StarHub has become one of a small number of Singapore-based telecommunications operators to secure an ‘A’ rating in the CDP 2025 Climate Change Assessment, the highest score awarded under the global climate disclosure benchmark.

The ‘A’ rating places StarHub in a limited group of organisations worldwide assessed as demonstrating leadership in how climate-related risks and opportunities are governed, measured and disclosed. For StarHub, it is the first time the company has reached the top tier of CDP’s climate scoring.

Standing out in an energy-intensive sector

Telecommunications operators are among the most energy-intensive digital infrastructure providers, running always-on mobile networks, data centres and transmission systems. In Singapore, where data and connectivity demand continues to rise, reducing emissions while maintaining network resilience remains a structural challenge for the sector.

Against this backdrop, CDP’s top rating signals that StarHub’s climate management practices have matured relative to industry norms, even as absolute emissions pressures persist across the telco sector.

StarHub said the improvement reflects a shift over the past year from primarily meeting disclosure requirements to embedding climate considerations into operational and longer-term business planning.

Focus on networks, power and legacy systems

To lower the carbon intensity of its operations, StarHub has prioritised energy efficiency across its network sites and data centres. Measures include advanced energy monitoring, increased virtualisation and the phased retirement of older, less efficient systems.

The company has also stepped up renewable energy adoption. This includes renewable electricity purchases and on-site solar installations across selected facilities, alongside the introduction of long-term power purchase agreements in 2024 to support a gradual reduction in the network’s carbon footprint.

In addition, StarHub is progressing fleet and operational decarbonisation through cleaner mobility options and tighter emissions controls across day-to-day operations.

Scope 3 emissions emerge as a differentiator

A key factor behind the higher CDP score was StarHub’s deeper engagement with its value chain, particularly around Scope 3 emissions, which cover indirect emissions from suppliers and partners and are often the most difficult to measure.

StarHub worked with key suppliers to obtain bottom-up, activity-based emissions data, rather than relying solely on industry averages. This allowed the company to refine datasets for its most material Scope 3 categories and improve the credibility and transparency of its disclosures.

These efforts are guided by a supplier engagement and decarbonisation roadmap anchored in science-based principles, shaping the company’s emissions reduction ambitions towards 2030 and 2050.

Leadership in management, not end-state emissions

CDP ratings assess how well companies manage and disclose climate risks, rather than their absolute emissions levels. StarHub said its latest score reflects closer alignment between emissions performance and its science-based targets, and a more active approach to climate risk management.

The company continues to disclose both progress and challenges, acknowledging the complexity of decarbonising large-scale digital and network operations in an always-on environment.