments, can be found in the subchapters.
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Progress of selected KPIs in 2023
20222023Progress
CO₂e emissions Scope 1&2 for the DT Group (in kt of CO₂e)233217-7%
CO₂e emissions Scope 1–3 for the DT Group (in kt of CO₂e)11 81110 476-11%
CPE Take-Back and Mobile Device Take Back for the DT Group (without TMUS)4.5m.4.8m.+7%
