Supplier requirements

Telenor’s Supplier Conduct Principles (SCP) are based on internationally recognised standards, including requirements on human rights, health and safety, labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption.

Telenor aims to uphold responsible business practices in our supply chain, including respect for human rights and ethical standards, sourcing minerals responsibly, working towards the elimination of forced labour and labour exploitation, including forced labour and labour exploitation of migrant workers, and ensuring health and safety of our suppliers. Telenor seeks a resilient supply chain able to withstand the impacts of climate change, global health pandemics and other potential disruptions.

View Supplier Conduct Principles

Suppliers are obliged to extend the supplier requirements further down in their own supply chains. The agreement also provides Telenor with monitoring rights. Trained inspectors check compliance and carry out inspections of suppliers in accordance with written standards and best practice.

Continuous improvement is the overriding principle throughout Telenor’s responsible supply chain management activities.

By the end of 2020, we had signed approximately 6,100 ABCs with active suppliers that we have defined in-scope for ABC (based on risk assessments).

Reaching the targets.

• Telenor has actively worked to reduce the company’s carbon emissions in line with our Near-Term science-based targets towards 2030 for over two years now.

• As a natural next step Telenor have now committed to set a Long-Term net-zero target in line with SBTi’s standard.

• A net-zero target will require a reduction in emissions across all three scopes 1,2 and 3 combined by at least 90%

• Since Scope 3 represents the dominant share of Telenor’s carbon footprint, these emissions have a high priority (in 2022 scope 3 emissions represented 77% of all global emissions, in Nordic it was 99%)

• As a company that provides critical infrastructure for digitalization of society and business, Telenor will need to provide low emission and ultimately net-zero emission services for others in their pursuit of net-zero emissions.

Working with Committed suppliers.

• 90% of Telenor’s scope 3 emissions come from our supply chain. It is therefore essential to decarbonize our supply chain.

• This will of course take time, but our near-term target is that already by 2025 the majority of what Telenor purchases shall come from suppliers that also pursue science-based emission reduction targets.

• We have engaged with our suppliers, informing them about our ambitions and encouraging them to join us in our climate efforts.

• Beyond 2025 and towards our net-zero target we will need to achieve an emission free supply chain. This will take many years, but to succeed we must make bold steps now.

• Now, after two years of advocacy we take an important next step leveraging our purchasing power from Q2 2023:

  • We now require our largest suppliers to commit to set science-based targets to be eligible for being awarded new contracts or renewing existing ones.

  • Our Telenor Procurement Company has informed our suppliers about this step-change and the CEO Thomas Skjelbred has set up a dedicated project to execute this change.

  • In addition to this we will also evaluate shifting share of spend to suppliers with science-based targets under existing big contracts that represent major emissions.

  • There may be needs for exceptions to these requirements, but they will be few and must be approved by top management.

We encourage our peers, other companies with large purchasing power and not at least public sector to consider setting similar requirements.

A recent example for inspiration in the public sector is the plan to require suppliers receiving over $50 million in annual federal contracts in the US to set science-based targets.

For more information about what Telenor does for climate, click here: Climate page