Rethink Business through a 2050 Lens

It was an honor to address the Responsible Business Summit yesterday and share my views on the sustainability transition.

To build a better future, we need to take collective action towards a healthier and more sustainable future.

Carbon neutrality, circular economy, energy efficiency, and waste management are at the heart of the much-needed transition to sustainability. Businesses, both big and small, have realized that to achieve sustainable development, they need to rethink how their businesses operate. The transition from a linear to a circular economy is now essential.

At Huawei, we believe in synergy and coherence between our business operations and the sustainable development goals. That’s why we have embedded sustainability in every aspect of our business operations. We use innovative products and solutions to help industries reduce energy consumption and emissions and to work towards a circular economy. Our green ICT solutions can enable industries to reduce power consumption and emissions.

We will continue to make our own operations and our supply chains’ greener and more climate resilient. Huawei is and will stay committed to minimizing its environmental impact in production, operations, and throughout the lifecycles of its products and services.

We are also convinced that ICT is becoming an important enabling technology for a greener world. ICT-enabled power savings and carbon emission reductions will far exceed the industry’s own, helping greatly conserve energy and reduce emissions worldwide. For instance, it is estimated that solar PV will generate 25% of the total electricity needed globally by 2050, a sharp increase from 3% in 2020, making solar PV the largest power generation source.

Smart PV in Action

Let me share with you the example of our smart PV solution. Huawei’s Smart PV solution is being widely used in more than 60 countries to reduce carbon emissions by 148 million tons. This is the equivalent of planting more than 200 million trees.

In Ethiopia alone, we have helped our customers deploy over 400 solar power stations, reducing carbon emissions by 2,850 tons.

In China, we have also helped build the world’s largest solar stations dedicated to agriculture and fishing in Ningxia and Shandong provinces. In Ningxia, together with our partners, we built a solar farm that integrates Huawei smart PV system over a goji berry plantation.

A rich layer of goji berries under tens of thousands of solar panels has greatly contributed to poverty alleviation and rural renewal.

The farm hires about 80,000 employees each year, with every rural household reporting income increasing by more than US$6,000. The latest data reveals that the solar farm is estimated to reduce equivalent emissions by 2 million tons, equal to planting around 89 million trees.

When deployed in large ground-based power plants, Huawei’s smart PV solutions can help cut power generation costs by 7%. When used in enterprise campuses and households, they can increase power yields by 2% and reduce power consumption costs.

This is just one of many examples, but every example, every gram of emissions reduced, every watt of electricity saved, every small improvement we’ve made, couldn’t have been achieved without technological advances. This is the value tech brings to the world. We have always believed in the good of tech and supported technological advancement. We believe tech ultimately benefits humanity. However, many have stopped believing in the power of technology due to fear and distrust. Some are going to great lengths to hinder the development of technology. We need the world to reach a consensus and understand the benefits that innovative technologies can bring to the world. This is the only way to fully unleash the power of technology and achieve the sustainable development goals.

As we engage in this journey towards a low-carbon society, we recognize the need for stronger collaboration and innovation between governments, businesses, international organizations, and other players to decarbonize our economy. 2050 may seem far away, but this transition has to happen now to ensure that it supports a more sustainable and climate-resilient global agenda. I am fully confident in not only our ability to drive technology forward, but also in the global community’s ability and determination to build a harmonious relationship with nature.

Read more about our Tech for a Better Planet initiative.

Disclaimer: Any views and/or opinions expressed in this post by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Huawei Technologies.