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Hardly any company balances the CO2 equivalent of its IT

Sustainable IT – a study by Capgemini Hardly any company reports the CO2-Equivalent to its IT

Overall, every second company now has its own sustainability strategy, but only every fifth company takes IT into account in their sustainability agenda. In addition, only a minority is the CO2-Balance of their IT known. This is one of the results of a study initiated by the management consultancy Capgemini.

Companies on the topic

Sustainability becomes part of the evaluation of companies, from banks to data centers; Nevertheless, hardly any company includes IT in its CO2 balance; they do not know the key figures for this area.

(Image: Caniceus on Pixabay)

It can be observed that investors and customers are increasingly evaluating companies on the basis of sustainable business practices, such as ESG rankings; ESG ratings evaluate sustainable business practices of companies in the areas of environment, social and governance.

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Leading big tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon have also declared the goal of CO2-to become neutral and thereby exert pressure to change. The current von Capgemini study “Sustainable IT: Why it’s time for a Green revolution for your organization’s IT“, Which surveyed more than 1,000 companies worldwide with annual sales of more than $ 1 billion, confirms both.

Yet only six percent of companies implement sustainable IT comprehensively. The effect is remarkable. Companies that implement comprehensive measures for sustainable IT have better ESG ratings (61 percent), higher customer satisfaction (56 percent) and realize tax advantages (44 percent). Nevertheless, only 6 percent of the companies show a high degree of maturity in this regard. The majority, on the other hand, are still unsure how to design sustainable IT.

Supplementary to the topic

What is sustainable IT?

Sustainable IT is a collective term that encompasses an environmentally-oriented approach to the development, use and disposal of computer hardware and software applications as well as to the design of related business processes. The term includes other aspects, including the responsible mining of rare metals required for the development of IT hardware, water protection and the principles of the circular economy for the entire life cycle of technologies.

Capgemini’s research focuses on four key areas of corporate IT: user hardware and devices, networks and communication systems, applications and data, and cloud computing.

Technologies can help solve the climate crisis, but IT also causes its own CO2-Footprint, which is currently worsening. Ralph Schneider-Maul, Head of the Center of Excellence Digital Manufacturing at Capgemini in Germany, states: “Due to the accelerated digitization in the wake of the pandemic, the emissions of our digital world are increasing rapidly.”

Nevertheless, sustainable IT has not yet been a priority for most companies and only a few include it in their sustainability agenda to reduce CO2 emissions. According to the study, only 22 percent of companies plan to reduce their CO in the next three years2– Reduce the footprint by more than a quarter through sustainable IT.

This could also be due to the fact that companies are hardly aware of the carbon footprint of their IT. 57 percent of those surveyed do not know how big the CO2– Your company’s IT footprint is.

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In an industry comparison (see: Figure 2), banks (52 percent) and consumer goods manufacturers (51 percent) know this value most frequently, and the least common are companies in the manufacturing industry (28 percent) with CO2-Emissions trusts their IT. Furthermore, across all industries, only 34 percent of those surveyed are aware that the production of a cell phone or laptop generates more CO2Emissions occur over the entire period of use.

No plan, no know-how, no results

So it’s no wonder that, compared to other sustainability initiatives, measures for sustainable IT are currently receiving less attention and fewer resources. Half of the companies have a company-wide sustainability concept, but less than every fifth company (18 percent) has a comprehensive strategy for sustainable IT, including a schedule and clearly defined goals. Sustainable IT is on the agenda at board level for every third company (34 percent).

Today, only a minority of companies use appropriate means and uniform standards to record the environmental impact of their IT. 29 percent of the organizations surveyed determine their CO2-Footprint using appropriate tools; 23 percent use key performance indicators (KPIs) to track their greenhouse gas emissions and their progress towards sustainable IT.

Overall, only 1 percent of the companies achieved their goals. Furthermore, a quarter of the companies (27 percent) have set emission costs for their IT operations so that the ecological footprint of IT can be identified across departments. Schneider-Maul’s demand: “Companies have to deal with the CO2-Measure your IT footprint and minimize it through sustainable practices. “

Expectations towards technology companies when decarbonising IT

The leading technology companies (“big tech”), however, are pressing ahead with the decarbonization of IT operations, services and products and could thus influence the global perception of sustainable IT. According to Schneider-Maul, in addition to a sustainable software architecture, success will require all stakeholders in the company to be involved. He says: “Apart from the ecological necessity, the economic advantages of sustainable IT are also convincing – both in terms of business results and in terms of social reputation and customer satisfaction.”

Microsoft would like to reverse its carbon dioxide emissions since the company was founded in 1975 and is now aiming for a negative carbon footprint.

Virtualization alone is no guarantee for a better energy balance.  In order to get cloud computing green, a lot of adjustments are necessary, including better software that inherently requires fewer resources.

The companies surveyed in the study, across all industries, expect the technology industry to help them introduce sustainable IT practices. Correspondingly, 52 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that sustainability should be a dimension of the products and services of technology companies. About half (45 percent) of them are also willing to pay a premium of up to five percent for sustainable IT products and services. 61 percent would like to be supported by tech companies in recording the environmental impact of their own IT.

Recommendations for action to implement sustainable IT

For the rapid implementation of sustainable IT, the study authors recommend a three-stage approach with the following steps (see Figure 5):

  • The development of a strategy for sustainable IT that is in line with the company’s overarching sustainability strategy
  • The establishment of a governance process that includes dedicated teams for sustainable IT and is supported by the management
  • The implementation of initiatives for sustainable IT, in which sustainability is a cornerstone of the software architecture

Supplementary to the topic

Study methodology

The Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 1,000 companies worldwide with annual sales in excess of $ 1 billion on their position on sustainability in IT. The companies come from the following industries: insurance, retail, consumer goods, banking, energy and utilities, life sciences and healthcare, automotive, telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, technology services and the public sector.

IT managers, sustainability experts and executives from core functions such as human resources, finance and marketing gave their opinion.

Via the Capgemini Research Institute

The Capgemini Research Institute is Capgemini’s in-house think tank on digital matters. The institute publishes research on the impact of digital technologies on large companies. The team draws on the global network of Capgemini experts and works closely with academic and technological partners. The institute has research centers in India, Singapore, Great Britain, and the USA.

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