Press Release
Nokia, University of Jyväskylä and Sitra collaborate to improve biodiversity footprint assessments
- Collaboration will help organizations develop effective strategies and measures to assess and reduce their biodiversity footprint.
- The carbon footprint is already commonly used in organizations to assess climate impacts, but similar tools for assessing biodiversity footprints are rare.
- The University of Jyväskylä conducts cutting edge research on biodiversity footprint assessments and the purpose of the collaboration is to enhance this research.
- Nokia's support, together with a project funded by the Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra, enables the University of Jyväskylä to establish a tenure-track professorship in global biodiversity footprint assessments.
20 December 2023
Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced support for the University of Jyväskylä to improve the biodiversity footprint assessments of organizations. This activity is aligned with Nokia's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, as well as a broader longstanding commitment to combatting climate change and minimizing environmental impacts. The international scientific community has stressed that climate change and biodiversity loss should be considered together when solutions aiming to reduce the impacts are developed, and the support announced today is aimed to facilitate this development.
If organizations know which activities cause the most significant biodiversity loss and how large their overall biodiversity footprint is, they can develop effective strategies and measures to reduce their biodiversity footprint. So far, standards and comprehensive tools suitable for different kinds of organizations and industries do not exist, although general accounting principles and tools are under development.
Complementing Nokia's contribution, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra has agreed to fund a project by the University of Jyväskylä on the same topic, aiming to unlock the key blockers standing in the way of an international standard on biodiversity footprint measurement. The core goal of the project is to establish a common language between the best metrics employed today. The project will be exploring ways to achieve convertibility between the current state-of-the-art measurement approaches, and between different biodiversity impacts in different ecosystems around the globe.
Subho Mukherjee, Vice President, Sustainability at Nokia, said: "The high-level COP15 United Nations conference clearly showed that biodiversity loss and climate change remain two of the biggest threats to our planet. Our University Donations Program aims to tap into the brightest minds in academia to explore high impact areas with future relevance to Nokia and society such as environment, nature, future skills and technologies like 6G, Quantum and AI."
Jari Ojala, Rector of the University of Jyväskylä, said: "In addition to climate change, biodiversity loss is one of the largest global sustainability challenges. Researchers at the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, together with the School of Resource Wisdom, JYU. Wisdom, have concluded internationally pioneering work to calculate the biodiversity footprint of companies. The assessment of biodiversity impacts is the first step so that we can actively start reducing the impacts and contribute to reversing the biodiversity loss. We are very thankful for Nokia's significant support for developing the biodiversity footprint calculation of companies."
Lasse Miettinen, Director of Sustainability Solutions at Sitra, said: "The international field of biodiversity footprint measurement is progressing rapidly, with the work done by the University of Jyväskylä being one of the global frontrunners. However, there are many different measurement approaches being developed, with little common language yet between them. To achieve a common international standard would be a game changer for all the businesses and other organizations that strive to measure their biodiversity impacts. Sitra is excited to fund a project that aims to pave the way for precisely that."
Resources and additional information
Webpage: Nokia's approach to Biodiversity
Webpage: Nokia's annual sustainability report People & Planet
Webpage: Nokia at COP 28
Webpage: Value-transforming financial, carbon and biodiversity footprint accounting (arxiv.org)
Webpage: A planetary well-being accounting system for organizations (taylorfrancis.com)
About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.
Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
About Sitra
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is an independent future-oriented fund mandated by the Finnish Parliament and accountable to it. Sitra acts as a think tank, promoter of experiments and a catalyst for co-operation. We bring together partners from different sectors of society to collaborate in shaping the successful Finland of tomorrow.
About the University of Jyväskylä
The University of Jyväskylä is one of the largest and most popular multidisciplinary universities in Finland and strives to be a global leader in the study of learning, wellbeing, and basic natural phenomena, reshaping expertise to build a sustainable society. We conduct open, influential, and ethically high-level research. JYU is among the top three percent of universities globally.
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