Climate change

Our focus has evolved along with our growing partnerships with Media & Entertainment professionals – bringing the Group to the forefront of digital innovation as we transformed to a low-carbon intensity company.

Climate Change Strategy and Goals

Climate change is integrated into our business strategy along two primary axes:

• Development of eco-friendly products and services – which has Vantiva joining or leading various industry groups, regulatory committees, and trade collaborations as a way to make improvements to product and service offerings.
• Infrastructure improvements – seeking out improved efficiencies in technology or human process/behavior – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or to maintain performance when faced with climate impacts.

We are also preparing our facilities to mitigate the material effects of climate change (principally severe weather episodes such as heavy rainfalls and flooding) by putting in place prevention programs and adapting emergency action and contingency plans.

Vantiva has established the following goals and objectives for the Group with respect to Climate Change, to be met by worldwide operations by the end of 2022:

• 30% minimum proportion of electricity coming from renewable sources;
• reporting to satisfy GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards).

The Group presents, in its Annual Report and in its Sustainability Report, an overview of the activities that Vantiva is taking to fulfill its responsibilities as a global corporate citizen with respect to Climate Change.

Carbon Emissions

Every year, Vantiva participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) – a not-for-profit organization which promotes the exchange of best practices and fosters dialogue around Climate Change issues.

The Group has in 2022 submitted a carbon reduction trajectory to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) which means that we have defined a pathway to reduce carbon impact from our activities in the coming years in line with the Paris agreements in order to hold global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels in the near term, and for the longer term we are committed to become net zero by 2050.

The Group’s first carbon footprint assessment was published in 2008. Beyond direct emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2), the most significant contributions to other indirect (Scope 3) greenhouse gas emissions come from, in decreasing significance:

(i) electricity consumption during the use of connected devices in their targeted markets and during their estimated product lifetime,
(ii) raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, and dismantling of Vantiva products, including the impact of all inbound and outbound traffic controlled by the Group,
(iii) employee commuting,
(iv) business travel,
(v) and energy consumption in data centers supporting all businesses and functions within Vantiva.

Vantiva’s emissions disclosure is available on the CDP’s website: http://www.cdp.net/

Eco-design and Energy Efficiency

We have long taken positive steps towards environmental and efficiency issues in the development, manufacture, and use of our products – and began implementing eco-design guidelines in 2008.

Our Connected Home business complies with all laws, regulations and industry guidelines endorsed by Vantiva. These include:

• the European Union Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency of Digital TV Service and the Code on Energy Consumption of Broadband Equipment;
• the European Union Industry Voluntary Agreement to improve energy consumption of Complex Set-Top Box (CSTB); 
• the U.S. Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top Box (STB);
• the U.S. Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Small Network Equipment (SNE);
• the Canadian Pay-TV Set-Top Box Energy Efficiency Voluntary Agreement (STB CEEVA);
• and in 2019, Vantiva signed the Canadian Energy-Efficiency Voluntary Agreement for Small Network Equipment (CEEVA SNE) to extend its existing energy saving initiatives into the Canadian market.

Vantiva was the first Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) vendor to sign the Code of Conduct for Broadband Equipment, taking a leadership role for low energy consumption residential gateways. By designing devices compliant with regulations as well as various Industry Voluntary Agreements and anticipated revisions, we are committed to improving and promoting energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of gateways and the set-top box.

Renewable Energy

As part of its pledge to conduct business safely and responsibly, Vantiva has always measured and sought to reduce its environmental impact.

The industrial footprint of the Group continues to transform away from energy-intensive processes due to industry closures in glass, tubes, and motion picture film, and our non-industrial footprint continues to grow in digital media and the cloud.

As a result, our energy focus has evolved toward a growing emphasis on renewable energy as a larger percentage of electricity consumed at all Group sites.

For instance, in Brazil, the Connected Home manufacturing plant dedicated to the production of the set-top box for the Americas has a long-term plan to improve its carbon footprint, by using energy from renewable sources. The site purchases 100% of its consumed electricity from renewable sources and has installed solar panels and energy storage systems, capable to cover around 10% of the site’s energy needs. The plant has been certified carbon neutral every year for several years.

Energy Savings Initiatives

Both industrial and non-industrial sites try equally to reduce their energy consumption locally. Typical efforts involve:

• lighting fixtures changeover to LED appliances,
• HVAC improvements (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning),
• shutting down lighting or other systems during weekends and holidays,
• raising setpoint temperatures in data centers and other technical rooms,
• selecting equipment according to energy efficiency criteria,
• and using window solar control screen films to improve insulation in exposed offices.

Many initiatives take place every year at the site level to reduce carbon emissions and implement energy saving initiatives.