TELUS's Green Leap: Inside Its Rise on Global Sustainability Ranks

TORONTO, ON – January 21, 2026 – Canadian telecommunications giant TELUS has made a significant jump on the world stage for corporate responsibility, climbing 25 spots to rank 21st on Corporate Knights' 2026 Global 100 list of the most sustainable corporations. The new ranking not only solidifies the company’s position as an industry leader but also highlights a crucial shift in how corporate sustainability is being measured—rewarding not just green operations, but a business model fundamentally built on sustainable revenue and growth.

This marks the 14th time TELUS has been included on the prestigious list, making it the most awarded telecommunications company in the Global 100's history. The dramatic improvement from its 46th position in 2025 reflects a strategy that goes beyond traditional corporate social responsibility, embedding environmental and social goals into its core technology offerings and financial instruments.

"Our team is honoured to earn this recognition from Corporate Knights for the 14th time," said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. "Importantly, this ranking underscores our team's commitment to improving the health of the planet our children will inherit, while also delivering solutions that are creating meaningful value for our fellow citizens."

A New Yardstick for Sustainability

TELUS's significant ascent in the rankings is directly linked to a pivotal evolution in the Corporate Knights methodology for 2026. Moving away from a broad checklist of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, the new assessment focuses on three equally weighted key performance indicators: the percentage of a company's revenue from sustainable sources, the percentage of its capital investments that are sustainable, and—most critically—the growth rate of those sustainable revenues.

This updated framework is designed to identify companies that are not only managing their own footprint but are actively accelerating the transition to a sustainable economy through their core products and services. For a company like TELUS, this shift proved highly advantageous. Its long-term investments in sectors like digital health, agriculture technology (Agtech), and smart energy solutions are now being recognized as primary drivers of sustainable revenue. According to Corporate Knights, companies on the 2026 list derive, on average, 60% of their revenues from sustainable sources, and that revenue is growing at twice the pace of their other business lines.

TELUS's performance suggests its strategic bets are paying off. The company’s digital health platforms, which enable virtual care and reduce the need for travel, and its Agtech division, which uses data to optimize food production and resource use, are prime examples of business units that generate both financial returns and positive environmental impact. The new ranking methodology rewards this dual-purpose strategy, reflecting a broader market trend where sustainability is increasingly seen as a driver of competitive advantage and long-term growth, rather than just a cost of doing business.

Technology as a Climate Solution

While internal operations are a key part of its strategy, TELUS is increasingly emphasizing its role in helping others become more sustainable. The company’s recently released Avoided Emissions Report quantifies this external impact, demonstrating that in 2024, its technology and services helped customers avoid more than 1.4 million metric tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions. This is comparable to removing over 300,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road for a year.

These reductions are achieved through a diverse suite of digital solutions. Virtual healthcare appointments reduce patient and practitioner travel, smart energy and IoT solutions help businesses optimize building management systems to cut power consumption, and precision agriculture technologies enable farmers to use less water, fertilizer, and fuel. By providing the connectivity and platforms that underpin these services, the telecommunications firm extends its climate influence far beyond its own cell towers and data centers. This concept of 'enabling' sustainability is becoming a critical differentiator for technology companies aiming for leadership in the green economy.

From Reducing Harm to Regenerating Nature

In his statement, CEO Darren Entwistle described TELUS as being "nature-accretive," a term signifying a commitment to actively regenerating ecosystems rather than simply minimizing environmental harm. This philosophy is backed by a series of tangible, long-term initiatives.

Over the past quarter-century, the company and its partners have planted over 25 million trees, which are projected to sequester approximately 7.5 million metric tonnes of CO₂ over their lifetime. More recently, since 2024, TELUS has partnered with the Piikani First Nation and the Blood Tribe in Alberta, as well as the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba, to restore more than 500 hectares of land.

This regenerative approach also extends to the circular economy. The company has successfully diverted 15 million electronic devices from landfills since 2005, including the upcycling and recycling of 4 million mobile phones. Furthermore, its aggressive transition from legacy copper wiring to the TELUS PureFibre network is a cornerstone of its operational efficiency. The PureFibre network is not only faster but also 85% more energy-efficient than traditional copper networks. The copper reclamation program itself has reduced GHG emissions by 9,300 tonnes since 2018.

Financing the Green Transition

Underscoring its commitment, TELUS has woven its sustainability targets directly into its financial strategy. In 2022, it became the first Canadian company to issue a Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), a financial instrument that ties the company's borrowing costs to its performance on specific environmental targets. If TELUS fails to meet its ambitious goal of reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, it faces a financial penalty in the form of higher interest payments to bondholders.

Since that inaugural issue, the company has raised a total of $3.7 billion CAD and $900 million USD through multiple SLBs. This approach effectively makes climate action a fiduciary duty, aligning the interests of investors with the planet's health. It sends a powerful signal to the market that the company's leadership is confident in its ability to achieve its environmental goals, transforming sustainability from a corporate initiative into a core component of its financial architecture.