As world leaders seek new ways of tackling climate emergency at the ongoing COP26 Summit, Virgin Mobile UAE, part of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), is taking a key step to drive the brand forward to achieve its aspiration of becoming carbon negative by the end of 2022.
To help make this aspiration a reality, Virgin Mobile UAE has taken a unique collaborative approach, engaging its customers in a novel way to make a difference through a simple digital feature in the app. The initiative, launched today, urges Virgin Mobile customers to contribute just AED 6 to offset their mobile plan’s carbon footprint for a year. The brand will match every donation to make a positive difference to the people and the planet.
This will be followed by interactive elements in the app that will engage and help to educate and encourage customers to lead a more sustainable life. By doing this Virgin Mobile is committed to taking the brand Carbon Negative in 2022.
Marking this key milestone for the brand, Rob Beswick, Managing Director for Virgin Mobile UAE said, “Climate change matters and it’s clear that brands have a responsibility to put sustainability at the centre of their strategy. We stepped into 2021 with a heightened sense of conviction that we must challenge ourselves to think bigger and do much more in partnership with others to take care of the planet we share. Last month, Virgin Mobile UAE turned its operation Carbon Neutral. Our next step is to work towards being Carbon Negative and we hope that by launching this new digital app feature we can achieve that together with our customers. By committing to match every contribution our customers make we want to demonstrate how together we can build a better future. With these new innovations and creative ideas, we are confident that we can make Virgin Mobile UAE the first truly Carbon Negative mobile brand globally, by the end of 2022.”
As the leading first fully digital customer focused mobile brand in the UAE, Virgin Mobile achieved net zero carbon emissions this year through investments in multiple business and community projects in partnership with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence.
With the help of Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, Virgin Mobile UAE received critical insights into total emissions across all elements of its business. Emissions calculations were used to create and implement wide-ranging sustainable processes for the reduction of Virgin Mobile UAE’s overall operational emissions including new ways of working related to business travel, reduction and reuse of materials, energy efficiency, and sustainability awareness and education initiatives. This led Virgin Mobile to create a new app feature that allows customers to make a small contribution to offset the carbon emissions that are produced when they use their Virgin Mobile plan, for data and voice consumption.
Furthermore, the organization supports local community projects through investment and partnerships such as the first landfill gas (LFG)-to-energy project in the Middle East, located in Dubai. Led by Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability LLC (GESS) and certified by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Charge (UNFCCC), GESS focuses on waste management in the MENA region, specifically landfill gas project development which sees it convert waste gas into renewable energy.
To access the new green feature, download the Virgin Mobile UAE App on App Store on iOS or in the Google Play Store on Android. Or visit https://www.virginmobile.ae/sustainability/ for more details.
