Digital technologies play a key role in climate action, but their growing environmental footprint is a concern. ITU works with partners to drive sustainable digital transformation worldwide, from reducing emissions and e-waste, to setting green standards and more.

Digital technologies make us more productive and reduce our carbon footprint in many ways. Yet, as we increasingly rely on digital technologies, the environmental impact becomes more pronounced. The digital sector is now responsible for up to 4% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and generates 62 billion kilograms of e-waste annually.

The rapid growth of emerging technologies, such as AI and cloud computing, has further amplified demands on energy, water, and material consumption. The computing power required for AI alone is doubling every 100 days, driving energy demands to grow by 26-36% annually.

Tackling these challenges requires a collective commitment to building a sustainable digital future.

ITU has been highlighting the connection between telecommunications and the environment since the 1970s. In 1994, before the first UN Climate Change Conference, ITU’s Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference called for action to ensure telecommunications and digital technologies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development.

Since then, ITU has worked closely with its membership across radiocommunication, development, and standardization to ensure digital technologies positively contribute to climate action. 
 
The international community is rising to the challenge. ITU’s Green Digital Action initiative  has become a driving force for global collaboration, uniting stakeholders to develop tangible commitments, scalable solutions, and strong global monitoring. At the 2024 UN Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, over 1,800 partners endorsed the COP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action, addressing critical areas such as 

Moreover in 2024,  ITU and the World Benchmarking Alliance released the Greening Digital Companies  report, offering an overview of corporate value-chain emissions, from material sourcing to end-user device energy use. The report encourages governments to support value chain emission reduction through freer energy markets, modern power grids, renewable energy investment and energy storage. 

A sustainable digital future requires embedding sustainability throughout the entire digital lifecycle.

ITU supports countries in reducing emissions, harnessing climate monitoring technologies, and building green digital ecosystems. This includes advancing energy-efficient networks and data centres, promoting smart energy and circularity, and strengthening climate adaptation and digital resilience. 

1. Sustainable by design: Establishing green standards

Standards are the cornerstone of sustainable innovation, guiding the ICT sector to improve energy efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions, and enable meaningful reporting and comparisons.

Key ITU activities include:

 ITU standards ensure that sustainability is built into every product and service from the ground up, driving informed decisions across the value chain 

2. Strengthening green capacity building and adoption

Standards need adoption to make an impact. ITU strengthens capacity by equipping stakeholders with the knowledge, tools, and skills to implement environmentally sustainable ICT practices.

Key ITU activities include:

ITU works to ensure stakeholders across industries have the resources to operationalize sustainability.

3. Monitoring, reporting, and reducing emissions

Once green practices are in place, monitoring and reporting are essential for accountability and continuous improvement. ITU’s global framework helps track emissions and set reduction targets. 
 
Key ITU activities include:

ITU works to promote transparency and enable measurable progress in reducing the sector’s environmental footprint.

4. Leveraging digital technologies for climate monitoring

With robust emissions data and monitoring in place, digital technologies such as remove sensing and Earth observation can be deployed to address climate challenges. These tools provide vital data for weather prediction, disaster response, and climate change mitigation.

Key ITU outputs are ITU-R recommendations, reports and handbooks to assure the necessary performance and quality in operating of radiocommunication systems ( ITU-R Study Group 7).

 ITU-R provides life blood for development of any radiocommunication system and its work is paramount to the successful operation of any radio application.  Availability of radio frequency bands free from harmful interference is a requirement for the development of all Earth observation and meteorological radiosystems. 

5. Enabling a circular economy for electronics

To further reduce the sector’s environmental footprint, ITU promotes a circular economy approach where electronics are reused and recycled rather than discarded.

Key ITU activities include:

This approach reduces waste, recovers valuable materials, and creates green job opportunities, aligning the digital sector with global sustainability goals. 

6. Supporting Member States in building green digital ecosystems

To ensure no one is left behind, ITU works closely with governments and stakeholders to create customized solutions that balance economic, social, and environmental priorities.

Key ITU activities include:

By empowering countries with tailored tools and strategies, ITU helps drive a global movement toward sustainability.

Shaping our sustainable digital future together

Digital technologies are key to accelerating climate action and ITU is leading the charge to bring governments, industry, civil society, and academia together to position the entire ICT sector as a leader in climate action. You two can play your part! 

Get involved, email green@itu.int to learn more.