With a current worldwide focus on climate change and environmental impacts, the telecommunications sector is being asked to examine how it can reduce its emissions and be more environmentally responsible.  At the same time, the industry is in a unique position of providing solutions to enterprises, individuals and governments worldwide to cut pollution from transport and inefficient manufacturing.  Ensuring the growth of the sector, while ensuring investment is sustainable and environmental, is a key concern for an increasing number of governments and regulators.

This paper details the steps that mobile network operators (MNOs) will need to take in order to reduce their carbon emissions, and how they should assess the financial and environmental impact of possible policies before implementing them. The paper also suggests some options for governments and regulators to incentivise climate sensitive telecommunications policy. However, it is important that MNOs’ emissions are considered in the wider context of the telecommunication industry, and the economy as a whole.