Biodiversity

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework during its 15th Conference of Parties, requiring all signatories to protect 30% of Earth's land and ocean area by 2030.

This framework mandates that the integrity, resilience, and connectivity of ecosystems are preserved, improved or restored, resulting in a significant expansion of natural ecosystems by 2050. The framework aims to stop human-induced extinction of threatened species and to lower the extinction rate and risk of all species by 90 percent in the next 25 years.

For these targets to be achieved, we need to understand and detail the impact of operations on nature and biodiversity and then implement mitigation programmes for protecting vulnerable ecosystems, while taking steps to achieve nature positivity where possible.

Telenor’s Approach to Biodiversity

At Telenor, we are dedicated to understanding the impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities related to nature and biodiversity.

In 2023, a pilot study was initiated by Telenor in Finland with the objective of mapping telecom sites towards biodiversity information from various environmental institutes. If successful, the same methodology will be applied to other Telenor companies.

Telenor is also participating in a sector-specific collaborative effort in GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) to identify and address the most common material pressure areas for mobile operators, both within their own operations and in the upstream supply chain.

Ambitions and intentions

Going forward, Telenor will be evaluating the use of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) as a framework for reporting on impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities within the field of nature and biodiversity, while integrating achievable targets relevant to our operations.