Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur eleifend tortor nec augue pretium
Sustainability faces conflicting headwinds across the globe. The current US administration continues to dismantle environmental regulations while the EU pushes ahead with its due diligence obligations – despite the recent Omnibus simplification – and China cements itself as an international leader in the green transition. Regardless of political turmoil, sustainability still makes good business sense. Yet a key question remains: how can companies ensure business resilience when they are so heavily dependent on global supply chains?
Telecommunication companies sit at the top of vast and highly interconnected information and communications technology (ICT) supply chains. In many cases, the suppliers providing key technologies and equipment are global firms whose operations span multiple sectors and tiers. This complexity can limit individual operators’ ability to influence upstream sustainability practices, highlighting the need for shared engagement frameworks that support suppliers’ sustainability efforts, where appropriate.
However, operators are not excused from responsibility for environmental and human rights due diligence. Alignment with legislative requirements – such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive or the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – remains essential. A closer look at the environmental commitments already made across the sector shows that the telecommunications industry is both ambitious and committed to environmental transparency: most companies have bold decarbonisation targets that are aligned with the Paris Agreement.
However, the largest part of a typical telecom operator’s carbon footprint falls under scope 3 – emissions generated through the value chain. These include purchased goods and services such as mobile phones, capital goods like network infrastructure, and emissions associated with the use of sold products. To meet net-zero commitments, companies must address impacts beyond their own operations – particularly in large, globalised ICT supply chains. Individual operators can have limited visibility and influence over upstream sustainability practices. In this context, collaboration across or within industries can establish shared reference points, improve transparency and engage suppliers more effectively.
Recognising this, telecom operators established the Joint Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility (JAC) in 2010 – a global not-for-profit initiative designed to strengthen sustainability and human rights due diligence across ICT supply chains.
JAC was formed to offer a collective audit programme and protect workers’ rights. Its 32 telecom operators cover most of the global telecommunication procurement spend. This collaboration has proved fertile ground for sustainability initiatives, including common supplier risk assessments, product circularity and supplier engagement at scale. Governed by an elected board, all decisions are made through a general assembly via majority vote. Operative work is managed by specialised work groups on topics such as climate change, circularity and due diligence.
No company can decarbonise or safeguard human rights in global supply chains on its own. The most relevant sustainability challenges sit deep within shared value chains and are, by definition, systemic. That is why JAC exists.
Collaboration of this kind enables outcomes that individual companies cannot achieve at scale. First, it drives real impact rather than fragmented effort. In 2025, JAC delivered more than 150 audits and close to 800 corrective action plans across shared suppliers, creating concrete change on the ground. Second, it brings consistency by aligning methodologies and expectations to remove unnecessary complexity for suppliers, and allows for greater focus on execution. Third, it shifts environmental, social and governance (ESG) from compliance exercise to value driver. When collaboration works properly, it reduces audit fatigue, improves data quality and strengthens supplier performance, leading to more resilient, efficient supply chains and long-term value creation.
JAC is tackling the hardest part of decarbonisation: supplier emissions. We are engaging more than 700 suppliers that represent the majority of emissions in the telecommunications value chain. But this is not just about scale – what matters is the structure behind it. Our maturity models give a clear view of where suppliers stand and support them in building the capabilities needed to progress and align with net zero.
We see tangible outcomes. Suppliers are assessing carbon footprints, putting concrete-reduction plans in place and, in some cases, already delivering measurable product-level reductions.
The real difference that JAC offers is translating ambitious targets and commitments into operational change within supplier organisations, where decarbonisation ultimately happens.
Current industry and company programmes are still built around audits, snapshots and periodic checks. This has value but is no longer enough. Our direction is much more dynamic, with continuous visibility, better data and a clearer understanding of where impacts and risks sit across the value chain. It requires a system where due diligence is not a one-off exercise but embedded in day-to-day operations – moving away from reacting to issues to actively managing performance over time.
We need to be honest about where corporate decisions on ESG issues are going. It reaches far beyond compliance or reporting. Successful companies will be those that use sustainability to strengthen their supply chains – making them more resilient, efficient and competitive.
JAC’s role is to enable this transformation at scale. No single operator can influence global ICT supply chains alone, but together we can create alignment and consistency that actually drives change with suppliers.
We remain disciplined about how we do that. Maintaining independence, staying within clear competition boundaries – but at the same time expanding our collaboration with partners, aligning with global standards, and improving how data and systems connect across the ecosystem. The ambition is to shift the fragmented supply chain to a systems-based one that is lower carbon, more circular and fundamentally more responsible by design.
Jana Kovandzic Pataky MISEP is a member of the JAC Board and the steering group for ISEP Europe
