The telecom sector has once
again showed extreme reluctance towards implementing the Green Telecom Directive
issued by the Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. The telecom
operators have failed to adhere to the deadline to publicly announce their
carbon emissions as mandated in the Green Telecom Directive (Direction no.
800-61/2012 Dated 23-01-2012), for the second time this year. Further, the Tower
and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has issued a request for
proposal for 500 sites even though the pilot on around 4000 sites has already
been conducted.
Energy has been a major component of the operating
expenditure of the telecom operators and with the recent hike in the diesel
price; it will further hit their profitability. The implementation of the green
telecom directive will result in a saving of INR 80, 000 crore over a period of
8 years for the telecom sector.
Greenpeace has been campaigning
with the telecom sector for over two years now urging it to shift away from
diesel in a time bound manner and also timely disclose its carbon emissions. In
its latest report “Enabling Clean Talking(1)” released in August this year,
Greenpeace presented a detailed economic and environmental roadmap based on the
Green Telecom Directive issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)(2).
The report also proposes a compliance mechanism as well as mandatory obligation
on transparency and disclosure of carbon emissions.
“It is a
matter of grave concern that the telecom operators are continuously defying the
government directive on green telecommunication when in fact the directive is
going to help their business. Given the defiant position of telecom operators,
we demand the government to ensure the implementation of the green telecom
directive by setting effective compliance mechanism.” Mrinmoy Chattaraj,
Campaigner, Greenpeace India said.
Greenpeace urges that all
obligated entities i.e. telecom operators, should disclose carbon emissions of
their business operations under the globally accepted framework of GHG protocol
of World Resource Institute (WRI).
“The sector is losing out on
its profitability by sticking to the expensive and polluting diesel and also
being irresponsible towards environment. The hike in the diesel price is a
wake-up call for the sector and a reminder that the road ahead is rough if they
don’t take a decision on the diesel phase out now.” Chattaraj added
further.
As the telecom operators continue their expansion in the rural
areas they have a huge opportunity to champion the green
telecommunications.
Greenpeace is calling on the telecom industry to
focus on managing its energy and carbon by substantially shifting its power
generation for network operations to renewable sources, and to proactively
advocate for economy-wide policies that combat climate change and increase the
use of renewable energy.
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