Verizon’s approach to ESG: Driving sustainability into the company’s DNA

A founding member of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, CEO of Verizon, Hans Vestberg, has been committed to achieving meaningful universal connectivity. Commissioner Vestberg’s work has been integral to the development of the Commission’s goals, targets, and outputs, which guide the Commission on bridging the digital divide and bringing universal connectivity to the forefront of policy discussions through the facilitation of impactful public-private partnerships, thought leadership and actionable policy recommendations.

Through its work as a vehicle for high-level advocacy partnership and thanks to the real-world experience of our individual Commissioners, the Broadband Commission leverages collective expertise to drive progress toward achieving meaningful, safe, secure, and sustainable connectivity for all.

This spring, Verizon published its Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Report detailing its ESG strategy and results. This report shares the company’s sustainable business practices and insights into how it has incorporated the consideration of ESG issues directly into the DNA of the company.

At Verizon, our world-class networks are at the center of our business strategy to drive innovation and growth. We are building the interconnected future and creating networks to move the world forward, for everyone. As we execute on our strategy we consider how our core business can benefit the communities where we operate and how we can mitigate adverse impacts to create long-term, measurable value for a broad set of stakeholders—our shareholders, customers, employees and society. Our ESG strategy supports these objectives through four pillars: governance, integration, engagement and reporting.

Vestberg highlighted that: ” When it comes to protecting our planet and our climate for generations to come, we are working to achieve net zero emissions in our operations by 2035, including by sourcing or generating renewable energy equivalent to 50% of our annual electricity consumption by 2025.”

He went on to say that “[t]his year we also leaned in by making a multi-year pledge of $3 billion to uplift vulnerable communities, help close the digital divide, and contribute to the achievement of the UN SDGs. As part of this we are providing 10 million youths with digital skills training, supporting 1 million small businesses with tech resources and tools and upskilling 500 thousand individuals with tech training, all by 2030.”

For more information on Verizon’s ESG strategy, read the full report here.

Contributed by

Mr. Hans Vestberg

CEO of Verizon & Broadband Commissioner
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