Telstra sets carbon target: 10% reduction by 2015

Telstra chief executive officer David Thodey today announced a target to reduce the company’s carbon emissions intensity by at least 10 per cent by 2015.

“We are setting a realistic and achievable target for carbon intensity because we are serious about reducing our impact on the environment,” Mr Thodey said.

“Our customers, employees and the community increasingly expect us to act, and as the owner of infrastructure that is vulnerable to harsher climatic conditions it is in our interests to do so.”

The target requires Telstra to reduce its carbon emissions intensity by at least 10 percent and up to 15 percent by 2015. Carbon emissions intensity refers to the amount of carbon emitted for every dollar earned by a company.

In 2008/09 Telstra emitted 1.52 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 64 tonnes per million dollars of domestic revenue. The target requires Telstra to reduce this to at least 58 tonnes per million dollars of domestic revenue by 2015.

Telstra will achieve this reduction by:

* Investing in energy efficient projects and accommodation;
* Undertaking specific energy saving projects in existing facilities, and decommissioning redundant network assets;
* Reducing the energy intensity of purchased products and services;
* Implementing staff training to reduce office and vehicle fleet emissions; and
* Adopting low carbon information and communications technologies (ICT) solutions such as video conferencing and teleworking.

Mr Thodey said the target was ambitious, because it took into account the additional energy required to meet exponential growth in network and data storage capacity.

“Traffic on Telstra’s Next G™ wireless broadband network is doubling every eight months while traffic on the Next IP™ network is doubling every 20 months.”

“This means Telstra has to manage its environmental footprint at the same time as meeting our customers’ rapidly expanding demand for energy-intensive technology like data capacity and network storage.”

“It is important that Telstra manage its own energy efficiency, but we recognise that the greater contribution we can make is to provide services that enable our customers to reduce their own impact on the environment.”

Mr Thodey announced the carbon target at the launch of the company’s 2008/09 Corporate Responsibility Report in Sydney.

The report shows that Telstra:

* Provided more than $180 million in free and subsidised services to help more than one million disadvantaged Australians maintain a phone service;
* Laid 800 kilometres of optical fibre through Arnhem Land, providing Indigenous communities with high speed broadband for health, education and other services;
* Supported victims of the February 2009 Victorian bushfires with bill waivers, 1000 free handsets, Internet kiosks and 60 free public payphones;
* Contributed more than $65 million in value to community organisations, including more than $3.5 million through the Telstra Foundation; and
* Increased by 29 percent the number of Indigenous employment opportunities.

“As a company that has the privilege of touching the lives of millions of Australians every day, we have an important responsibility to act ethically and responsibly in all that we do,” Mr Thodey said.

“Every single action we take has an impact on our company, our customers, our shareholders and the nation, and we want to make sure that our efforts help make Australia a better place to live and work.”

The 2009 Corporate Responsibility report provides a comprehensive view of Telstra’s performance against planned actions, in line with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, an internationally recognised reporting framework.

For more information and to view a copy of the Report online visit: www.telstra.com.au/cr