Quantifying emissions right - a holistic approach to assessing the climate-positive effects of ICT

A holistic methodology is necessary for assessing the potential reductions of CO2e emissions. Life -cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established method and can be used for comparing emissions created in different scenarios.

To prevent climate change from severely impacting almost every facet of life in the world, scientific consensus points to a need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 80 percent by 2050. To achieve this we must replace traditional methods, processes and systems with smarter, more efficient ones. And broadband constitutes the foundation of a resource-efficient infrastructure that can deliver services in a low-carbon way.

To support this transition to a low-carbon Networked Society, it is necessary to understand the extent to which new solutions will reduce CO2e emissions. A holistic methodology of quantifying emissions helps us to understand the complexity of large industrial systems and user behaviors, and ultimately for assessing the potential reductions of emissions. The life cycle assessment (LCA) constitutes a well-established methodology and is especially useful for evaluating the potential of ICT solutions to reduce emissions in sectors not traditionally associated with ICT.

The adoption of holistic LCA methodologies as standardized by ETSI, ITU-T and ISO:

enables companies to prioritize between ICT solutions based on their impact on sustainability
enables and guides policy makers to support balanced decisions regarding sustainability
provides a means of making comparisons between ICT-based solutions and other kinds of solutions
helps to place the focus on the total level of energy usage and to highlight the potential for CO2e reductions in business cases, thereby encouraging investment in ICT.