Climate Action 2010-2011

Sustainable business practice
Business can no longer afford to relegate environmental issues to the back
burner and pretend that the challenge posed by greenhouse gas emissions
should be the sole preserve of NGOs and governments.
Since the scientific community irrefutably established the causal link between increasing
carbon emissions and human activity, the quest to reverse the negative impact of
environmental degradation has taken centre stage.
As a leading telecoms player with operations in Africa and the Middle East, MTN Group
is acutely aware of the devastating effects of climate change in the countries in which it
operates. Many of these countries are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change
and have few, if any, resources to offset its adverse impact.
MTN has made a concerted effort to identify areas where it can reduce its carbon footprint.
Addressing energy efficiency and investing in alternative and lower-carbon technologies are
a key means of reducing the company’s impact.
Examples of efforts in this respect are indicated in the map on the opposite page. These
include powering base transceiver stations and switching sites with a combination of
renewable, lower carbon and engineered solutions. Trial and live sites from South Africa
to Nigeria deploy wind, solar, deep cycle batteries, waste heat capture and other energy
efficiency solutions which help reduce the company’s environmental impact.
MTN can influence energy efficiency in other sectors of the economy by developing
innovative solutions. These would help improve
how other industries operate and how society
works and lives. The company is actively
exploring and considering solutions such as
dematerialisation (replacement of physical
services with
virtual solutions),
efficiencies in
transport logistics,
smart building
technologies
and information
solutions for
energy efficiency
imperatives and
improved grid
management and
monitoring.
For MTN therefore,
implementing
sustainable business practices throughout its
operations is not a matter of compliance, but a
business imperative that makes economic sense
and enhances stakeholder value.
Case study: Riemvasmaak
Communities remain an important stakeholder
in MTN and the company endeavours, wherever
possible, to integrate and empower them in its
operations.
In the remote village of Riemvasmaak in South
Africa, MTN built two off-grid wind- and solarpowered
base stations for this community that has,
until now, lacked any telephony connectivity.
The Riemvasmaak community were co-opted in
the building of the sites, thus contributing to their
economic well-being. This new-found link with
the outside world has gone a long way towards
reviving the local economy.
Case study: Zambia
Zambia has historically had low access to telephony
services. This is compounded by a low population
density, increasing the spread of coverage
needed and low electrification rates. To support
the demand for increased access to affordable
communications, MTN Zambia has deployed
hybrid solutions across almost 20% of its network.
This has seen an increase in MTN’s capacity to
service communication requirements at acceptable
quality levels while reducing fuel consumption
and related costs by 37% across the entire network.
MTN has also reduced associated greenhouse gas
emissions from diesel-based power consumption.
Network performance has substantially improved
– power generators now operate under 40% of
previous configurations.
As part of the plan to ensure wider benefit from
these initiatives, MTN Zambia is planning to set
up community centres at selected sites , allowing
subscribers and the community to charge their
mobile phones from points supplied at sites for this
purpose. Public payphones are also being set up at
such sites.