(Yicai) Oct. 19 -- HONOR has committed to achieving carbon neutrality across its entire value chain by 2050, becoming the first Chinese smart device brand to do so.

The Shenzhen-based company laid out its carbon neutrality roadmap and related emission-reduction measures at the Fifth Net-Zero Campus Design Competition Finals and Environmental, Social, and Governance Sustainable Development Ecosystem Conference it co-hosted with Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School and the China ESG Alliance in Shenzhen on Oct. 15.

About 98 percent of HONOR’s emissions come from its value chain, ESG Director Liu Xiaojun said at the conference. According to data disclosed by the company, Scope 3 emissions account for 98.76 percent of its full value-chain emissions, with electricity used in manufacturing making up 66 percent and raw materials about 23 percent.

HONOR plans to use 100 percent clean energy at its own factories by 2030, achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2040, and reach value-chain carbon neutrality by 2050, according to its “3524” Carbon Neutrality Strategy. It has also set targets to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90 percent from 2022 levels and Scope 3 emissions by 55 percent from 2024 levels.

On products and materials, HONOR said its designs use recycled plastics, bio-based materials, and recycled metals, such as copper and aluminum, adding that its Qinghai Lake battery has a lifespan of six years, extending product use cycles.

As global supply chain rules keep shifting, carbon accounting and sustainability disclosure are becoming issues Chinese companies must address when expanding overseas. European Union rules, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, extend sustainability disclosure requirements to companies' value chains, tying ESG more closely to overseas business and market access, Zhai Jiajia, a sustainability partner at Deloitte China, said at the conference.

Under the EU Batteries Regulation, power batteries, industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kilowatt-hours, and certain other batteries must carry a battery passport from Feb. 18 next year, and companies must conduct full-chain due diligence on key raw materials, such as lithium and cobalt, said Liu Chengxi, ESG director at Sunwoda Electronic's power battery business.

Chinese firms rely heavily on foreign models and data when accounting for their carbon footprints, and some may overestimate China's emissions, said Zheng Bo, deputy director of the Institute of Environment and Ecology at Tsinghua SIGS. China needs to build an observation and data system with independent intellectual property rights and full-chain controllability, he added.

Beyond emission cuts, Honor has also built on-device artificial intelligence applications into its ESG practice. As of the end of last year, its Screen Reader function had served nearly 3.98 million visually impaired users, and its accessibility and senior-friendly functions had covered more than 10 million users, the company said.

HONOR's industry-first on-device AI Deepfake Detection and voice synthesis detection technologies issue real-time anti-fraud alerts on the device while ensuring private data never leaves the device, building an AI safety shield for seniors and minors, according to the company.

Editor: Futura Costaglione