ZAIN 2022 All Rights Reserved
22
Our Climate Action
The Challenge
The business community, which includes investors, customers and other related stakeholders demands greater transparency from businesses regarding climate-related disclosures constituting climate risks, emission metrics, targets, and governance.
Zain’s Response
Zain continued to disclose its climate management to CDP, earning an A- score in 2021. This ranking is higher than the regional average for Asia of B-, and higher than the Media, Telecommunications & Data Center Services sector average of B. Additionally, Zain took a cohesive step in expanding its Scope 3 emissions inventory to report more accurately.
The Challenge
The MENA region is considered the most water scarce region in the world with nearly 66 million people lacking basic water sanitation.
Zain’s Response
This year, Zain started to measure its water consumption across its operations and began implementing water reduction initiatives in its headquarters.
The Challenge
Due to a decentralized waste management system in addition to urbanization and population growth, the MENA region’s waste continues to grow by 2 percent per annum.
Zain’s Response
Based on Zain’s corporate sustainability strategy, the company aims to eliminate its plastic consumption in addition to managing and reducing the waste in its warehouses by 50% by 2025. As such, the company is working towards standardizing warehouse inventory management across its operations in addition to upcycling packages.
| Water Consumption | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| (Cubic Meters) | 95,036 | 94,864 | 90,254 | 93,705 | 64,972 | 90,683 |
With the ongoing impact of climate change, the global community recognizes the prominent role corporations can play to decarbonize the planet. Robust transformation needs to be taken in the company’s operational activities and performance to mitigate risks and leverage opportunities. Zain continued to take a strong stance in addressing climate change and positioning itself as a leading player in the region.
This year, Zain developed its first comprehensive Scope 3 inventory process aligned with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol guidelines for a more accurate and transparent evaluation of its value chain emissions. This allows Zain to not only disclose and report in a more concise manner but be able to identify areas in which we can reduce our GHG emissions. The company started capturing its Scope 3 emissions last year, at a time it introduced business travel and employee commuting for Zain Kuwait. In 2021, Zain extended the inventory of these two categories to all its operations. In addition, purchased goods & services, capital goods, leased assets, use of sold products, were added to the inventory list. For use of sold products, Zain is referencing 2020 data.
CDP score of A-
The company continued to disclose its climate management through its participation in CDP, previously known as the Carbon Disclosure Project. Through the disclosure, Zain scored an A-, which falls under the leadership category and is a significant milestone for the company as it previously scored a B in last year’s disclosure. This achievement showcases the company’s dedication to taking meaningful action against climate change.
Through its membership to CDP, Zain demonstrates its alignment to Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Through CDP’s questionnaire, Zain adheres to TCFD’s recommendations within its governance, risks & opportunities, strategy, targets and emissions modules. Zain disclosed its risks and opportunities for CDP based on the TCFD scenario analysis guidelines for physical and transition risks and opportunities. Such risks and opportunities are further explained in the Enterprise Risk Management section.
In 2021, Zain continued to address its strategic approach to addressing climate change under its 2020-2025 sustainability strategy. Climate change is a pillar on which the organization has set three focus areas where Zain can address its negative impacts on the environment and create positive ones.
- Network and Energy Consumption: Set accurate measurement tools, implement energy reduction initiatives, align to international best practices
- Strategy and Communication: Build climate change risk scenarios, identify market opportunities, launch awareness campaigns that measure change in behavior
- Waste Management and the Circular Economy: Reduce waste in warehouses, eliminate plastic packages, embed waste management policies
Throughout the year, Zain recognized the rising concern over water scarcity in some of its market of operation. Recent studies have shown that it is a critical risk in our world today. A resource that continues to be mismanaged, the importance of water accessibility is crucial given the fast rate of population growth in the MENA region. The impact of water efficiency on socio-economic development is significant, and Zain decided to take a firmer stance in addressing water management given 60% of the region’s population already live in severe water deprived areas.
Zain’s first phase is already underway, which includes establishing a baseline of the company’s water consumption across all operations. Based on the table below, the company noticed a significant drop in consumption in the last two years due to the pandemic and employees working from home. As a result, initiatives to address water usage such as installing water cooling for drinking and touchless faucets were launched in Zain headquarter buildings in Kuwait and Jordan.
2017-2022 Emission Reduction Targets
Category 1 – Unstable Power Grid:
Sudan 15%
South Sudan 25%
Iraq 20%
Category 2 – Stable Power Grid:
Bahrain 5%
Kuwait 7%
Jordan 10%
Saudi Arabia 8%
Sustainable Development Goals addressed
CO2 Emissions Reduction (YoY) (2020-2021)
Bahrain | Iraq | Jordan | KSA | Kuwait | Sudan | South Sudan | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CO2 emissions per base station | Kg | 67,688 | 52,680 | 14,889 | 48,365 | 43,734
| 30,973 | 37,942 |
Year-on-Year Decrease / increases in emission per base station
| % | 15.54% | -24.08% | -24.77% | -7.70% | 4.11% | 13.09% | -1.22% |
Bahrain
Electricity consumption is estimated based on sites topologies. In Bahrain, there is an increase in CO2 emission per base station due to 5G Rollout and sites expansions.
South Sudan
Zain South Sudan continues the installation of hybrid solutions, which resulted in a reduction of the fuel consumption on sites. However, there was a substantial increase in the amount of electricity consumed due to the opening of new offices in Juba. Therefore, this resulted in an increase in the energy consumption per base station.
Kuwait
In Kuwait, Zain added 171 x 5G equipment on existing sites leading to an increase of energy consumption per base station.
Iraq
Zain Iraq electricity consumption decreased slightly, and the fuel consumption increased slightly resulting in a positive impact on overall CO2 emission.
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, there was an increase in energy consumption as 5G technology was implemented on existing sites.
Sudan
In Sudan, there was an increase in energy consumption as 5G technology was implemented on existing sites.
Jordan
Due to addition of new layers to existing network sites, Zain Jordan resulted in an increase in energy consumption from the base stations.
Note: The CO2 emission conversion factors from KWH of electricity to CO2e were amended to reflect the IEA 2019 conversion factors instead of the 2015 factors that were used when the baseline was set in 2017. This led to a reduction of the Scope 2 emission because of a slight decarbonization of the grid in our operating countries.
Hybrid Solutions Installations
Operating Countries | DG-Battery Hybrid solution | Solar Hybrid solution |
|---|---|---|
Bahrain | - | - |
Iraq
| - | - |
Jordan | 30 | 31 |
Kuwait | - | - |
Saudi Arabia | - | - |
Sudan | - | - |
South Sudan
| 25 | - |
Total | 55 | 31 |
86 | ||
Improvements to Energy Efficiency and Site Optimization (units)
Operating Countries | Smaller size Generators | Outdoor (BTS/Power) solution | Small shelters (≤ 2.5m x 2.5m) | Grid Connection | Upgrade to more efficient DC Power solution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bahrain | 0 | 46 | - | 1 | 25 |
Iraq
| 276 | 199
| -
| - | 143 |
Jordan | - | 182 | - | - | - |
Kuwait | - | - | 33 | - | 79 |
Saudi Arabia
| -
| 101
| -
| 50 | - |
Sudan | 43 | - | - | 7 | - |
South Sudan
| -
| 25 | - | - | -
|
Total | 319 | 553 | 33 | 58 | 247 |
Driving Operational Efficiency:
Our Sites (Tower Sharing Program)
Operating Countries | Zain sharing Others’ sites | Others sharing Zain sites |
|---|---|---|
Bahrain | 21 | 11 |
Iraq
| 3 | - |
Jordan
| - | - |
Kuwait | - | - |
Saudi Arabia
| 40 | 34 |
Sudan | - | - |
South Sudan
| 15 | 5 |
Total | 79 | 50 |
Grand Total | 129 | |
Spending related to initiatives – 2021
Initiatives | Total Direct cost (USD) | Total Indirect cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|
Zain sharing Others sites | 0 | 1,385,020 |
Others sharing Zain sites | 0 | 0 |
Outdoor (BTS/Power) solution | 5,051,259 | 5,051,259 |
Small shelters (≤ 2.5m x 2.5m)
| 0 | 0 |
DG-Battery Hybrid solution | 1,375,000 | |
Smaller size Generators | 0 | 3,082,800
|
Solar Hybrid solution
| 930,000 | 0 |
Grid Connection | 231,600 | 0
|
Free Cooling system | 0 | 0 |
Total | 7,587,859 | 9,519,079 |
GHG Emissions - Scope 1 and 2
| Descriptions | Units | Bahrain | Iraq | Jordan | KSA | Kuwait | Sudan | South Sudan | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 - Fuel | liters | 794,389 | 56,768,463 | 375,270 | 59,252,935 | 7,080,483 | 27,586,382 | 1,878,771 | 153,736,694 |
| Scope 2 - Electricity | KWh | 63,760,304 | 154,688,038 | 113,086,646 | 545,958,118 | 75,718,967 | 61,578,086 | 5,901,034 | 1,020,691,194 |
| Scope 1 Emissions | Kg CO2 | 2,128,963 | 152,139,481 | 1,005,724 | 158,797,867 | 18,975,695 | 73,931,504 | 5,035,106 | 412,014,339 |
| Scope 2 Emissions | Kg CO2 | 43,873,465 | 110,880,386 | 47,473,774 | 336,091,818 | 46,014,417 | 19,218,521 | 4,554,418 | 608,106,798 |
| Scope 1 & 2 Emissions | Kg CO2 | 46,002,428 | 263,019,866 | 48,479,498 | 494,889,685 | 64,990,111 | 93,150,024 | 9,589,524 | 1,020,121,136 |
| CO2 Emissions per Base Station [Scope 1 & Scope 2] | Kg | 67,688 | 52,680 | 14,889 | 48,365 | 43,734 | 30,973 | 37,942 | |
| Baseline-year 2020 Decrease/Increases in Emission per Base Station [Year 2017 vs 2021] | % | -3.78% | -34.31% | -8.78% | 7.07% | 15.04% | 24.64% | -46.07% |
Note:
For the conversion from liters of fuel to KW, we have considered that 1 L = 3KWh on the basis that 1 liter produces 10KWH with Diesel generator efficiency of 30% as recommended by GSMA
DG Battery Hybrid solution usually leads to around 50% saving on fuel consumption
Estimate of KWh for solar system is based on the data provided by Zain Jordan as per sites monitoring and management solution. 750KWh is produced per site on average
Scope 3 Emissions Breakdown
| Scope 3 Breakdown view | CO₂-eq value (kg/year) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | Purchased goods and services | 114,590,729 |
| Category 2 | Capital goods | 218,345,654 |
| Category 3 | Fuel and energy related activities (not included in scope 1 and scope 2) | 85,405,408 |
| Category 4 | Upstream transport | 996,689 |
| Category 5 | Waste generated in operations | 36,494,880 |
| Category 6 | Business travel | 102,398,272 |
| Category 7 | Employee commuting | 11,932,118 |
| Category 8 | Upstream leased assets | 60,197,593 |
| Category 9 | Downstream transport | - |
| Category 10 | Processing of sold products | - |
| Category 11 | Use of sold products | 24,882,549 |
| Category 12 | End-of-Life of sold products (intermediate product, if relevant) | - |
| Category 13 | Downstream leased assets | - |
| Category 14 | Franchises | - |
| Category 15 | Investments | - |
Note:
- Category 15 will be added on Zain website when the data is available.
Waste Reduction
Zain is making concerted efforts to reduce the amount of waste generated from its operations as disposed waste emits greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Through the company’s corporate sustainability strategy, Zain set milestones that led to establishing a comprehensive waste management system. These include setting up physical inventories in warehouses across operations, categorizing waste, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills, eliminating plastic throughout the supply chain, and embedding circular economy components
Warehouse inventory
- In Zain Jordan, a process is already in place for warehouse waste where 90% of waste generated is sold off in organized auctions generating an annual average of USD 150,000. In addition, Zain Jordan eliminated all plastic packaging and internal plastic waste, cutting cost by USD 592,000 annually.
- Zain Sudan hosts an auction for its warehouse waste to its staff, resulting in 400 tons of waste being sold in 2021 including old batteries and gensets.
During 2021, Zain Kuwait conducted a gap analysis in over 60 warehouses to determine the type of waste and automating the process by including it in Zain’s internal Oracle Inventory System. In addition, a partnership was established with Enviroserve, a recycling company in Kuwait, that will support in classifying and managing Zain’s waste. - Zain Bahrain initiated the establishment of physical inventories for its warehouses located in different areas of the country. All relevant departments, including procurement, finance, facilities, and the sustainability teams discussed the baseline and current processes in place set an action plan on ways to improve them. Through this engagement process, Zain Bahrain was able to identify gaps and forecast their impact.
Single use plastic: (bags and water bottles)
- During 2021, an array of initiatives were established across Zain’s operating companies including the distribution of reusable bags to all employees. The aim of this internal initiative is to develop a sustainable mindset within the company and encourage approximately 7,000 employees to reduce or stop utilizing single use plastic bags.
- In the Zain headquarters building in Kuwait, a pilot initiative was launched to decrease single use plastic water bottles by adding water dispensers on four selected floors to test and measure the impact of water bottle consumption.
- To reduce plastic consumption through its supply chain, Zain Kuwait upcycled old billboards, tailoring them into tote bags to distribute to customers in Zain branches. This approach allowed the company to creatively reuse waste while simultaneously spreading awareness on the importance of reusable bags.
E-waste:
- Zain Saudi Arabia (KSA) launched a campaign targeting e-waste. The campaign explained the process of dismantling old electronic devices, such as smart phones and assurance for deleting all data before undergoing a recycling process to reuse its materials and hardware. E-waste recycling bins were then installed at Zain KSA HQ, which is situated in a large compound called Granada Business Park, that maximizes the reach to span across multiple companies in the area.
- Zain Bahrain hosted an e-waste recycling competition that extended to four middle schools in Bahrain. The aim of the contest is to raise awareness and instill a practice of recycling old electronic devices amongst the youth in the Kingdom. The winners were evaluated by a committee consisting of representatives from Zain Bahrain, the Supreme Council for Environment, and the Ministry of Education. The winning schools were recognized for their efforts across four different categories. The award for ‘Biggest Collection of e-Waste’ was received by Jidhafs Secondary School; the ‘Teamwork’ award was received by Ghazi al-Gosaibi Secondary School for Girls; the ‘Creativity’ award was awarded to Al Noor International School, while Al-Estiqlal Secondary Girls School received the ‘Best Awareness Campaign’ award. Collectively, 10.5 tons of e-waste was collected. Zain Bahrain also installed recycling bins for e-waste in its headquarters for employees to recycle their e-waste including smartphones, tablets, TV’s and other devices featuring circuit boards.
Awareness on Climate Change
Zain set annual targets to spread awareness and establish a sustainability mindset in the communities in which it operates. Each of Zain’s markets was given a goal to reach 30% of its customer base by 2025 through interactive and engaging climate awareness campaigns. Through these campaigns, the company launched pre- and post surveys and polls to measure the impact of the campaign.
Climate Change Awareness Campaigns
Percentage of Target Achieved
Sudan
17%
Saudi Arabia
16.25%
Kuwait
100%
Jordan
100%
Iraq
100%
Bahrain
100%
Zain Bahrain
Earth Day Awareness Session
The company partnered with an environmental activist, Haya AlDosari, who touched on several material topics. She discussed how climate changes is leading to rising sea levels and its impact on Bahrain, which is considered extremely vulnerable to such. Marine degradation was also mentioned, as oil spills, land reclamation and overfishing are directly affecting the livelihood of marine life. Lastly, the challenges of farms and arable land in Bahrain were discussed as well as how water scarcity is the main contributor to such challenges. The session was wrapped up by providing employees practical tips on how to fight climate change. A total of 250 employees attended the session.
Zain Jordan
Social Media Campaigns
Throughout the year, Zain Jordan continued to spread awareness through its social media channels on the impacts of climate change and what people can do to help address its challenges. Various campaigns were launched and included combatting desertification and droughts; promotion to plant trees; and the impacts of climate change. The total reach of the campaigns introduced throughout the year was 723,413 individuals.
Zain Sudan
Marking World Environmental Day on June 5, Zain Sudan commemorated the occasion by raising awareness on the importance of restoring natural ecosystems. Due to its geographical location, Sudan is at high risk of floods and droughts that cause desertification. Additionally, to commemorate World Day to Combat Drought & Desertification on June 17, Zain Sudan shed awareness on the consequences of climate change including forced migration due to warming temperatures, agricultural loses due to droughts, and ice caps melting resulting in rising sea levels. Over 113,100 individuals were reached through these campaigns.
Zain Kuwait
To continue to establish a sustainability mindset in the Kuwait, Zain launched two separate activities that target a variety of environmental topics. The company developed a list of eco-friendly stores, shops, boutiques, and recycling facilities under a single directory and communicated it across its social media channels. This supported local businesses and stores and encouraged people to consider such brands when purchasing products and services. Another interactive campaign that was launched focused on the three most material environmental concerns that the country faces. The topics highlighted included air and water pollution and waste management. Through this campaign, the company posted polls to assess the public’s awareness on these matters.
Zain Saudi Arabia
Throughout the year, Zain Saudi Arabia created social media campaigns that addressed different aspects of climate action, such as water conservation, planting trees to offset carbon build-up, and how technology can help enable smart cities to use alternative energies. The company is in aligned to Saudi Arabia’s Green Saudi initiative, which aims to increase the Kingdom’s reliance on renewable energy and offset its emissions to combat climate change. Total reach for the campaigns was 74,763.
