Assessing The Climate-Positive Effects Of ICT

Climate change is perhaps the topmost challenge of our time. To prevent climate change from severely impacting almost every facet of life on the planet, scientific consensus points to a need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), measured in terms of CO2 equivalents (CO2e), by as much as 80 percent by 2050.The first step in measuring emissions is to determine where emissions occur and at what levels. Once emission levels and inefficiencies have been identified and assessed, it is possible to change operating models, supporting systems, and behavior - it is here that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector plays an important role. Figure 1 symbolizes a scale in balance.