GOING GREEN

Cellphone firms turn to eco-friendly covers to cut carbon

realme is set to launch such like phone in Kenya this year

In Summary
  • realme GT 2 Pro's back cover is made of eco-friendly material.

  • This launch is coming at theThe critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla in Congo  has lost 77 per cent of its population in the last 20 years, time environmentalists are blaming phone companies of huge carbon emission
An assortment of mobile phones
An assortment of mobile phones
Image: FILE

realme, the world's sixth  fast growing smartphone brand will this year launch in Kenya a phone whose back cover is made of eco-friendly material.5

o  haAlthough it did not give the exact date, the phone maker said the handset, GT 2 Pro's back cover uses a bio-polymer material that serves as an Eco-alternative to fossil raw material.  

In a addition, realme's new box designo  hao  ha has reduced the overall plastic ratio from 21.7 per cent to 0.3 per cent as the firm affirms its commitment to zero emission.

This launch is coming at the time critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla in Congo  has lost 77 per cent of its populatio  haon in the last 20 years,.

Environmentalists are blaming phone companies of huge carbon emission, with reports that several rare trees, birds and animals are becoming extinct especially in Africa as cellphone firms mines raw materials. 

For instance, the critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla in Congo  has lost 77 per cent of its population in the last 20 years, partly due to the mining of minerals used to make cellphones.

realme'sRecently, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) launched a  report dubbed, “Mobile 55Net Zero – State of the Industry on Climate Action 2021.”o  ha

This is the first analysis of how the mobile industry is progressing towards its ambition to be net zero by 2050.This is the first analysis of how the mobile industry is progressing towards its ambition to be net zero by 2050.

The report is part of UNs Campaign, Race to Zero, which aims to rally leadership and support from all non-state actors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery.realme's

All members are committed to the same overarching goal: halving emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the very latest.o  ha

Led by the High-Level Climate Champions for Climate Action, Race to Zero mobilizes actors outside of national governments to join the Climate Ambition Alliance.

Among the insights in the report were how; Mobile operators covering 50 per cent of global mobile connections and 65 per cent of industry revenues have now committed to science-based targets.

​At least 36 per cent of the mobile industry by revenue and 31 per cent of the mobile industry by connections have credibly committed to net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier through the UN Race to Zero campaign.

Mobile operators worldwide are stepping up 5and committing to undertaking the relevant actions necessary to deliver a net zero world as laid out by the Climate Action Pathways.

By 2020, 60 mobile operators providing 69 per cent of the world’s mobile connections and 80 per cent of revenue disclosed their climate impacts, risks and opportunities to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

5G networks are built with network energy efficiency in mind; 5G’s specification calls for a 90 per cent reduction in the energy use to transfer each bit of data.

o  hao  haSafaricom recently launched the 5G network in Kenya and is in the process to erect masts in various areas of the country. This will prove important at a point in the journey to Net Zero.

Locally, with 5G being one indicator of compliance, Safaricom which was among the operators mentioned in the report has been on a journey to managing emissions and becoming a net zero carbon-emitting company by 2050.

According to Safaricom’s Sustainability Report, by the end of 2020, the telco was at a nie per cent reduction in carbon footprint.

This is attributed to various efforts like partnership between the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and local community forest associations to grow 5 million trees over a period of 5 years in four different sites to ensure carbon emissions are offset through reforestation.

The initiative is expected to offset around 26 per cent of our carbon emissions once the trees have grown to maturity.

The telco also aims to reduce emissions from its supply chain by freighting goods via the sea instead of the air.

The carbon footprint and greenhouse gas eo  hao  hamissions of ocean or sea freight (goods transported using container ships) is a fraction of that air freight (goods flown in the holds of cargo planes).

Their procurement policy now states that air freight should only be used if there is no viable alternative option.

​_As an increasing number of business l eaders and organisations are acknowledging, the future growth and resilience of successful companies will be determined by their ability to navigate the looming global shift to a low-carbon, clean-technology based economy

Safaricom is also working on areas that focus on Energy efficiency, promoting alternative clean energy sources and managing its electronic waste. It is a member of GSMA.

The global mobile industry’s race to net zero emissions is gaining pace as the UN’s Race to Zero campaign declare s the industry has made a critical ‘Breakthrough’.

Today more than a third of the mobile industry, by revenue, has now credibly committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, according to the rigorous criteria of the UN Race to Zero campaign.

In January, the mobile industry was the first sector to break through the 20 per cent tipping point necessary to accelerate the systems transformation needed to deliver a zero-carbon world rapidly.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star