Digital technologies support optimisation and better decision-making that can be harnessed to advance a green transition. For example. artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things facilitate smart energy and grid management, can improve energy efficiency across buildings and cities (e.g. through digital twins and smart sensors) and can remedy software-related product defects remotely and mitigate e-waste. Digital technologies can further have enabling and systemic positive impact on the environment, through transparency tools that help consumers make greener choices, or virtual meeting platforms that reduce the need for travel.

To harness their positive impact on the environment, policymakers need to invest in and incentivise research and development for and dissemination of technological solutions, raise awareness, promote best practices, and invest in green and digital skills.  

Digital technologies can have a negative impact on the environment across their life cycle, from the use of rare earth materials in their production, to electricity consumption of some ICT components in their operation, to pollution related to e-waste. Rising electricity and water consumption by data centres in particular, can strain energy grids and water supplies, especially in urban areas. These effects may be mitigated by circular economy techniques (e.g. to reuse excess heat from data centres) and by renewable energy procurement.

Better and more coherent measurement efforts, best practices for energy efficiency within the ICT sector, and accounting for environmental impact in procurement criteria for digital technologies are all needed to manage and reduce the environmental impact of digital technologies.

AI underpins some of the most promising solutions to today’s global environmental challenges. In fact, AI innovations enable sustainability in nearly every sector of the economy: buildings and cities, heavy manufacturing like shipbuilding and steel production, farming and forestry, green financing and more. Applications like digital twins and Internet-of-Things are increasingly applied to climate predictions, forecasts, and environmental modelling to help meet net-zero policy objectives.