- Sustainability Strategy and Goals
- Progress vs. Target Tracker
- Key Sustainability Innovations and Technologies
- Measurable Impacts
- Challenges and Areas for Improvement
- Future Plans and Long-Term Goals
- Comparisons to Industry Competitors
- Telecom Equipment Sustainability: Ericsson vs. Nokia vs. Samsung
- What to Watch: 12 to 18 Month Indicators
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), the Swedish multinational telecommunications equipment and managed services company headquartered in Stockholm, reported full-year 2025 revenues of SEK 236.7 billion (approximately $22.1 billion), net income of SEK 8.6 billion (up 76% year over year), and an adjusted gross margin of 48.1%, confirming a financial recovery after two years of market contraction. The company published its Annual Report 2025 on March 4, 2026, encompassing a Sustainability Statement (pages 95 to 141) prepared in full accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), making Ericsson one of the first major telecommunications equipment manufacturers globally to adopt ESRS-compliant sustainability reporting in its annual financial filing.
Ericsson’s sustainability programme is built on three operational pillars: decarbonising its own operations and enabling customer networks to use less energy per bit transmitted, circular transformation of its physical hardware portfolio across design, take-back, and end-of-life recycling, and digital inclusion through connectivity infrastructure deployment. By the close of 2025, the company confirmed two headline sustainability milestones: a 64% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions vs. the 2020 baseline (ahead of pace toward the 90% by 2030 target), and the early achievement of its radio base station energy efficiency target of 40% reduction by FY2025 vs. 2021, delivered six months before the deadline. Over 20 years of the Ericsson Product Take-Back Program, 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste have been collected and responsibly recycled globally.
Key Highlights
- Net zero across the full value chain by FY2040 (SBTi validated December 2023; FY2020 base year)
- Near-term SBTi target: 90% absolute Scope 1 and 2 reduction by FY2030 vs. FY2020 base
- Near-term SBTi target: 50% absolute Scope 3 reduction by FY2030 vs. FY2020 base
- Scope 1 and 2 reduction 2025: 64% vs. FY2020 baseline; ahead of pace toward 90% by 2030 target
- Total 2024 carbon footprint: approximately 18.8 million tCO2e; Scope 1: 17,300 tCO2e; Scope 2: approximately 34,000 tCO2e; Scope 3: approximately 18.75 million tCO2e
- Scope 3 share: approximately 99.7% of total footprint
- 41% reduction in total value chain emissions in 2024 compared to 2023
- Radio base station energy efficiency: 40% reduction in energy consumption of new typical sites vs. 2021 baseline achieved in FY2025, six months ahead of schedule
- New 2027 target: 50% reduction in energy consumption of new radio base station sites vs. 2021 baseline
- New 2027 target: 50% reduction in embodied carbon of new radio base station sites vs. 2021 baseline
- AIR 3266 (MWC 2025 flagship radio): 30% lower energy consumption; 50% lower embodied carbon vs. previous generation
- AT&T and Ericsson network modernisation: $28 million in annual energy savings; 23,000 metric tonnes CO2 avoided
- 20-year Product Take-Back Program: 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste collected and recycled globally
- Products: over 90% recyclability rate in recent product generations
- Boliden and IVL e-waste circularity collaboration launched April 2025
- TOMRA IoT-enabled circular waste partnership launched June 2024
- Connect To Learn: 1 million children and youth by 2025 target; 200,000+ positively impacted across 25+ countries since 2010
- ESRS-compliant Sustainability Statement: pages 95-141 of FY2025 Annual Report; published March 4, 2026
- Previous SBTi targets (2016-2022): both Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 targets met and surpassed within the target period
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2026/3/ericsson-annual-report-2025-published
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericssons-second-round-of-climate-targets-toward-net-zero-approved-by-science-based-targets-initiative
https://ditchcarbon.com/organizations/ericsson
Sustainability Strategy and Goals
Ericsson’s sustainability strategy is formally structured under three mutually reinforcing pillars: responsible business (governance, ethics, and human rights), environmental sustainability (net zero, circular economy, and energy efficiency), and digital inclusion (connectivity access, digital skills, and social benefit of 5G deployment). The strategy is aligned with the SBTi Net-Zero Standard and, from FY2025, is governed under ESRS double materiality requirements, covering both impact materiality (how Ericsson affects society and the environment) and financial materiality (how sustainability risks and opportunities affect Ericsson’s financial performance). Ericsson’s record of SBTi compliance is particularly strong: it met and surpassed its first-round targets (2016-2022) before voluntarily committing to a second, more demanding round validated December 2023.
Net Zero and Carbon Emissions
Ericsson’s 2030 near-term SBTi targets require 90% absolute Scope 1 and 2 reduction and 50% absolute Scope 3 reduction from a 2020 base year, with full net zero across all scopes by FY2040. As of 2025, Scope 1 and 2 emissions have been reduced by 64% vs. the 2020 baseline, placing the company on a trajectory to exceed the 90% target before the 2030 deadline if the current pace is maintained. Total 2024 carbon footprint was approximately 18.8 million tCO2e, with Scope 3 at approximately 99.7% of the total, almost entirely driven by the energy consumed by customers using Ericsson-manufactured radio and network equipment globally across hundreds of thousands of live network sites.
- Scope 1 2024: approximately 17,300 tCO2e
- Scope 2 market-based 2024: approximately 34,000 tCO2e
- Scope 3 2024: approximately 18.75 million tCO2e (approximately 99.7% of total footprint)
- Scope 1 and 2 reduction 2025: 64% vs. FY2020 baseline; SBTi near-term target: 90% by FY2030
- Scope 3 reduction 2024 vs. 2023: total value chain emissions fell 41% in a single year
- Net zero target: FY2040 (all scopes; SBTi validated December 2023; FY2020 base year)
- Near-term SBTi targets: 90% Scope 1 and 2 by FY2030; 50% Scope 3 by FY2030 (both vs. FY2020)
- First SBTi round (2016-2022): Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 targets both met and surpassed
Water Stewardship
As a telecommunications equipment manufacturer and managed services company, Ericsson’s direct water footprint is confined to its manufacturing sites, offices, and data centres globally. The ESRS-aligned FY2025 Sustainability Statement includes mandatory ESRS E3 water-related disclosures for the first time, making FY2025 the first year Ericsson publishes standardised, auditable water data within an annual financial filing. Ericsson’s manufacturing facilities in Tallinn (Estonia) and Lewisville (Texas) hold ISO 14001 environmental management certification, which mandates water management protocols as a standard requirement across all certified sites.
- Direct water footprint confined to manufacturing sites (Tallinn, Lewisville), offices, and data centres globally
- ESRS E3 mandatory water disclosure included for the first time in FY2025 Sustainability Statement
- ISO 14001 certified at Tallinn and Lewisville manufacturing facilities; water management included in certification scope
- No standalone corporate water reduction target or water intensity figure published in available third-party sources as of March 2026
Deforestation and Biodiversity
Ericsson does not publish a standalone deforestation or biodiversity commitment as of March 2026. The FY2025 Sustainability Statement is required to address biodiversity under ESRS E4, representing the first formal biodiversity disclosure in Ericsson’s reporting history. Ericsson’s most direct indirect contribution to biodiversity is through deploying connectivity infrastructure that enables remote environmental monitoring, anti-poaching detection systems, and conservation data collection in ecologically sensitive areas globally.
- No standalone deforestation policy or biodiversity commitment published as of March 2026
- ESRS E4 biodiversity disclosure required and included in FY2025 Sustainability Statement; first formal biodiversity reporting year
- Network connectivity infrastructure enables remote environmental monitoring and conservation data applications for customers globally
Packaging and Circular Economy
Ericsson’s circular economy programme is among the most operationally mature in the global telecommunications equipment sector, spanning product design for recyclability, repair and upgrade pathways, formal product take-back, and certified e-waste recycling across every major market where Ericsson operates. Over 20 years of the Ericsson Product Take-Back Program, 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste have been collected and responsibly recycled globally through partnerships with operators including MTN Benin (123 metric tonnes since 2021), Beyon (Bahrain), and AT&T (United States). In April 2025, Ericsson launched a collaboration with Boliden and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute to develop end-to-end circular e-waste solutions for the telecom industry, targeting traceable recovery of certified recycled metals from decommissioned network hardware.
- 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste collected and recycled globally over 20 years via Product Take-Back Program
- Products: over 90% recyclability rate in recent product generations
- MTN Benin: 123 metric tonnes of WEEE collected and recycled since 2021
- Beyon (Bahrain): e-waste management and 30% energy reduction on Batelco’s live network under renewed sustainability MoU
- Boliden and IVL collaboration (April 2025): end-to-end traceability for telecom e-waste; certified recycled metal recovery from decommissioned equipment
- TOMRA partnership (June 2024): IoT-enabled waste stream optimisation and circular supply chain data management
- Ericsson Connected Recycling (ECR) platform: SaaS solution for IoT-powered deposit-return systems and enterprise waste circularity management
- Ericsson advocates for recycled material content inclusion in IEC standards for electronic equipment, a policy position with sector-wide circular economy implications
Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing
Ericsson’s supply chain human rights programme is now governed under ESRS S2 (Workers in the value chain) requirements embedded in the FY2025 Sustainability Statement, representing the most comprehensive published account of value chain labour rights performance in the company’s history. The company faced significant governance scrutiny following its 2023 settlement of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) case with the U.S. Department of Justice for $206.7 million, arising from prior payments in Iraq, Djibouti, and China, after which Ericsson implemented an enhanced Ethics and Compliance framework reviewed by an independent compliance monitor. Ericsson’s 2024 Sustainability Report confirms further reduction in work-related accidents across its own workforce and steady progress toward a more inclusive workplace.
- ESRS S2 (Workers in the value chain) disclosure included in FY2025 Sustainability Statement for the first time
- FCPA settlement 2023: $206.7 million; enhanced Ethics and Compliance framework and independent compliance monitor implemented
- Supplier Code of Conduct covers human rights, labour standards, environmental practices, and anti-bribery across all supply chain tiers
- 2024 Sustainability Report: further reduction in work-related accidents across own workforce confirmed
- Steady progress toward an inclusive workplace reported; ESRS S1 (Own workforce) disclosures included in FY2025
Community and Social Impact
Ericsson’s flagship social sustainability initiative is Connect To Learn, launched in 2010, through which the company pledged in December 2021 to positively impact 1 million children and youth by 2025 through access to digital learning, skills development, and quality 21st-century education in underserved communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Since the programme’s founding, over 200,000 children and young people across 25+ countries have benefited, with a particular focus on gender equality through empowering women and girls with ICT skills. The target of 1 million by 2025 represents a 5x scaling of the programme in four years, and Ericsson has formally aligned this commitment with the World Economic Forum EDISON Alliance 1 Billion Lives Challenge.
- Connect To Learn: 1 million children and youth by 2025 target; 200,000+ positively impacted in 25+ countries since 2010
- Alignment with WEF EDISON Alliance 1 Billion Lives Challenge
- Gender equality focus: specifically targets empowerment of women and girls through ICT access and digital skills
- Technology for Good framework: networking expertise deployed for healthcare connectivity, disaster response, and environmental monitoring
- AT&T and Ericsson modernisation: $28M in annual energy savings; 23,000 metric tonnes CO2 avoided; social resilience co-benefits for communities served
- MTN Benin e-waste programme: 123 metric tonnes of WEEE responsibly recycled since 2021, reducing hazardous waste exposure in local communities
Governance and Transparency
Ericsson’s FY2025 Sustainability Statement, published March 4, 2026, is prepared in full compliance with ESRS, covering E1 (Climate), E2 (Pollution), E3 (Water), E4 (Biodiversity), E5 (Circular economy), S1 (Own workforce), S2 (Value chain workers), and G1 (Business conduct). SBTi validation for both near-term (FY2030) and net zero (FY2040) targets was confirmed December 2023, with a documented track record of having met and surpassed the prior 2016-2022 SBTi target set. Ericsson publishes ESG data in a downloadable Excel format alongside the Annual Report, covering all primary and comparative environmental, social, and governance data points with third-party assurance.
Technology and Innovation
Ericsson’s most commercially and environmentally significant innovation is its sustained, generation-over-generation reduction in the energy consumption of radio base station hardware, the single largest category of electricity use in global mobile networks. The AIR 3266, Ericsson’s flagship 5G radio unveiled at MWC 2025, delivers 30% lower energy consumption and 50% lower embodied carbon compared to the previous generation, using a 32-branch transceiver design that significantly improves spectral and energy efficiency simultaneously. The Radio 6646 triple-band tri-sector design, deployed in Bahrain through the Beyon MoU, performs the work of nine separate radios in a single hardware unit, reducing material use, installation energy, and total site footprint by a factor of nine.
- AIR 3266 (MWC 2025): 30% lower energy consumption; 50% lower embodied carbon vs. previous generation; 32-branch transceiver design
- Radio 6646: triple-band tri-sector design replacing nine individual radios; 30% energy reduction on Batelco’s live Bahrain network
- Power D620: programmable Smart DC distribution; zero-watt sleep feature eliminating energy consumption during radio sleep intervals
- 40% radio base station energy efficiency improvement achieved 2025 vs. 2021 baseline (six months early); new 2027 target: 50%
- New 2027 target: 50% reduction in embodied carbon of new radio base station sites vs. 2021 baseline
- Ericsson USA factory (Lewisville, Texas): 1,646 solar panels generating 17% of facility energy; 24% more energy efficient than comparable buildings
- Boliden and IVL collaboration (April 2025): end-to-end e-waste traceability for telecom industry from decommissioned hardware to certified recycled metal streams
- TOMRA partnership (June 2024): IoT-enabled waste stream optimisation and circular supply chain data management
- Ericsson Connected Recycling (ECR): SaaS IoT platform for deposit-return systems and enterprise circular waste management at commercial scale
Global Partnerships and Advocacy
Ericsson has submitted SBTi targets twice, meeting and surpassing its first-round targets (2016-2022) before committing to a more demanding second round approved December 2023, representing a documented track record of SBTi delivery that is unique among telecommunications equipment manufacturers of comparable scale. The company is active in GSMA’s industry sustainability working groups and advocates publicly for including recycled material content requirements in IEC standards for electronic equipment, a policy position that, if adopted, would create regulatory pull for circular manufacturing across the entire global electronics sector. Ericsson’s network modernisation commercial contracts, including AT&T and Beyon, are increasingly structured around verified energy savings and carbon avoidance metrics, making sustainability performance a formal commercial deliverable rather than a standalone reporting exercise.
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/about-us/sustainability-and-corporate-responsibility/sustainability-report
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2026/3/ericsson-annual-report-2025-published
https://www.ericsson.com/en/investors/esg-resource-hub/goals-progress
https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/5g-energy-efficiency
Progress vs. Target Tracker
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/investors/esg-resource-hub/goals-progress
https://net0tracker.com/corporates.html/Cisco%20Systems/
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericssons-second-round-of-climate-targets-toward-net-zero-approved-by-science-based-targets-initiative
Key Sustainability Innovations and Technologies
Ericsson’s most commercially and environmentally consequential innovation is the sustained reduction in energy consumption per bit transmitted at the radio base station level, the single largest driver of electricity consumption in global mobile networks. The AIR 3266, unveiled at MWC February 2025, is the clearest demonstration of this engineering trajectory: 30% lower operational energy consumption and 50% lower embodied carbon compared to the previous generation, achieved through a 32-branch transceiver design that simultaneously improves spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and reduces manufacturing emissions per unit. When deployed at the scale of a national network (hundreds of thousands of sites), the AIR 3266’s 30% energy reduction translates directly into hundreds of millions of kilowatt-hours of annual electricity savings across Ericsson’s customer Scope 3 footprint.
The April 2025 Boliden and IVL collaboration represents Ericsson’s most structurally innovative circular economy initiative, targeting for the first time the full material traceability chain from decommissioned network hardware through certified metal recovery, closing a loop that the Product Take-Back Program has gathered material for but not formally tracked to recycled content outcomes. This complements the TOMRA IoT partnership (June 2024), which brings waste stream intelligence and data management to the circular logistics operations underlying the Take-Back Program.
- AIR 3266: 30% lower energy consumption; 50% lower embodied carbon vs. previous generation; 32-branch transceiver
- Radio 6646: triple-band tri-sector design replacing nine individual radios; deployed in Bahrain delivering 30% network energy reduction
- Power D620: Smart DC distribution with zero-watt sleep feature; eliminates energy use during radio sleep intervals
- AT&T modernisation: $28M in annual energy savings; 23,000 metric tonnes CO2 avoided on a single operator’s network
- Boliden and IVL collaboration (April 2025): end-to-end e-waste traceability from decommissioned telecom equipment to certified recycled metals
- TOMRA partnership (June 2024): IoT-enabled waste traceability and stream optimisation for circular supply chain management
- Ericsson Connected Recycling (ECR): commercial SaaS IoT platform for deposit-return systems and enterprise circular waste management
- Ericsson USA factory (Lewisville, Texas): 1,646 solar panels providing 17% of site energy; building 24% more energy efficient than comparable industrial structures
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/5g-energy-efficiency
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/3/2025/boliden-ivl-and-ericsson-collaborate-for-e-waste-circularity-in-telecom-industry
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/6/ericsson-and-tomra-join-forces-in-new-circular-solutions-for-waste-materials
Measurable Impacts
Ericsson’s 2025 sustainability performance is defined by the convergence of two ahead-of-schedule achievements: a 64% Scope 1 and 2 reduction vs. the 2020 baseline, already surpassing the 2030 halfway point with five years remaining, and the 40% radio base station energy efficiency improvement delivered six months early, directly reducing the energy consumed by Ericsson-manufactured equipment across hundreds of customer networks globally. The 41% reduction in total value chain emissions in 2024 alone (vs. 2023) is the single largest single-year Scope 3 improvement documented in Ericsson’s public ESG data, driven primarily by product energy efficiency improvements that reduce Category 11 (use of sold products) emissions as more efficient hardware enters service.
The 20-year Product Take-Back Programme milestone of 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste collected and recycled represents a physical circular economy outcome with no direct equivalent in the telecommunications equipment sector. For context, 165,000 metric tonnes is equivalent to approximately 16.5 Eiffel Tower weights of electronic waste diverted from landfill and processed through certified recycling channels globally.
- Scope 1 and 2 reduction 2025: 64% vs. FY2020 baseline (SBTi 2030 target: 90%)
- Total 2024 carbon footprint: approximately 18.8 million tCO2e; Scope 3: 99.7%; Scope 1 and 2 combined: 0.3%
- Total value chain emissions reduction 2024 vs. 2023: 41% single-year improvement
- Radio base station energy efficiency: 40% reduction achieved 2025 vs. 2021 baseline; six months ahead of FY2025 deadline
- AIR 3266: 30% lower energy; 50% lower embodied carbon vs. previous generation
- AT&T network modernisation: $28M annual energy savings; 23,000 metric tonnes CO2 avoided
- Product Take-Back Program: 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste collected and recycled globally over 20 years
- Product recyclability rate: over 90% in recent generations
- Connect To Learn: 200,000+ children and youth positively impacted across 25+ countries since 2010
Source
https://ditchcarbon.com/organizations/ericsson
https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/5g-energy-efficiency
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/3/2025/boliden-ivl-and-ericsson-collaborate-for-e-waste-circularity-in-telecom-industry
Challenges and Areas for Improvement
Ericsson’s most fundamental sustainability challenge is the same as Cisco’s: the total carbon footprint is overwhelmingly dominated by Scope 3 Category 11 (use of sold products), which at approximately 99.7% of the total 18.8 million tCO2e is structurally determined by the energy consumed by customer networks running on Ericsson equipment globally. The 41% single-year Scope 3 reduction in 2024 vs. 2023 is a significant achievement, but it is likely partially attributable to the industry-wide slowdown in network capital expenditure in 2023 and 2024 (fewer new base stations deployed means lower new use-phase emissions entering the Scope 3 boundary), rather than purely to product efficiency improvements. As global 5G rollout accelerates again from 2025 onward, the absolute Scope 3 figure is likely to grow with network expansion even as per-site energy intensity continues to fall.
The second material challenge is the Connect To Learn digital inclusion target. The pledge to reach 1 million children and youth by 2025 was made in December 2021, setting a 5x scaling target above the 200,000 baseline already achieved since 2010. No final confirmation that this target was met appears in available FY2025 sources, and reaching 800,000 additional beneficiaries in four years from a base built over the prior 11 years would have required a fundamental scaling of the programme’s delivery model, funding, and partner network.
- Scope 3 Category 11 (use of sold products): approximately 99.7% of total footprint; 41% reduction in 2024 may be partly attributable to industry capex slowdown
- Absolute Scope 3 likely to grow again as global 5G capex recovers from 2025; per-site efficiency gains may not fully offset deployment volume increases
- Connect To Learn 1 million by 2025 target: final achievement status not confirmed in available FY2025 sources
- FCPA governance legacy: DOJ compliance monitor requirements create ongoing governance overhead and reputational risk
- No corporate water reduction target published; ESRS E3 water disclosure FY2025 will provide a baseline but no target has been stated
- No standalone biodiversity or deforestation policy; ESRS E4 disclosure in FY2025 is the first formal biodiversity reporting year
- Supplier recycled content requirements: Ericsson advocates for IEC standards on recycled content but has not published a company-level recycled content percentage target for its own hardware
- Post-2025 Scope 1 and 2 reduction milestones between the achieved 64% and the 2030 target of 90% not explicitly published; interim FY2027 checkpoint not formally committed
Source
https://ditchcarbon.com/organizations/ericsson
https://www.ericsson.com/en/investors/esg-resource-hub/goals-progress
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2021/12/ericsson-pledges-to-support-one-million-children-and-young-people-by-2025-with-access-to-digital-learning-and-skills
Future Plans and Long-Term Goals
Ericsson’s forward sustainability roadmap is anchored by three key milestones now in active pursuit: 50% radio base station energy reduction by 2027, 50% embodied carbon reduction in new radio base station sites by 2027, and full value chain net zero by FY2040. The 2027 energy and embodied carbon targets represent a significant step-up from the FY2025 baselines already achieved, and the AIR 3266 and Radio 6646 deployments provide early evidence that the hardware innovation pipeline is on trajectory to deliver both.
ESRS compliance from FY2025 will structurally expand Ericsson’s sustainability disclosure obligations in every subsequent annual report, covering water, biodiversity, pollution, and value chain social matters that have not previously been formally reported. This creates a governance-driven transparency escalation over the next five years that will progressively close the disclosure gaps identified in this analysis.
- 50% reduction in energy consumption of new radio base station sites by FY2027 vs. 2021 baseline
- 50% reduction in embodied carbon of new radio base station sites by FY2027 vs. 2021 baseline
- Net zero across all scopes by FY2040 (90% absolute reduction; residual emissions neutralised through credible removals)
- ESRS mandatory annual reporting from FY2025 onward: water, biodiversity, pollution, and value chain social disclosures to expand each year
- Boliden and IVL e-waste collaboration: scaling end-to-end circular material traceability for decommissioned telecom equipment industry-wide
- TOMRA partnership: scaling IoT-enabled circular supply chain data management across growing Take-Back Program volumes
- Connect To Learn: outcome of 1 million target by 2025 to be formally reported; next phase targets expected
- SBTi track record: if second-round targets are met by 2030, Ericsson will be the only major telecom equipment manufacturer to have met two consecutive SBTi target sets
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericssons-second-round-of-climate-targets-toward-net-zero-approved-by-science-based-targets-initiative
https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/5g-energy-efficiency
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2026/3/ericsson-annual-report-2025-published
Comparisons to Industry Competitors
Ericsson competes directly with Nokia in the telecommunications equipment market, and both companies have SBTi-validated net zero targets set for FY2040 from similar base years, making a direct comparison possible across most ESG categories. Nokia reported a 36% reduction in total emissions in 2024 vs. its 2019 baseline, achieved 87% renewable energy across all Nokia facilities, and met the 56% emissions reduction milestone among final assembly suppliers in 2024. Ericsson’s 64% Scope 1 and 2 reduction (2025 vs. 2020) and 99.7% Scope 3 dominance presents a different emissions profile from Nokia’s, where Scope 1 and 2 reductions at 78% own-facility GHG reduction by 2024 appear further advanced in absolute terms.
Telecom Equipment Sustainability: Ericsson vs. Nokia vs. Samsung
Source
Nokia sustainability: https://www.nokia.com/about-us/sustainability/decarbonization-circular-transition/climate-sustainability-strategy/
Nokia 2024 Statement: https://www.nokia.com/system/files/2025-04/nokia-2024-sustainability-report.pdf
Samsung 2025 Report: https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-releases-2025-sustainability-report
Ericsson ESG: https://www.ericsson.com/en/investors/esg-resource-hub/reporting-and-data
What to Watch: 12 to 18 Month Indicators
First indicator: Whether Ericsson confirms the achievement of its Connect To Learn 1 million children and youth target in the FY2025 Annual Report or a dedicated social impact publication by mid-2026. The target was set in December 2021 with a 2025 deadline, requiring a 5x scaling of a programme that had reached 200,000 beneficiaries in the prior 11 years. Given the ambition of the scaling requirement and the absence of a final confirmed figure in available FY2025 sources, this is the highest-uncertainty commitment in Ericsson’s social sustainability portfolio. Confirmation of the 1 million milestone would validate Ericsson’s digital inclusion strategy as a commercially executed programme rather than an aspirational pledge. A shortfall, if published transparently alongside a revised forward target, would still represent a governance strength rather than a failure.
Second indicator: Whether the 41% single-year reduction in total value chain emissions (2024 vs. 2023) is sustained or partially reversed in 2025 as global 5G capital expenditure recovers. The extraordinary magnitude of a 41% single-year Scope 3 reduction in a company whose products remain in service for years invites scrutiny of the methodology: it may reflect a genuine step-change in product energy efficiency entering the installed base, or it may partly reflect the 2023-2024 industry-wide telecom capex downturn reducing new product deployments. The FY2025 Scope 3 figure, expected in the next ESRS-compliant Sustainability Statement in March 2027, will determine whether the 2024 reduction was structural or cyclical. A reversal toward 2023 levels would indicate the latter.
Third indicator: Whether the Boliden and IVL e-waste circularity collaboration (April 2025) delivers a published pilot result including verified recycled metal recovery volumes and material traceability certification within the 12-to-18-month window. This collaboration has the potential to close the most significant gap in Ericsson’s circular economy programme: the absence of certified closed-loop material recovery data connecting decommissioned hardware at the Take-Back Program intake to verified recycled content in new products. A published pilot result with quantified metal recovery volumes (copper, aluminium, gold, and rare earths) would be a landmark for the entire telecom equipment industry’s circular economy credibility, establishing an auditable closed-loop benchmark that no competitor has yet achieved.
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/3/2025/boliden-ivl-and-ericsson-collaborate-for-e-waste-circularity-in-telecom-industry
https://ditchcarbon.com/organizations/ericsson
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2026/3/ericsson-annual-report-2025-published
Ericsson’s sustainability programme as of March 2026 is defined by one outstanding structural achievement and one structural unresolved challenge. The achievement is a documented track record of SBTi delivery that no comparable telecommunications equipment manufacturer has matched: two consecutive SBTi target sets met or surpassed, Scope 1 and 2 64% reduced ahead of pace, an energy efficiency target delivered six months early, and 165,000 metric tonnes of e-waste recycled over 20 years. The challenge is that approximately 99.7% of the total emissions footprint sits in Scope 3 Category 11 (use of sold products), a category that is growing in absolute terms as 5G deployment accelerates globally, even as per-site energy intensity falls.
For CSOs and ESG practitioners benchmarking against Ericsson or designing sustainability programmes for telecommunications equipment manufacturers, three strategic takeaways apply.
First, Ericsson’s model of embedding verified energy savings directly into commercial network modernisation contracts, as demonstrated by the AT&T ($28M annual savings, 23,000 tCO2e avoided) and Beyon (30% network energy reduction) agreements, is the most commercially replicable sustainability mechanism available to any enterprise technology hardware company. When environmental performance becomes a contractual deliverable rather than a voluntary reporting exercise, it creates a market signal that sustainability drives revenue, not just reputation. Practitioners advising technology hardware companies should advocate for converting product energy efficiency specifications into commercial contract performance metrics.
Second, the Boliden and IVL e-waste circularity collaboration (April 2025) represents the most structurally significant circular economy initiative in the telecom equipment sector because it attempts for the first time to establish certified, traceable closed-loop material recovery from decommissioned network hardware. If the pilot succeeds, it creates a blueprint for converting every product take-back programme in the electronics sector from a waste management exercise into a certified secondary materials supply chain. The telecommunications equipment sector collectively retires hundreds of thousands of base stations annually; a certified closed-loop model for recovering copper, aluminium, and rare earths from this stream would have sector-level material flow implications.
Third, Ericsson’s ESRS adoption in the FY2025 Annual Report, published March 4, 2026, is the governance development most likely to change how investors, regulators, and customers assess Ericsson’s sustainability performance over the next three years. ESRS double materiality requires Ericsson to disclose how sustainability issues affect its financial performance (financial materiality) and how its activities affect society and the environment (impact materiality) simultaneously. For a company whose primary sustainability impact is the energy consumed by global mobile networks, the ESRS E1 (Climate) and E5 (Circular economy) disclosures in the FY2025 report will for the first time provide a standardised, auditable baseline against which five-year progress toward the FY2030 SBTi targets can be systematically tracked by any analyst using the European Single Electronic Format in which the report is also published.
Source
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2026/3/ericsson-annual-report-2025-published
https://www.ericsson.com/en/investors/esg-resource-hub/goals-progress
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericssons-second-round-of-climate-targets-toward-net-zero-approved-by-science-based-targets-initiative
