2Sustain

AT&T has released it 2008 Citizenship and Sustainability Report, titled “Connecting for a Sustainable Future.”

For the first time, the report is aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G3 Guidelines, and in it AT&T announces that the company has made progress on measuring corporate-wide CO2 emissions and determining base lines. As a result, AT&T plans to disclose its domestic carbon footprint by the end of 2009.

AT&T’s sustainability report is broken down into six strategic focus areas:

• strengthening communities
• investing in people
• leading with integrity
• minimizing our environmental impact
• connecting people and business
• leading innovation and technology

(Footnote here: See Adam Werbach’s post “Strategy for Sustainability vs Sustainability Strategy” for insight into why it’s critical that corporations integrate all four pillars of sustainability –social, economic, environmental, and cultural –into their core business plan.)

You can download AT&T’s complete report here.

With about 85,000 vehicles overall, AT&T operates one of the largest commercial fleets in the U.S. The company says it recognizes the economic and environmental implications of maintaining a fleet that size, and accordingly, AT&T has made reducing fuel consumption and emissions an ongoing priority.

In the videoclip I’ve embedded below, you can hear AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson talk about the current economic downturn and AT&T’s investments in sustainable growth, clean energy, and energy efficiencies.  He also announces the largest commitment to compressed natural gas by a U.S. company, part of AT&T’s $565 million commitment to alternative-fuel vehicles.