The Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has been awarded at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the GSMA's first award for Outstanding Environmental Contribution, which recognizes its efforts and environmental actions. At the same time, the company also received the award for the Best Mobile Internet Service granted for its Nokia Sports Tracker.

When receiving the Environmental Award, Nokia's CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, stated that ”It is an honor to accept this on behalf of the thousands of Nokia people who have made sustainable, environmentally sensitive practices an integral part of our day to day business. With more than a billion people using Nokia phones globally, we feel we have a responsibility to make a difference. Environmental sustainability is not just the right thing to do, it is the only thing to do. I have long maintained that doing the right thing for the environment also makes good business sense.”

The company's environmental program has received the best in the industry award given its global availability and commitment. The mobile phone maker started the recycling of old or unwanted mobile devices back in 1997, and now it owns the largest voluntary scheme in the industry, which operates in 85 countries around the world.

Nokia Sports Tracker was able to rise above a strong group of competitors in the Best Mobile Internet Service category. The application was launched in July 2008 and has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times until now. The free software solution has been designed to monitor exercise and track fitness levels, while also making the information available for sharing with friends and training partners.

The GSMA also stressed on the commitment of the company for environmental actions on all of its handsets. The mobile phone maker announced a range of environmental elements included in its devices, such as reducing energy consumption when charging by 90 percent, the addition of alerts to remind people to unplug their chargers once the battery is full, making up to 80 percent of any Nokia device recyclable, and phasing out the use of materials like PVC.

At the same time, the Nokia Siemens Networks was praised for its efforts to make energy efficient base stations that are able to reduce the energy consumption by up to 70 percent. The base station also enables mobile operators around the world to reduce the carbon footprint significantly.