Digital divide and climate change: Huawei outlines their commitments

Huawei launched their 2015 Sustainability Report on Thursday that presents their responsibility commitments.

Entitled 'Connecting the Future', the report details Huawei's contribution to the fight against global climate change, the digital divide, the company's commitment to maintaining the stability and security of telecommunications networks and its work in supporting the united Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

According to Kevin Tao, Huawei's chairman of Corporate Sustainability Development Committee, the company is always looking to the future.

"Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is crucial for human progress in modern society, and connectivity-centered ICT technologies are catalysing transformation in every industry. In addition to boosting business efficiency and enriching people's lives, ICT is transforming societies in ways that create economic opportunities, protect the environment, and make our world more sustainable," Tao says.

The report affirms that Huawei has been pushing sustainable development, with the aim to integrate sustainability across the company, aligning it with corporate business strategies.

"Business growth is not our only goal, as we are equally committed to fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities and pursuing sustainable development," Tao says. "We hope to join hands with our partners to build a harmonious business environment and for a Better Connected World.

Regarding Huawei's sustainability development priorities, Tao asserts that following the rapid change in technology development, the ways of technology application is ever evolving.

"Our stakeholders are placing increasingly high requirements on us, and we are striving to turn these challenges into competitive advantage," Tao says. "In 2016 we will focus our efforts on bridging the digital divide and enabling information access for more people, optimizing our eco-design skills to provide more energy-efficient products and solutions, implementing our circular economy strategy to minimise the environmental impact of our smartphones, and continuing the supplier energy conservation and emissions programs to build a greener global supply chain.

Some of the highlights of Huawei's 2015 commitments included:

• Deployed more than 50% of wireless stations. over 70% of LTE networks and at least 50,000 kilometres of optical fibre cable in Africa
• Collaborated with customers to build over 500 new base stations in Sri Lanka
• Provided network access for 50,000 Ethiopian students across 64 schools
• Supported network stability during more than 130 major events and natural disasters
• Increased energy efficiency of core routers and wireless based stations by 25% and 20% respectively
• Six Huawei handsets obtained leading environmental certifications based on the UL110 standard, with five achieving platinum level
• Awarded the Gold Award at the BT Better Future Supplier Forum (British Telecom), the 'Extraordinary Contribution to Project Spring' Award from Vodafone, and gold medals from other peers for Huawei's sustainability efforts