Response of Ericssonto a report from Friends of Nature, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), and Green Beagle stating that Ericsson is unresponsive to allegations that it uses suppliers who pollute local water bodies with heavy metals

In August 2010 three Chinese NGOs – Friends of Nature, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and Green Beagle – issued a report, “Green Choice Consumers Urge the IT Brands to Break Their Silence: Investigative Report on IT Industry Heavy Metals Pollution, Phase III," stating that Ericssonis one of six companies that have failed to respond adequately to allegations that it uses suppliers who pollute local water bodies. (This report follows earlier reports about this supply chain problem from the three NGOs; those reports as well as previous company response can be found here.)On 2 September, the NGOs sent a letter to Ericsson informing them of the report and requesting a “dialogue” with the company. On 29 September, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Ericsson to respond to this report and to the letter.

Ericsson sent Business & Human Rights Resource Centre this response:

5 October 2010

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter. As we have previously pointed out, Ericsson is very supportive of initiatives aimed at creating improved environmental conditions for all.

Our company vision is to be the prime driver in an all-communicating world, a world in which any person can use their voice, text, images and video to share ideas and information whenever and wherever they want. As the leading supplier of communications networks and services, we play a vital role in making such a world a reality. Corporate responsibility is for us to maintaining the necessary controls to minimize risks, while creating positive business impacts for our stakeholders and our brand. A sustainable and responsible approach, results in value creation for the company, our employees, our customers, our shareholders and for society as a whole.

In China and globally, Ericsson works systematically and continuously to reduce our direct and indirect environmental impacts and to enable our partners, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to reduce theirs. This includes active engagement with our supply chain. In China, we have an ambitious audit program in place, aiming at improving the Code of Conduct and Environmental status of our critical suppliers. In 2009 we conducted more than 530 audits and 500 on-site assessments, an extensive increase from 2008.

Furthermore we have a web-based Supplier Code of Conduct training in place, now available in twelve languages including Chinese.

With regards to your correspondence:

You note that “Ericsson’s refusal to investigate and verify whether or not the polluter that caused more than a hundred children suffering from excessive lead in their blood stream is part of their supply chain, is regrettable.” And that “this is an attempt to “dodge queries regarding problems which exist in the environmental management of the supply chain.”

Please note that Ericsson has a process in place to assess, manage and follow up suppliers deemed to be of high risk. We also continuously conduct checks on any alleged supplier violations of our Code of Conduct and Environmental Requirements. However, please note that the company in question is currently not a supplier neither to Ericsson nor to Sony Ericsson, and therefore we have not audit them.

Ericsson would welcome a proactive dialogue in the area of environmental conditions in China.

We have a central team coordinating our global initiatives and I am happy to be your first point of contact.

A suggested next step could be a meeting at Ericsson's head office in Beijing, where we could present our work and results, and get information on your role and expectations. Further steps could be decided at that meeting.

As a reference, please find belowlinks to our Supplier Code of Conduct Requirements, our Supplier Environmental Requirements, and our Banned and Restricted Substances List.

Best regards

Elaine Weidman-Grunewald

Vice President

Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility

GF Technology & Portfolio Management

EricssonAB