BT Group announces plan to drive sustainable growth

BT Group has launched a new business-wide plan to focus and accelerate its efforts to build a better business for its customers, the economy and society at large.

Ensuring BT Group’s growth is responsible, inclusive, and sustainable, the new BT Group Manifesto outlines the action the business is taking, and the measurable commitments it has put in place, to create greater impact with a clear commercial agenda.

This includes accelerating access to transformative technology and ultrafast networks, building a bigger, more diverse talent pool and driving the faster adoption of sustainable practices.

It will also set the agenda for future initiatives, ensuring all BT Group activity will help lead the way to a brighter, more sustainable future. Recent examples include the company’s move into smart healthcare solutions; the Eagle-i security solution which predicts and prevents cyber attacks for corporate and public sector customers; and the launch of BT’s Digital Marketing Hub for SMEs, giving them a single platform to create, publish and track digital advertising.

BT Group has existing goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its own operations by 2030 and to help 25m people across the UK improve their digital skills by 2025. As part of the Manifesto, the business is adding new goals to help its customers reduce their own carbon emissions by 60m tonnes by 2030, build towards a circular BT by 2030 and launch a new movement to improve the UK’s diverse digital talent pipeline.

BT’s commitment to reducing its carbon intensity will help the UK Government meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050. The company is also calling on other businesses to take similar steps, by setting their own ambitious but realistic net zero targets for 2050 at the latest and by engaging with their customers, colleagues and supply chains about climate change, what it means for them and what they can do to make a difference.

The Manifesto launch builds on BT Group’s recent progress to fast-track its transformation and better position itself for sustainable growth. The company recently launched high-profile campaigns to reach consumers with its Big Sofa Summit and Not Tomorrow Today. These campaigns got the UK talking about the environment, demonstrating how small lifestyle changes and smart tech can be used to help aid the fight against climate change.

Commenting on the announcement, Philip Jansen, BT Group’s Chief Executive, said:

“The BT Group Manifesto is about using our scale and technology to enact real change that the world desperately needs while simultaneously growing our business by staying true to our purpose: we connect for good.

“Crucially, this is not just a sustainability plan, it’s an agenda for growth and commercial success that recognises that we will only succeed if we help solve some of the problems faced by the societies and customers we serve.

“This will be achieved through the creation of products and services that directly address those problems and by doing it in a responsible, inclusive and sustainable way. For BT Group, this isn’t just good, it’s fundamental to our growth path.”

Accelerating growth through responsible, inclusive, and sustainable technology

As part of the announcement, BT Group has outlined how it plans to accelerate action across the business, along with a series of commitments:

1. Responsible: Provide better access to new technology that earns trust and transforms lives

Expand BT Group’s Responsible Tech Principles across the whole value chain, including ensuring any tech we develop is for good, empowering people and improving lives, while being fair, accountable and open.

Continue to heavily invest in research and development to create new technologies in areas such as healthcare, data, and AI.
We’ll launch a diverse digital talent movement to power the digital innovations that will transform our homes, our lives, and our society.

2. Inclusive: Help the future of tech to be more inclusive and diverse

Upskill the nation through BT Group’s extended target to help 25 million people to improve their digital skills by 2026.

Extend the build of ultrafast full fibre broadband from more than 6m premises today to reach 25m homes and businesses by 2026 & increase EE’s 5G network coverage to 90% of the UK by 2028.

Continue to improve diversity and inclusivity within BT Group by having a 50% gender split among colleagues by 2030, 25% from an ethnic minority group and 17% with a disability.

3. Sustainable: Drive quicker progress towards a circular world with net zero emissions

Bring BT Group’s net zero target forward by 15 years to 2030 for its own emissions and 2040 for its supply chain and customer emissions.

Help customers avoid 60 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 embracing new technologies such as full fibre, 5G, Cloud Computing and Internet of Things.

Address the rising e-waste challenge by building towards a circular BT by 2030 and a circular tech and telco ecosystem by 2040. This will be achieved by creating products, networks, and operations based on the circular economy model including the redesign, re-use and recycling of devices, hardware and their packaging.