Actions Speak Louder than Words: Promoting Sustainable Development with Innovation
Scientific exploration and technological innovation are key drivers of civilization and society. And now, digital technology is reshaping the world around us and accelerating our journey towards the intelligent world. Huawei has long been committed to leveraging technology to make the world a better place. We hope to help bring the benefits of technology to everyone and promote sustainable social development.
Over 30 years ago, we set out to connect every home with phones and enrich life through communication. Roughly 10 years ago, we began focusing on connecting every corner of the globe through networks to build a fully connected world. Today, we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.
To achieve this vision and mission, we have continued to innovate while focusing on four sustainability strategies: digital inclusion, security and trustworthiness, environmental protection, and a healthy and harmonious ecosystem.
Digital inclusion: Promoting a more inclusive and sustainable world with TECH4ALL
Through the TECH4ALL digital inclusion initiative, Huawei has taken concrete steps with partners to propel technological innovation in four areas of focus: education, environment, health, and development.
We believe these will bring positive changes to the world.
In education, TECH4ALL education programs had benefited over 600 schools and more than 220,000 people, including teachers and students, unemployed young people, and senior citizens, by the end of 2022.
In environment, our environmental protection programs, such as Nature Guardians and Tech4Nature, have been deployed in 46 protected areas around the world, including forests, wetlands, and oceans. These programs use ICT to enable more efficient and sustainable biodiversity conservation efforts and natural resource management.
In health, we have continued optimizing the accessibility features of our devices, giving a human touch to technology. In fact, our HarmonyOS 2 was the only five-star-rated OS according to the 2022 smartphone OS/UI elderly-friendliness ratings released by the China Telecom Research Institute.
In development, Huawei Mobile Money has benefited over 400 million people in more than 20 countries, advancing financial inclusion. It gives people in remote areas access to digital banking services like mobile wallets and mobile payments, boosting the digital economy of local communities.
These are just a few examples of how digital technology can contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable world.
Security and trustworthiness: Fostering a better life for all in the future digital world by offering secure and trustworthy products, solutions, and services
Huawei makes cyber security and privacy protection a top priority. We continue to develop secure and trustworthy products, solutions, and services that help customers mitigate risks and improve network resilience.
In 2022, Huawei obtained more than 30 internationally recognized cyber security certificates, including CC EAL4+, ISO 19790, and ISO 27034 certificates. These are a testament to the proven security of Huawei products. We actively engage and collaborate with global stakeholders to build capabilities and share value together. In 2022, Huawei received awards such as the Thailand Cybersecurity Excellence Award from the Thai Prime Minister and the UAE's Fortress Cyber Security Award.
As an ICT infrastructure provider, it is our primary social responsibility and mission to maintain stable network operations and ensure smooth communications for users. In 2022, we supported stable communications during over 300 major events and emergencies. These are part of our long-term commitment to serving local communities.
Huawei has also established a mature business continuity management system to ensure supply continuity and timely delivery to customers. We will always pursue globalized supply and supply chain diversity for mutual development and shared success. Together with our global partners, we aim to create a secure, reliable, competitive, and healthy industry value chain, fostering a better life for all in the future digital world.
Environmental protection: Using tech for a better planet
Huawei has continued to fulfill its pledge of "Tech for a Better Planet". As part of that pledge, we use innovative green solutions to protect our shared home in three key areas: advancing energy conservation and emissions reduction, promoting renewable energy, and contributing to a circular economy. Our continuous efforts in environmental protection have been recognized by the environmental non-profit CDP which placed Huawei on its 2022 "Climate A List" and also awarded Huawei the "Excellent Environmental Leadership Award".
In 2022, we further increased our own usage of renewable and clean energy. Throughout the year, we used 390 million kWh of electricity from renewable energy sources and 1.8 billion kWh from clean energy sources, up 25% and 15% year on year, respectively. Our campuses in Shenzhen and Dongguan are now fully powered by clean energy. In addition, by the end of 2022, our digital power solutions had helped customers generate 695.1 billion kWh of green power, and 220 billion kWh of the power was generated in 2022 alone. This means that Huawei helped generate over 40 times more green power than the power we consumed ourselves in 2022.
Huawei is also following a business model that incorporates circular economy practices and a closed-loop value chain. With the help of specialist suppliers, only 0.63% of the e-waste from our ICT business ended up in landfills, and no e-waste from our consumer business went to landfills.
Healthy and harmonious ecosystem: Creating both social and business value to cultivate an ecosystem for technological innovation
We believe that sustainable development and business value are not at odds with each other. Instead, they are complementary and constitute an organic whole. Business activities must create social value, and social value presents new business opportunities. This positive cycle allows enterprises to continue to grow and prosper in a globalized world.
At Huawei, it is a corporate policy to care for our employees and always put their safety first. We continue inspiring dedication and improving the working and living environments for our employees. To this end, we invested over CNY17 billion in employee benefits in 2022.
Huawei continuously improves its compliance management system to ensure better compliance across multiple domains, including trade compliance, anti-bribery compliance, and intellectual property and trade secret protection. We work hard to conduct business with integrity and conform to business ethics standards.
Huawei actively conducts due diligence on suppliers to carefully manage the social and environmental impacts of our global procurement activities and supply chain. We assess the sustainability performance of our major suppliers which represent over 90% of our procurement spending every year, in order to encourage suppliers to make ongoing improvements.
Huawei also strives to create value for local communities where it operates. We now run over 270 social contribution programs worldwide that aim to develop skilled ICT professionals, support start-ups, and protect the environment and natural resources. We constantly give back and donate to local communities to drive their socioeconomic recovery and development.
Since the dawn of time, people have always imagined what the future might hold. But with technology, we can actually get there. As a tech company, Huawei will continue innovating with customers and partners to overcome challenges ahead. Together, we will contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and forge a better life for all.
Tao Jingwen
Board Member and Chairman of the CSD Committee
