Key concepts, focus areas and measurement approaches to help you apply sustainable IT across your organisation.
The key terms and ideas that shape how IT emissions are measured and reduced.
IT emissions fall across direct operations, purchased energy and the supply chain. For most organisations, the biggest impact comes from Scope 3 — including devices, cloud services and suppliers.
Net Zero focuses on reducing emissions as far as possible before offsetting the remainder, while carbon neutral typically relies on offsetting existing emissions without necessarily reducing them.
Embodied carbon is generated during manufacturing, transport and disposal, while operational carbon comes from energy used during day‑to‑day operation. For many devices, embodied carbon makes up the majority of their footprint.
Key areas across your IT estate where sustainability improvements deliver the greatest impact.
Supply chain emissions — including devices, cloud services and vendors — are often the largest contributor to IT carbon impact.
Manufacturing, transport and disposal often outweigh emissions from day‑to‑day operation, making device lifespan a critical lever.
Electricity consumption (kWh / MWh) underpins calculations for operational carbon across devices, data centres and cloud environments.
Measures such as PUE, WUE and carbon intensity help organisations benchmark performance and track improvement over time.
Track emissions, energy use and lifecycle data across your IT estate
Access your IT reporting tools in ECATWhy is measuring IT emissions so difficult?
Measuring IT emissions can be complex due to limited supplier data, inconsistent calculation methods and rapidly changing technology environments, particularly across cloud and AI workloads.
What data is needed to measure IT carbon impact?
Organisations typically rely on a combination of energy consumption data, device lifecycle information, supplier disclosures and lifecycle assessments to build an emissions baseline.
What are the most common challenges organisations face with sustainable IT?
Common challenges include limited visibility into supplier emissions, legacy infrastructure, inconsistent measurement approaches and competing budget priorities.
What are the most effective ways to reduce IT carbon emissions?
Extending hardware lifespans, optimising cloud workloads, improving energy efficiency and choosing sustainable suppliers typically deliver the greatest impact.
What role do suppliers play in sustainable IT?
Suppliers have a major influence on Scope 3 emissions. Sustainability targets, certifications and transparency all affect the environmental impact of purchased technology.
Why are Scope 3 emissions harder to track than Scope 1 and 2?
Scope 3 emissions sit within the supply chain, covering devices, cloud services and suppliers. This makes them harder to measure accurately and often dependent on third‑party data.
How can organisations improve the accuracy of IT emissions reporting?
Accuracy improves by establishing a baseline, prioritising high‑impact areas, using recognised frameworks, engaging suppliers early and reviewing metrics regularly.
Why is extending device lifespan so important?
For many devices, most carbon emissions are generated during manufacturing. Keeping devices in use for longer significantly reduces embodied carbon.
How can cloud environments be made more sustainable?
Removing unused resources, optimising storage and compute, and choosing renewable‑powered regions helps reduce both emissions and costs.
How often should IT sustainability metrics be reviewed?
Metrics should be reviewed regularly to track progress, identify trends and support ongoing optimisation rather than treated as a one‑off exercise.
