Motivation
ICT is one of the sectors with the greatest impact on energy consumption. The industry's growth and the growing demand for greater computing capacity and bandwidth create a significant impact within organizations and as a whole.
Optimizing the energy and material efficiency of technology services is imperative to ensure economic and environmental sustainability. The need for the intelligent use of ICT for sustainability is naturally relevant to FCCN and its employees.
FCCN holds a unique position due to its role as a network provider for the research and education community. FCCN's close relationship with higher education and research, as well as its advocacy for cutting-edge technologies and applications, leads us to take seriously our duty to adopt best environmental practices and promote appropriate network technology as an alternative to practices that act as major sources of pollution and harmful emissions.
Therefore, we aim to integrate best environmental practices into our activities, maintaining an appropriate balance between environmental and economic considerations, working with all stakeholders to minimize waste and our carbon footprint.
In line with this concern, FCCN intends for this policy to be based on three pillars: environmental, economic and social.
In a preliminary analysis, both internally, of the practices that FCCN already adopts, and externally, to better understand what is being done by other similar institutions, we found that, despite everything, we have already adopted a set of positive practices that allow us to move towards a more sustainable path.
Specifically with regard to ECO.AP 2030 – Public Administration Resource Efficiency Program, we concluded that we currently comply with approximately 56% of the actions proposed for the program and we anticipate compliance with a further 33%.
Through the analysis of the FCCN Environmental Footprint report carried out in 2016, some conclusions were drawn (which were expected), such as the fact that electricity is the largest source of contribution to the value of this footprint, followed by car use.
This year, some data was collected to calculate the current Footprint, which will allow us to better define objectives and goals.
An internal survey was also conducted with 491 responses, which allowed us to identify some measures that employees already adopt both at work and in their personal lives, as well as suggestions for practices they would like to see implemented. Overall, it concluded that a large proportion of respondents are aware of the topic of sustainability and are involved in initiatives in this area.
Commitment
FCCN undertakes to:
- Apply responsible standards in areas not yet covered by existing laws and regulations;
- Report the environmental footprint and be transparent about how it is formed;
- Consider environmental issues in all our activities, from daily operations to events, including the acquisition of goods and services, and in the management of equipment during the normal course of business, seeking to minimize energy consumption;
- Develop and promote the use of services that naturally reduce greenhouse gas emissions – GHG – by replacing and optimizing the effects of ICT as an environmentally positive alternative;
- Observe the use of resources pragmatically and cautiously, always trying to reduce waste as much as possible;
- Promote the use of appropriate ICT services as an environmentally positive alternative and work to collaborate on service innovations in order to collectively contribute to sustainable operations and development;
- Encourage and support employees to adopt more sustainable practices, positively influencing simple ideas for saving energy, such as making conscious travel plans;
- Save energy by monitoring energy usage and identifying sources of energy waste (by ensuring that equipment is turned off when not in use, for example);
- Reuse and recycle whenever possible and adopt responsible ways of disposing of waste or surpluses, including electronic waste;
- Share experiences with the community to promote broader improvements in environmental issues;
- Choose suppliers that meet sustainable standards and maintain these concerns, and encourage other suppliers to improve their environmental standards through purchasing and service level agreements;
- Strive to obtain green certification;
- Implementation of a health and well-being policy among employees;
- Promote training in the area of sustainability.