Nokia has today published its annual sustainability report, covering the company’s sustainability performance in 2019 and focusing on four priority areas: improving people’s lives with technology, climate, conducting business with integrity, and people.

The publication of Nokia’s People & Planet Report 2019  coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic. With entire countries in lockdown, and people asked to stop or minimize their physical interactions, network traffic has been spiking around the world, demonstrating the critical roles of networks and connectivity.

“Nokia’s People & Planet Report 2019 looks at how we can improve the lives of people – our employees, customers, and wider society – and better care for our environment at the same time. The context our report is being published in has changed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the fundamental issues remain the same, and, if anything, now have greater urgency because of the challenge the world faces,” said Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia, in a blog post.

“Trends and technologies that were already happening will speed up. So more remote working and video conferencing will increase the need for better connectivity. The power of 5G and lower latency times won’t be abstract terms for the majority of people, but suddenly critical for everything from digital health to financial trading, to virtual classrooms, to government and international diplomacy,” he continued.

“We are playing our part to keep the world connected through the pandemic. And we want to play our part in building a better world for everyone when this crisis is over,” Suri said.

Nokia’s sustainability achievements in 2019 included:

• In 2019, the networks Nokia supplied to its customers supported 6.4 billion subscriptions worldwide
• In October 2019, Nokia completed its first external human rights assessment for the Global Network Initiative (GNI). The GNI board found Nokia had made good faith efforts over time to implement the GNI Principles on freedom of expression and privacy.
• As part of Nokia’s inclusion and diversity work in 2019, Nokia closed the unexplained pay gap based on pay equity analysis we conducted with Mercer.
• In May 2019, Nokia launched its Helping Hands volunteering and engagement program for employees. Through Nokia’s community investment programs, the company has cumulatively improved the lives of 1,633,500 people globally since 2016 – a strong performance against its 2025 target of 2,000,000 people.
• At the United Nations 2019 climate summit, Nokia joined a group of 87 companies in committing to recalibrate its existing science-based climate targets in line with the 1.5°C warming scenario.
• Nokia delivered zero-emission products to over 150 customers globally.
• 46% less energy was used on average in the customer base-station sites Nokia modernized in 2019 compared to those where its customers did not modernize.

The People and Planet Report 2019 is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative GRI Standards and is compliant with the UN Global Compact. The selected key sustainability indicators have been assured by the independent auditor of Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy.