{"id":773,"date":"2025-04-22T19:33:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/160\/?page_id=773"},"modified":"2025-12-16T19:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:16:56","slug":"greening-digital-technologies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/160\/vision\/greening-digital-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Greening digital technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Greening digital technologies<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n
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\n 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. <\/h3>\n

\n 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. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Fast-track partnerships<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n ITU has been highlighting the connection<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.\u00a0
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The international community is rising to the challenge. ITU\u2019s\u202fGreen Digital Action initiative<\/a>\u202f 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 companies and organizations, alongside 82 countries, endorsed the \u202fCOP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action<\/a>, reaffirming a shared commitment to reduce the environmental footprint of the digital sector while accelerating climate solutions across economies. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Member states, private sector, and civil society gather to endorse the COP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action in Baku, Azerbaijan, 2024 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
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COP30 Bel\u00e9m High-Level Roundtable: Leadership and Action Towards a Green Digital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div> <\/div>\n
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\n In 2025, this commitment moved into a new phase of delivery. At COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, ITU and partners announced the creation of the Green Digital Action Hub<\/a>, a new cooperation platform anchored in Brazil as a lasting legacy of the conference. Designed as the nerve centre of Green Digital Action, the hub aims to accelerate innovation, strengthen data and measurement, and support countries, particularly in the Global South, in scaling green digital solutions within and beyond the technology sector.

Additionally at COP30, ITU launched a stocktake providing the first global snapshot<\/a> of where digitalization stands in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with 2035 targets. The analysis of 53 NDCs found that almost almost 90% of the NDCs <\/strong>reference digital technologies as implementation levers. At the same time, most NDCs only account for digital technologies as part of specific solutions to achieve sectoral targets and the digital sector is not regarded as a sector in its own right with separate mitigation and adaptation targets to account for its own impact. Stay tuned for the complete NDC analysis in 2026. <\/em> <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

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A sustainable digital ecosystem<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n 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.\u00a0 <\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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\n 1. Sustainable by design: Establishing green standards <\/h3>\n

\n 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: <\/strong> <\/p>\n

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