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Telecommunications

giffgaff sustainability score: 59/100

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About giffgaff

giffgaff is a UK mobile network operator that runs on the O2 network and is a wholly owned part of Virgin Media O2. Incorporated in 2001, it has its registered office in Reading.

More about giffgaff

It had about 299 staff and revenue of £633.8m in FY2025.

Founded 2001Head office Reading, UKStaff ~299 (FY2025 accounts average)Revenue £633.8m (FY2025)Website ↗

Read giffgaff's own report ↗

Our verdict

giffgaff reports Scope 3 as 99.9% of its emissions, mostly the O2 network and purchased goods. Its market-based total fell 9% in 2025 to 34,518 tCO2e, above its 2023 figure. It says it began a review of its SBTi targets in 2025 because the baseline predates its broadband service. Its figures carry no external assurance. It reports that 66% of the devices it sold in 2025 were refurbished.

giffgaff scores 59/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified November 2026.

That places giffgaff joint 19th of 1,017 companies scored, and joint 2nd of 19 in Telecommunications.

The ten questions

What is giffgaff doing well, and where does it fall short?

Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Operations (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (4/10, 4/10).

What's missing

Where giffgaff lost points

For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.

  • Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
  • Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
  • Whether its emissions are falling5/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
  • How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
  • Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
  • How it uses materials and handles waste7/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
  • Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
  • Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
  • How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.

A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.

The calculation

How is giffgaff's SINK score calculated?

Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.

SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale
Industry base impact
Telecommunications sector ceiling.
55 / 100
Performance score
Sum of the ten questions, each scored 0 to 10.
61 / 100
Raw score
Weighted average before scale penalty.
(0.3 × 55) + (0.7 × 61) = 59.2
Scale penalty
Multiplier based on total emissions. Bigger polluters lose more.
× 1
Final score
Rounded. Making progress.
59 / 100
Where the evidence comes from

What evidence is giffgaff's score based on?

13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.

31% of them were published by giffgaff itself; the rest come from independent sources.

9 of 13 sources are independent of the company.

[1]SEC filing
giffgaff Limited Annual Statutory Accounts FY2025

“emissions have been calculated in line with the GHG Protocol”

2025
Q1Q2Q4Q6Q8Q9
View →
[2]Self-reported
giffgaff Impact Report 2025

“Scope 1 35.7 29.8 21.8”

2025
Q1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6Q7Q8Q9Q10
View →
[3]Public record
Companies House Filing History — giffgaff Limited

“Full accounts made up to 31 December 2024”

Ongoing
Q1
View →
[4]Self-reported
giffgaff Impact Report 2024

“In 2024 our emissions increased by 13% compared to 2023”

2024
Q3Q7Q8Q9
View →
[5]Self-reported
giffgaff Blog: Fairness Built In Our 2025 Impact Report

“We cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 9% compared to 2024”

2025
Q3Q5
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[6]Independent source
Ethical Consumer Guide — Ethical Mobile Phone Networks

“These tariffs do not fundamentally affect the emissions impact of the UK’s mobile network infrastructure.”

Unknown
Q4Q6
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[7]Independent source
SIM Sherpa: Greenest Mobile Providers

“running their offices with 91% renewable energy (from 2023)”

Unknown
Q4Q10
View →
[8]Independent source
Ecologi Case Study: Up to Good Fund

“In late 2023, giffgaff and MG OMD established the Up To Good Fund”

Unknown
Q5
View →
[9]Self-reported
giffgaff Planet

“made our SIM packaging from 100% FSC accredited MIX paper”

Ongoing
Q5Q6
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[10]Independent source
ISPreview: giffgaff Fined £1.4m for Overcharging

“an error in their billing system led to around 2.6 million customers”

2019
Q10
View →
[11]Independent source
The Register: giffgaff Billing Ofcom Fine

“Ofcom fined Brit MVNO Giffgaff £1.4m today”

2019
Q10
View →
[12]SEC filing
giffgaff Limited Annual Statutory Accounts FY2024

“Secured validation of our near-term and net zero emissions reduction targets”

2024
Q8
View →
[13]
bcorporation.net

“giffgaff earned an overall score of 97.6”

Q9
View →

If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.

For giffgaff

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    giffgaff: SINK sustainability score 59/100.

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giffgaff in context

How does giffgaff compare with other telecommunications companies?

Where giffgaff sits among telecommunications peers.

Among the 19 major telecommunications brands we've scored, giffgaff is tied =2nd of 19, with 1 other.

=2/19
giffgaff's rank
47
Industry average
17
Industry low
60
Industry high
See all 19 in Telecommunications →
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