Huawei's 2018 Sustainability Report Digital inclusion: Driving equal access for all

Huawei released its 2018 Sustainability Report. It has published this report for the 11th year in a row. The 2018 report explains Huawei's four strategies for sustainability: digital inclusion, security and trustworthiness, environmental protection, and a healthy and harmonious ecosystem.

Over the past year, Huawei has been working to help achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), build a sustainable and more inclusive ecosystem with its industry partners, and execute its own sustainability strategies.

At the launch event for the report, Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, said, "Huawei has been creating value for its customers through innovation. We are doing everything we can to bridge the digital divide and meet the world's needs for connectivity," Liang continued, "We want to make digital services more affordable and equally accessible to all, and to do our part in contributing to social and economic development."

Liang explained that environmental protection is also a key component of Huawei's sustainable development initiatives. Liang added, "Energy efficiency has become a major consideration for future communications networks. We have to use less energy to transmit more data, and reduce the overall energy consumption of power systems. ICT technologies can help." 

Liang explained that Huawei has made many innovations in the course of its 5G research, product development, and engineering. Huawei has managed to reduce the power consumption per 5G site to 20% less than the industry average. This has been made possible by the new Huawei chipsets, system software, professional services, and advanced hardware and heat dissipation technologies. These innovative technologies have made Huawei's 5G more energy-efficient. With the right solutions, Huawei's 5G will be a green technology.

Kevin Tao, Board Member and Chairman of Sustainable Development Committee of Huawei, remarked, "We want to bring the benefits of digital technology to every person, home, and organization. To this end, we have launched a global digital inclusion initiative called TECH4ALL. For example, our RuralStar solution has connected 40 million rural residents as of the end of 2018."

Tao added, "We currently provide communications services to over three billion people around the world, and we are committed to supporting secure network operations worldwide. We honor this commitment no matter what. For example," he said, "In 2018, after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Indonesia, Huawei was the first and the only vendor to the scene."

Tao also announced Huawei's new sustainability strategies, which include two major changes. First, Huawei has expanded its strategy of bridging the digital divide into a digital inclusion strategy. Building on connectivity, the company is now also paying more attention to applications and skills. Second, its strategy of supporting stable and secure network operations and protecting user privacy has been upgraded into the "security and trustworthiness" strategy.

Huawei incorporates sustainability in everything it does – in its innovation, value creation, and value sharing with its partners – so that it can deliver greater business value and social value. Looking forward, Huawei will work even harder and do its part in building a better, sustainable future.

Appendix 2: Summary of the 2018 Sustainability Report

Digital inclusion: Technology should not be for the few, but for the many. However, there is still a long way to go to make this a reality. According to GSMA, 66% of the world's households remain unconnected, and nearly four billion people around the world have no Internet access. On top of that, more than two billion people around the world lack reliable mobile broadband service. Huawei feels that it has a responsibility towards unconnected communities. Therefore, Huawei has launched its global digital inclusion initiative, TECH4ALL.

Security and trustworthiness: A fully connected, intelligent world is built upon security and trustworthiness. Huawei has made cyber security and privacy protection its top priorities. Within the next five years, Huawei will be investing US$2 billion in enhancing its software engineering capabilities, to better respond to the cyber security and privacy challenges that are affecting the entire industry.

Environmental protection: Huawei supports building a clean, efficient, low-carbon, and circular economy. Huawei is committed to minimizing its environmental impacts during its production and operations and throughout its product and service lifecycles. Huawei uses it innovative products and solutions to help industries conserve energy and reduce emissions, and contribute to a circular economy. The company makes ongoing efforts to work with all industry partners to build a low-carbon society. In 2018, Huawei used about 932 million kWh of electricity from clean energy sources, representing an emissions reduction of about 450,000 tons.

Healthy and harmonious ecosystem: Huawei steps up to its responsibilities as a corporate citizen, and works hand in hand with customers, employees, local communities, and industry partners to create a healthy and harmonious ecosystem. In 2018, Huawei organized 177 community support programs worldwide, to support local sustainable growth.