During a time span of more than 7 months over 20 ICT-organisations have volunteered to test various methodologies being developed by international standards development organisations (e.g. ITU, ETSI, IEC) and by industry bodies (e.g. GeSI/Carbon Trust/WRI/WBSCD), quantifying the environmental footprint of ICT products, networks , services and organisations. The whole ICT-sector has been represented in these pilots.
Aim
The basic aim of this initiative was to test the compatibility and workability of these different methodologies when applied by actual practitioners on specific goods, networks and services on one hand and on organisations on the other.
Ultimate objective
The ultimate objective is to establish a common methodological framework for the measurement of the energy intensity and carbon emissions arsing from the production, transport and selling processes of ICT goods, networks and services, and one which can be broadly adopted by the ICT industry.
Supply chain approach
The volunteering organisations were encouraged to include the supply chain aspects of the different methodologies (e.g. production, transport, use of a product/service) and the organisations within that supply chain. Within this initiative the pilots are of relevance to all sub-sectors of the ICT sector.
Achieved results
- Feedback to the standards development organisations (SDOs) & industry bodies on what should be done next, to ensure compatibility among those standards.
- Assurance to ICT companies that the methodologies the industry is being asked to adopt are robust, reliable, cost efficient and can be implemented in a practical way both within the company itself and across its upstream and downstream supply chain.
- Helped to inform the European Commission as to the best way of achieving its policy objectives in this area going forward.
Benefits for volunteering companies
Volunteering companies have had the opportunity to test and compare various methodologies. They will be able to better measure and understand the origin of their carbon emissions along their supply chains and act upon this. This unique initiative also allowed volunteering organisations to exchange experiences and learnings with industry peers. During the actual tests they relied on professional support from independent third parties with deep expertise in energy and carbon management. More information about the supporting partners (Ecofys, Bio Intelligence and Quantis) can be read here.
Methodologies tested
For Products and Services
- ITU-T L.1410 Methodology for environmental impacts assessment of ICT goods, networks and services;
- ETSI TS 103 199 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of ICT equipment, networks and services: General methodology and common requirements;
- GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard – ICT Sector Guidance;
- IEC TC 111 - IEC/TR 62725, "Quantification methodology of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) for electrical and electronic products and systems".
For Organisations
- ITU-T L.1420 Methodology for environmental impacts assessment of ICT in organisations;
- GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard - including the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.