Nokia Releases White Paper Stating Its Position On Climate Change

Nokia is making its position on the subject of climate change clear by way of a white paper titled “Building zero emissions radio access networks.” The Finnish tech firm had released this white paper this month, and the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) posted a tweet about it a week ago, just before President Donald Trump officially took office. Last week, there were reports that all mentions of the phrase “climate change” and “global warming” were removed from the official website of the White House. Instead, the website is now pushing for a new policy on energy that promotes getting rid of environmental policies such as the Climate Action Plan. According to a report published by Mashable, nominees for President Trump’s cabinet are not that enthusiastic about dealing with climate change, and a few of them have even stated their unwillingness to use their influence to address the issue (or non-issue). 

Not Nokia though. The company was forthright in admitting that, yes, the release of the white paper was no coincidence. A spokesperson for the company has pointed out how Nokia has always employed strategies that aimed for sustainability, especially in terms of protecting the environment, not only the production of its devices, but also in how its customers are using its products.

In its white paper, Nokia argued that there is overwhelming evidence that the burning of fossil fuels has a big effect on climate change. Even the governments of the world know this, forming the 2016 Paris Agreement in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as ratified by over 190 members of its members. Nokia also took the opportunity to point out that about 70 percent of all installed base stations are still using outdated hardware, which consume too much energy. If these stations can be modernized, it would make a difference in helping limit greenhouse gases. 

Almost a couple of years ago, Rajeev Suri, the President and chief executive officer of Nokia, had written a letter (which has also been posted in the company’s sustainability web page) that explained the company’s commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its business, and also in supporting initiatives such as the YFactor program, which works to allow more women to develop careers in areas such as science, technology, engineering, and math. Then last year, Nokia had debuted Nokia AirScale Radio Access, a next gen radio access network (RAN) system that allows for more efficient consumption of energy.