Clarity on the CO₂ footprint: How Telekom measures product emissions
The new “Product Emissions Calculator” is ready to use. Robert Metzke, Head of Corporate Responsibility, explains what the tool can do and how it helps.
Why does Telekom need a Product Emissions Calculator?
Robert Metzke: To reduce emissions, you need to know where they occur. Until now, CO₂ data at the product and service level has often been unavailable or only limited in comparability because of differing calculation methods. This is where the Product Emissions Calculator comes in: It provides a consistent, company-wide basis for systematically calculating and documenting the CO₂ footprint of individual products and services.
That sounds like a lot of measuring. Does the tool itself also save CO₂?
Robert Metzke: No. A calculation tool does not reduce emissions any more than a thermometer cures a fever. But without reliable measurements, it is difficult to take targeted action.
The Product Emissions Calculator shows where particularly high greenhouse gas emissions occur during a product's life cycle. This transparency can help you select materials differently, discuss lower-emission solutions with suppliers, or design products and services more efficiently to reduce emissions. Measurement does not replace transformation. It provides an important foundation for it.
How does the tool fit into Telekom's sustainability strategy?
Robert Metzke: We want to do more than report on sustainability transparently. We also want to integrate it more closely into business decisions. To do this, we need reliable, comparable data.
The Product Emissions Calculator can support product development, procurement, collaboration with suppliers, and portfolio management. It helps identify emissions hotspots at the product level and assess potential reduction measures more effectively. The tool also contributes to our next Group-wide climate target: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent across the entire value chain by 2030 compared with 2020. Having achieved accounting-based climate neutrality in our own operations, we now need to focus even more on emissions from the production and use phases.
How reliable are the results?
Robert Metzke: The calculations are not based on a methodology developed independently by Telekom. We follow the internationally recognized ISO 14067 standard for quantifying product carbon footprints. TÜV Rheinland has validated the underlying calculation process. This sets us apart, as we are currently the only network operator on the market to do so.
The meaningfulness of an individual product footprint also always depends on the quality and availability of the data used. That is why we transparently disclose data sources, assumptions, and calculation boundaries.
How does the calculation work in practice?
Robert Metzke: We look at the life cycle of a product or service step by step. This includes, among other things, raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use and disposal, recycling, and refurbishment. For each life cycle phase, we calculate the greenhouse gas emissions generated. We then combine these values into a Product Carbon Footprint.
Let’s be honest: Is this a sustainability project—or is it about customer requirements and tenders?
Robert Metzke: It serves both purposes. Business customers are increasingly asking for specific CO₂ data on products and services—for their own climate accounting, purchasing decisions, or tenders, for example. At the same time, regulatory requirements are increasing, and there is also a growing need within Telekom for a stronger basis for decision-making.
The Calculator therefore helps us respond to customer requirements with greater confidence and further develop our own products and services with sustainability in mind.
Where is the Product Emissions Calculator already being used?
Robert Metzke: The tool has already been used to calculate the CO₂ footprint of T Cloud Public and the emissions of T Phone 3, T Phone 3 Pro, and T Tablet. Step by step, we are increasing transparency around particularly relevant products, services, and infrastructure.
What is the most important message behind the Product Emissions Calculator?
Robert Metzke: The tool helps us better understand and document emissions. But transparency and measurability are not the real goal. What matters is how we act on the results: Which materials can we change? Where can suppliers reduce emissions? Which products or processes can we make more efficient?
Ultimately, it is not about the number in the Calculator, but about actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions.