In the course of 2022, our Group's main websites, with around 680 million total page views, generated around 554 tonnes of CO2eq, as much as would be produced by, say, a car driving 78 times around the planet.
This is the result of the calculation that we have been doing since 2020 with Rete Clima, a non-profit organisation specialising in promoting sustainability in organisations, using the certified CO2web® proprietary methodology. The web, in fact, contributes to the generation of harmful emissions, for example, through the energy consumption of the servers that host websites and the services that are needed to run them.
For us at TIM, caring for the environment is a concrete commitment, which is why this year we have once again chosen to offset the climate impact of our sites by supporting certified initiatives that generate positive effects of equal magnitude: the Envira Amazonia REDD+ (Reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation) project in Brazil and additionally an urban forestation project in Italy. A small gesture that has great symbolic meaning.
Protecting the Amazon rainforest
In Brazil, we decided to support the Envira Amazonia REDD+ project, which aims to protect an area of 39,000 hectares of tropical rainforest in the State of Acre.
The objective of this project is to preserve biodiversity by protecting endangered plant and animal species, but also to provide a wide range of ecosystem services by mitigating the release of approximately 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year over a 30-year period.
The benefits are not only environmental but also social and economic, because the project includes a series of training courses for the development of sustainable agriculture, the creation of new job opportunities, and the development of social programmes for the collection, transport and sale of açaí palm and medicinal plants.
Urban forestation
This year we will again support a forestry redevelopment project in Italy that aims to increase the naturalness of urban green areas and generate services for communities and inhabitants.
The initiative will take place in spring in a park in Rome and will aim to contribute to the redevelopment of the area for a truly green development of the city.
Climate change: What the TIM Group is doing
Offsetting the emissions generated by our site is part of the TIM Group's sustainability strategy, which makes environmental protection fundamental, setting the goal of achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2030.
The Group's activities focus on using renewable energy, reducing consumption by using fibre and 5G, offering green products and sustainable services and solutions for working, producing, learning, living and travelling. The TIM Group is developing and is committed to the deployment of technologies such as Cybersecurity, Cloud and IoT, which are essential tools for increasing the security, productivity and efficiency of individuals and organisations while reducing their impact on the environment.
Rete Clima's CO2web® method
To assess the emissions of TIM Group websites, the CO2web® method developed by Rete Clima and verified by the ICMQ certifying body was used. This method calculates the greenhouse gas emissions generated by website hosting on the basis of the energy consumed by the servers hosting the web pages and of all the services required for their operation, including cooling.
Emissions were neutralised through the cancellation of carbon credits in support of an international environmental protection project, certified in accordance with the VCS-Verra standard, to generate an equal amount of positive environmental impact (carbon offsetting), validated and verified in accordance with the CCBS - The Climate Community and Biodiversity Standards with Triple Gold Level Distinction for positive impact on climate change mitigation, support to local communities and the protection of biodiversity.
Finally, the carbon neutrality of the sites has been certified with the issue of a green label "CO2 emission zero® website", which will appear on all the Group's websites.
