File Photo: Deng Zijun/GT

Huawei is confident that it will achieve peak carbon emissions within five years. The Chinese technology company will soon release a detailed plan to reach carbon neutrality, Tao Jingwen, board member of Huawei, said at a forum on Thursday. 

According to Tao, Huawei will play an active role in building an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and low-carbon society, not only through reducing CO2 emissions in its products and operations, but also by promoting green integrated Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions across its supply chain to help other industries preserve energy and cut emissions. The company has also raised the carbon reduction target for its supply chain partners. 

"The energy consumption of our 5G products is very efficient. They lead other ICT products by about 40 percent in energy efficiency," Tao said on Thursday at the forum Tech and Sustainability: Everyone's Included, cohosted by Huawei and the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province. 

According to Tao, Huawei's carbon emissions have decreased by 33.2 percent this year, and its research and development campus in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, has achieved carbon neutrality. 

Huawei's Chairman, Liang Hua, said at the forum that the firm has been leveraging its extensive experience in power electronics and energy storage, as well as technical expertise in 5G, cloud and artificial intelligence, to develop its digital power business and provide digital power solutions to different industries.

As of December 2020, Huawei's digital power products and solutions had generated 325 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity from renewable sources and saved a total of 10 billion kWh of electricity. These efforts resulted in a reduction of 160 million tons of CO2 emissions.

At the forum, Huawei also announced the Seeds for the Future Program 2.0, an investment of $150 million in digital talent development to help college students and young people improve their digital skills over the next five years benefiting 3 million people.

Digital talent is playing an increasingly important role in pushing forward digital transformation and economic growth. According to an industry report, about 2.2 billion people aged 25 years or younger still lack internet connection at home. This has undoubtedly exacerbated the digital divide afflicting many of the world's most vulnerable. 

The program is an upgraded version of Huawei's Seeds for the Future Program launched in 2008 to cultivate digital talent in countries and regions where it does business. The original program has served more than 150 nations and helped over 1.5 million people. 

Huawei's increased efforts in digital and green solutions also come as the embattled Chinese company seeks to diversify its businesses amid US sanctions. Liang recognized at the forum that Huawei's smartphone shipments have declined to some extent compared with last year.

"Huawei will continue investing in the smartphone business and working on business sustainability while developing its software business," Liang said.  

So far, 25 million users have upgraded to the HarmonyOS 2.0, according to Liang, which together with its consumer business line, could help the firm accelerate building its ecosystem and developing its cloud business.