Sustainability and Analytics: IBM, Nokia and Amazon in Focus

IBM

IBM leverages AI, renewable energy and data analytics to advance sustainability, reduce emissions and drive innovation​​​​​​​

IBM's 2024 Annual Report highlights its commitment to sustainability through the integration of advanced AI, data analytics and hybrid cloud technologies.

Central to IBM’s approach is sustainability analytics embedded within its software and consulting offerings that help enterprises measure, manage and reduce their environmental impact.

The report shines a light on IBM’s AI-powered solutions – including the Envizi platform and Maximo Application Suite – which optimise asset lifecycle management and emissions tracking to enable sustainable operations.

IBM underscores the importance of leveraging AI and data for improving resource efficiency across supply chains, facilities and IT infrastructure as these technologies support intelligent decision-making, environmental risk assessment and automation, helping clients to achieve sustainability goals while enhancing operational resilience.

Additionally, IBM’s sustainability strategy is integral to its hybrid cloud and AI growth areas, with strong investments in R&D and acquisitions to advance sustainable technology capabilities.

The company actively supports clients in operationalising sustainability initiatives through consulting expertise combined with technology platforms infused with AI governance and hybrid cloud flexibility.

Amazon

Amazon's sustainability report details the company’s AI-driven sustainability strategy, with analytics tracking progress on EV deliveries, plastic reduction and ESG goals

Amazon’s 2024 Sustainability Report demonstrates a deeply quantitative and analytics-intensive approach to measuring and managing its ESG performance.

The central analytical theme centres on decoupling business growth from emissions, highlighted by its key performance indicator: carbon intensity.

In 2024, this figure fell to 72.6g CO2e/$GMS. 
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Amazon’s analysis of its sustainability journey shows the company’s progress despite a slight rise in absolute emissions.

The report’s specific metrics for tracking resource consumption and social impact are key indicators of this pattern, with 1.5 billion packages delivered by more than 31,400 electric vehicles and a 16.4% global reduction in single-use plastic delivery packaging.

A key pillar of its strategy is leveraging AI for sustainability analytics to foster innovation.

Amazon shares in the report how it uses AI to optimise packaging size, reduce returns through better sizing recommendations, identify energy inefficiencies in its operations and detect water leaks.

This is further supported by granular data tracking, such as the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15 for its AWS data centres.

The report’s analytics include its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, showcasing how analytics are a core driver of strategic decisions for operational efficiency and resilience at Amazon.

Nokia

Guided by new EU rules, Nokia’s sustainability report finds 95% of its emissions are from product use, driving its focus on energy efficiency and innovation

Nokia’s 2024 Sustainability Statement is framed by the stringent analytical requirements of the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), built upon a “double materiality assessment” to identify and prioritise key ESG topics.

A critical analytical insight guiding its strategy is that 95% of its total greenhouse gas emissions come from the use of its sold products (Scope 3).

This data point focuses the company’s efforts on improving the energy efficiency of its technology as the most impactful decarbonisation lever.

The report features forward-looking analytics, presenting a detailed net-zero pathway to 2040 which quantifies the projected emissions reductions from various initiatives, including product energy efficiency and supply chain improvements.

Performance is tracked against a science-based target to slash Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in half by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, with analytics showing a 36% reduction already achieved by 2024.

Nokia also extends its analytical capabilities to its customers, offering a Private Wireless Sustainability Calculator to help enterprises quantify their own environmental gains, fostering innovation and resilience across its value chain.