Advancing Green Digital Action Towards a Net-Zero ICT Sector: Measurement and Transition Plans

Time: 11 November, 15:00-16:30
Venue: UN Brazil Pavilion

Introduction
The ICT sector continues to play a significant role in addressing climate change — both by enabling some emission reductions across all sectors through digital innovation and by striving to reduce its own environmental footprint. Achieving a net-zero ICT sector requires reliable data, harmonized methodologies, and well-defined transition pathways supported by public and private stakeholders alike.

Since COP28, the partners of the Green Digital Action (GDA) ICT GHG Emissions Pillar have reaffirmed their commitment to advancing transparency and accountability on ICT-related greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Building on this commitment, ITU and its partners have been actively strengthening the visibility on progress made by the sector through their standardization work, particularly Recommendation ITU-T L.1472 on the creation of a database on ICT sector energy consumption and GHG emissions, as well as through the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) Subgroup on National Greenhouse Gas Emission Monitoring Indicators.

This ongoing collaboration represents a continuous effort to measure, monitor, and manage the environmental impact of the ICT sector, contributing directly to the Green Digital Action mission to harness digital innovation for sustainability.

At COP30, this session presented the progress achieved so far — including updates on the Greening Digital Companies 2025 report and Dashboard and the ITU-T L.1472 pilot project — while also looking ahead to how ICT companies and regulators are developing transition plans toward net-zero. It further explored how to enhance cooperation with global data initiatives and others to streamline reporting and ensure that information collected at company level effectively supports national and global climate strategies.

By bringing together governments, regulators, industry, and international organizations, this session highlighted both the measurement frameworks and the transition planning approaches essential for achieving a sustainable and measurable transformation of the ICT sector — advancing Green Digital Action and contributing to global net-zero goals.

Objectives
This session:
1) showcased progress made under the GDA ICT GHG Emissions Pillar, particularly in data collection, measurement, and transition planning;
2) presented updates on Recommendation ITU-T L.1472, the EGTI work on environmental indicators, and related pilot projects;
3) discussed how to strengthen cooperation with organizations such as CDP, SBTi to streamline reporting and reduce burdens on companies;
4) presented the ongoing GSMA–ITU collaboration on developing guidance for transition plans for telecommunications operators, providing a practical framework for aligning corporate strategies with global climate goals;
5) shared initial insights from the analysis of published transition plans across the ICT sector, highlighting motivations, methodologies, and lessons learned;
6) encouraged further collaboration among policymakers, regulators, and industry to accelerate the ICT sector’s journey to net-zero.

Target audience
This Side Event was open to all. Participation was free of charge.