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Tele Columbus AG: Tele Columbus AG makes progress in its sustainability strategy

DGAP-News: Tele Columbus AG / Key word(s): Sustainability/Miscellaneous Tele Columbus AG: Tele Columbus AG makes progress in its sustainability strategy 29.04.2021 / 14:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. PRESS RELEASE

Lower greenhouse gas emissions, safe supply chains

Tele Columbus AG makes progress in its sustainability strategy

- 8.2% less CO₂ from purchased electricity

- 31% less CO₂ from mobility

- Measures for fair supply chains

Berlin, 29 April 2021. Tele Columbus AG is on track to achieving its sustainability targets for 2024. Those goals for 2024 include climate-neutral network operation and reducing the vehicle fleet's GHG emissions by 30% per kilometre.

2020 was heavily influenced by the coronavirus pandemic and led to advancements in digitalisation in many areas of life. The trend also had a noticeable impact on the Tele Columbus Group's networks, pushing data volume up by 40% compared with 2019. With annual increases in transfer volume of 35% already a regular occurrence prior to the widespread introduction of remote working and schooling, a mere five percentage points can actually be attributed to the effects of lockdown.

Despite this growth in data traffic, energy consumption as measured rose only slightly. A higher share of renewable energy made it possible to reduce CO₂ emissions by 8.2% year on year. In 2020, the percentage of electricity purchased by the Tele Columbus Group from green sources increased to 69.5%, including the networks and data centres of the PŸUR Business B2B segment (HL komm Kommunikationsdienste GmbH), which already purchase their electricity entirely from renewable energy sources. The GHG intensity^[1] of the Tele Columbus Group's networks currently stands at 8.2 kg CO₂e per transmitted terabyte.

The rapid roll-out of a comprehensive hygiene concept to prevent infection, which featured extensive remote working and the systematic reduction of physical person-to-person contact, helped to reduce travel significantly, resulting in a 31% decrease in GHG emissions attributable to the company's fleet of vehicles and air travel. In addition, the CO₂ emissions in connection with business travel by air were fully offset through carbon credits for the first time in 2020 (-84 tCO₂).