Description

Greening by digital leverages the transformative potential of digital tools to reduce environmental footprints and support global climate targets through enabling, monitoring, and optimizing sustainability improvements. Central to this approach is the concept of enablement, which refers to the reduction of emissions occurring outside a solution’s lifecycle as a result of using a digital solution. To measure these impacts accurately, the methodology accounts for the Net Enablement Effect, weighing positive impacts—such as emissions avoided through efficiencies or substitution—against the negative impacts of the ICT goods, networks, and services. A key metric in this assessment is the net second-order effect, which provides a realistic assessment of whether a digital solution results in a genuine net reduction or increase in total GHG emissions, encompassing higher-order effects such as rebound. Furthermore, the approach serves as a critical pathway for climate change adaptation, integrating digital tools like sensors and modeling into national infrastructure to build resilience across external verticals through data-driven decision-making.

Related Concepts

• Climate Action
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Green Digital Action
• Recommendation ITU-T L.1480
• First order effect
• Second order effect
• Higher order effects
• Higher-order effects
• Climate change adaptation

Related Entities

• Green Digital Action Hub
• International Telecommunication Union
• COP30

Mentions in Source

Source: News-ITU-COP30_GDA-Hub-2025 - “The GDA Hub will aim to identify practical measures to address climate challenges, both through “greening digital” itself and “greening by digital” in other sectors.”

Source: ITU-T L.1480 (Greening by Digital) - “Specifically, the methodology provides guidance on the assessment of the use of ICT solutions covering the net second order effect (i.e., the resulting second order effect after accounting for emissions due to the first order effects of the ICT solution), and the higher order effects.” - “Specifically, the methodology provides guidance on the assessment of the use of ICT solutions covering the net second order effect (i.e., the resulting second order effect after accounting for emissions due to the first order effects of the ICT solution), and the higher order effects such as rebound.”

Source: ITU-T L.1501 (Adaptation Best Practices) - “Operationalizing green-by-digital pathways to build resilience across external verticals.” - “Leveraging and harnessing the immense potential of ICT will act as a force multiplier in increasing the impact of efforts to tackle climate change.”