Bharti Airtel announced that it has joined global efforts to address climate change, pledging to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent across its activities by FY31.

Over the same time period, the telco has pledged to cut absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 42 percent.

The 'Business Ambition for 1.5 degree celsius' campaign of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has enlisted India's second-largest telecom operator, which has set goals to drastically cut its carbon footprint and emissions from network operations.

This Business Ambition for 1.5°C is an emergency call for global corporations to commit to setting science-based carbon reduction objectives. It aspires to avoid the worst effects of climate change by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and moving toward a net-zero emissions economy.

Climate change, according to Vidyut Gulati, Director - Legal, Bharti Airtel, is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.

In the meantime, Airtel has become the first Indian telecommunications company to join the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability project.

Airtel is integrating its entire Environmental, Societal, and Governance (ESG) programs to the UN Global Compact framework's 10 principles, which encompass the environment, human rights, anti-corruption, and labor.

Airtel has already signed its pact with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and it has a comprehensive environmental management system in place that is adopting clean, fuel-based power solutions for towers, data centers, switching centers, and other facilities on a proactive basis.

Currently, it has achieved a 97 percent reduction in network emission intensity for mobile operations since FY16, as well as a 25 percent rise in renewable energy deployment in operations during the same period, thanks to several green power wheeling agreements that have helped save CO2.

"To ensure that we do not pass the point of no return and have a sustainable planet, we must act together as soon as possible. Businesses have a basic obligation to contribute to this endeavor, and Airtel has set a lofty goal for itself and will transparently report on its success”, says Gulati.