Description

First-order effects represent the direct environmental burden of physical hardware, infrastructure, and the energy consumed during the entire lifecycle of an ICT solution. As defined in ITU-T L.1480, these effects encompass raw material extraction, production, utilization, and disposal stages. To address these impacts, ITU-T L.1470 provides trajectories for reducing emissions within the ICT sector to align with global carbon budgets and 1.5°C warming scenarios. These emissions are often classified into scopes (1, 2, and 3) based on organizational control and value chain impact, serving as a critical baseline for sustainability assessments. By identifying these direct impacts, organizations can better measure the net positive enablement effects of digital technologies on the broader economy.

Related Concepts

• Greening by Digital
• ITU-T L.1480
• ITU-T L.1470
• Climate Action
• Scope 1 emission
• Scope 2 emission
• Scope 3 emission
• carbon-budget

Related Entities

• IPCC

Mentions in Source

• “First order effect: Direct environmental effect associated with the physical existence of an ICT solution, i.e., the raw materials acquisition, production, use and end-of-life treatment stages, and generic processes supporting those including the use of energy and transportation.” — ITU-T L.1480 (Greening by Digital)

Source: ITU-T L.1470 (Greening Digital) - “Recommendation ITU-T L.1470 provides detailed trajectories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the global information and communication technology (ICT) sector and sub-sectors.” - “The ICT sector, although relatively small in terms of GHG emissions compared to others, is responsible for its own footprint.”