The IoT can play a key role in efforts to combat climate change, according to a survey of experts at Deutsche Telekom.

The technology can influence smart supply chains, smart parking systems in smart cities, smart buildings and so on, all of which can be used to reduce emissions.

Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of the experts believe the IoT holds great or even enormous potential to boost efforts to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. This was the result of a recent online survey conducted at Deutsche Telekom.

Some 722 IoT experts took part in the internal survey.

The experts’ assessments are supported by a recent World Economic Forum study of more than 600 IoT applications, which found that 84 per cent of all IoT products and services are either conducive or potentially conducive to sustainability. In the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the EU’s Member States have committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

More companies have been making climate and resources protection an important area of their company strategy. A total of 77 per cent of the surveyed IoT experts expect the IoT to play an important role in companies’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprints. What is more, people are increasingly taking companies’ greenness into account in their purchase decisions: four out of five experts are convinced that companies will find sustainable IoT offerings to be a useful asset in gaining customers.

The surveyed experts also believe the IoT could prove advantageous in efforts to attract investors. A full 69 per cent of the experts forecast that, as time goes by, prospective investors will give more attention to companies’ use of the IoT.

The IoT’s potential to help reduce carbon footprints is particularly great in the logistics sector. It can help make supply chains and logistics processes more efficient. The experts predict that in five years some 70 per cent of all logistics companies in Germany will be managing their vehicle fleets, and monitoring their shipments, with the help of the IoT.

IoT-based smart facility management systems also hold great potential in the area of CO₂-emissions reductions. Within five years, according to the surveyed IoT experts, about 40 per cent of all commercially used buildings in Germany will have smart building control systems for HVAC and lighting, and for digital measurement of consumption data.

Deutsche Telekom’s efforts on climate protection go back to 1995. Today, Deutsche Telekom’s customers in Germany surf in a network that is completely green. In fact, the company now meets 100 per cent of its energy requirements in Germany with renewable energies, and it expects its worldwide electricity consumption to be 100 per cent renewables-based by 2021. Furthermore, it intends to cut its overall CO₂ emissions by 90 per cent, with respect to their level in 2017, by 2030.

Last year, Deutsche Telekom also introduced the “We care” label, with the aim of further enhancing transparency relative to sustainability. The group uses the label for particularly sustainability-oriented products, services and initiatives. It serves as a guide for customers who give priority to sustainability in their purchase decisions.