• Established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Recommendation L.1480 is changing the game when it comes to assessing the impact of ICT usage on greenhouse gas emissions, making its measurement more comprehensive, rigorous and transparent.
Does information and communications technology (ICT) enable its users to reduce their CO2 equivalent emissions — and if so, by how much? This vast issue is the subject of studies, debates and occasionally quantitative assessments, all put forward as evidence of an “IT for Green” effect. For example, in 2015 the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) published its SMARTer2030 report, which makes the following observation: each ton of CO2e generated by ICT could save around ten tons of CO2e emissions for the sectors using it.
Although appealing, there are still question marks around the methodology behind this claim and potential biases in analysis (cherry picking of use cases, lack of observation of actual behaviors around usage, limited boundaries for the systems being evaluated etc.).
Measuring the CO2e impact of ICT use by other sectors involves considering all the carbon impacts of using ICTs: “ICT solution + use” are always studied in combination. It is the use itself that (can) contribute to decarbonization.
Fig. 1: GeSI Report, 2015
Calculating Carbon Effects — All Carbon Effects
A comprehensive measure—one that includes rebound effects resulting from the use of ICT solutions—is vital to truly appreciate the effects of this use on greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is also essential for measuring the contribution, be it positive or negative, that using these ICT solutions makes to global warming.
Measuring this carbon impact of ICT use in other sectors is a delicate undertaking that involves taking into account all of the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of an IT solution. First and foremost, the service must be studied from end to end: the technical architecture it is based on, including the carbon footprint of the hardware at the user’s premises, data centers, networks, support activities (such as installation at the customer’s premises by a technician etc.) — then its actual use, effectively observed including the behavioral changes induced in the user by the ICT solution.
Recommendation L.1480, developed by ITU-T Study Group (SG) 5, Question 9[1], provides a new and improved approach — one that goes beyond a simple, attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) limited to the ICT solution itself.
Methodology Deep Dive
What principles and procedures underpin this standardized evaluation methodology? “To make a measurement, we compare two scenarios over the same timeframe,” explain researcher Jérôme Fournier and François Bélorgey, Director of Innovative Products and Services Development at Orange, who were involved in drafting the recommendation. “On one side, the reference scenario refers to the activity observed in the user without the digital solution (or with a previous digital solution). On the other, the ICT solution scenario focuses on the consequences of the user using this new digital solution: for example, a reduction in employees traveling or even relocating due to the use of a collaborative tool set up for remote working.
Strictly speaking, the measurement assesses three areas. So-called first order effects are related to the operational implementation of the digital solution itself—particularly the hardware that makes up its technical architecture—and always correspond to additional emissions. Second order effects involve the direct consequences of using the solution in terms of CO2e emissions, as compared to the reference scenario, by optimizing or providing an alternative to an activity prior to the deployment of the solution. Higher order effects refer to changes in user behavior as a result of using the solution. One such example is the rebound effect, which can sometimes be caused by an excess of (or decrease in) economic activity from the solution, for example the use of financial gains earned from the solution.” Taking a remote working solution as our example, a reduction in commuting is a second order (direct) effect, while working from a secondary residence is a higher order effect (involving a change in behavior).
These effects are all depicted using a consequence tree, and the algebraic sum of the three effects makes it possible to quantify the emissions avoided or created as a result of the user implementing the solution. In fact, it is the specific action of using the ICT solution, and not the existence of the ICT solution itself, that is the only possible contribution to decarbonization — at the first level of aggregation at least.
Fig. 2: Principles for building a consequence tree
Comprehensive, Verifiable, Adaptable
This methodology is notably inspired by a model developed by ADEME with its initiative and adds particular value because of how comprehensive and transparent its hypotheses are, thereby avoiding greenwashing by omission or underestimation of certain effects. Orange applied this methodology when introducing remote working at its Atalante site in Rennes — and in so doing, highlighted the carbon footprint of higher order effects (hitherto mostly unknown) in the result.
“This methodology is transparent, auditable and produces neutral results. It also sets out three assessment levels, and only the results from the most in-depth level (which assesses effects of all orders) can be used for external communication, after critical review by a third party. What’s more, it can be adapted to any type of action or sector outside of the digital sphere — as Orange did when applying it to Orange Energia’s B2C and B2B solar panel sales, installation and maintenance activities. It thus demonstrated that the use of Orange Poland products contributes very positively to decarbonization in Poland.”
Fig. 3: Orange Poland’s photovoltaic offering
Published in December 2022, Recommendation L.1480 is the first of its kind on the international stage. It is changing the game for the sector and its stakeholders, who must adapt the methods they use to assess the carbon impacts of using their solutions to make them comprehensive and wide-reaching, and thereby more credible. In Europe, ETSI is deriving a standard from it. Following on from the work carried out, this methodology could be extended to other environmental issues beyond carbon effects, such as impacts on soil acidification, freshwater or seawater eutrophication, depletion of natural resources and more — even damage to human health or the quality of ecosystems, including biodiversity.
SG 5: Environment and climate change
Question 9: Climate change and assessment of digital technologies in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement
A method developed by ADEME to quantify the impact of an action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily based on the creation of a consequence tree for that action.
