United Group, a leading provider of telecommunications and media services in Southeast Europe, has achieved significant steps in its efforts towards sustainability during 2023.
The company has released its 2023 sustainability report, which highlights important achievements in the area of environmental protection, social responsibility and governance (ESG). This report highlights United Group’s commitment to sustainability and shows progress in creating a positive impact on the environment and society.
United Group sets the goal of zero emissions by 2040 with a significant reduction in emissions confirmed by SBTi
One of the main aspects of United Group’s sustainability goals is the ambitious emission reduction targets confirmed by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). As part of its commitment to the fight against climate change, United Group aims for zero emissions by 2040. During 2023, significant progress was achieved, reducing emissions from scope 1 and 2 by 46% compared to the reference year 2020.
Significant progress in renewable energy sources and circular economy initiatives
In 2023, United Group confirmed its commitment to renewable energy by providing 40% of its total electricity consumption from renewable sources, further strengthening its role in promoting sustainable business practices in the industry. In addition to reducing emissions, United Group has set a goal to achieve zero operational waste in landfills by 2030. This goal relies on the principles of the circular economy, reuse and recycling initiatives, and the elimination of e-waste. The company already promotes circular economy principles through its half-SIM and eSIM initiatives, consumer waste disposal programs and smartphone buyback programs. It is significant that in 2023, about 40% of installed customer equipment (CPE) consisted of refurbished units.
This year, United Group also completed its first assessment in line with the EU taxonomy, assessing its activities against the EU’s frameworks for sustainable financing that promote sustainable transition and socially responsible investments.
United Group promotes gender equality and leadership development through social initiatives
In the area of social initiatives, United Group achieved significant steps in gender equality and diversity in 2023. Women held 52% of the company’s leadership positions, reflecting the company’s commitment to empowering women in the workplace. United Group also signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a global initiative that promotes corporate action for gender equality, and completed its first assessment of the median gender pay gap, highlighting its support for women throughout their careers.
To strengthen the capacity of its leadership team to lead sustainability initiatives, United Group introduced the “Keep the Future” leadership training program in 2023. This program provides leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to lead an organization’s efforts to achieve long-term sustainability goals.
„The progress we made in 2023 underscores United Group’s commitment to building a sustainable future. Our successes in reducing emissions, using renewable energy sources and gender equality show that sustainability is at the heart of our strategy. We are proud of the results achieved and remain committed to providing long-term value to all our stakeholders” said Miriam Di Traglia, United Group’s executive director of compliance, risk and sustainability.
The entire sustainability report for 2023 is available on the United Group website at line.
About United Group:
United Group is the leading telecommunications and media group in Southeast Europe. It operates in eight countries with almost 15,000 employees and generates an annual revenue of over 3 billion euros. In the telecommunications sector, more than 5.3 million households and more than 7.3 million mobile subscribers use the largest FTTH (Fiber to the home) network in Southeast Europe, intensive investments in United Group’s 5G network and modern fixed and mobile connectivity. Under the United Fiber brand, the Group is consolidating its fixed infrastructure portfolio to further accelerate and strengthen its investments in EU countries, creating strong synergies and raising its investment capacities to a higher level. All of United Group’s wholesale infrastructure activities, including voice, data, mobile services and roaming, are managed by UGI Wholesale. Group-owned technology company and innovation center United Cloud is driving regional transformation in entertainment and telecommunications with products such as next-generation video content platform EON.
Its media arm, United Media, produces and distributes attractive TV content, with significant sports, news and entertainment formats, reaching a broad audience of 40 million people through its flagship free-to-air channels, alongside an attractive portfolio of Pay-TV channels. With a current production capacity of over 40,000 hours of original local content per year, United Media operates 60 TV channels, 40 web and trusted news portals, 10 print publications and radio stations.
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