View source for Greening Internet governance – Environmental sustainability and digital transformation – 2020/2021

<big>'''Intersessional project 2020/2021'''</big>

In 2020 the discussion on environmental sustainability and digital transformation was more prominent at the EuroDIG agenda. To reduce the environmental impact of the digital world, it is necessary to adopt measures to optimise energy and material efficiency (circularity) of the digital sector. For example, increasing the use of renewables, innovating for low energy consumption, keeping devices longer in use, facilitating re-use, improving reparability and recyclability, and adopting sustainable business models.

There were many proposals on how to incorporate ecological standards into regulation, but also into the design and production of goods. The role and responsibility of the end user was also noted as key to a sustainable digital future for Europe. Digitalisation and environmental sustainability must be looked at together and not as two separate areas.

More attention at EuroDIG 2021 will be given to the topic, particularly in ways that can complement and support the 2021 global IGF intersessional workstream: the Policy Network on Environment and Digitalisation ([https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/policy-network-on-environment-and-digitalisation-pne PNE]). That’s why EuroDIG's own intersessional work starts now.

Have a look at the sessions and resources so far:

*[[From commitments to action: Assessing the effectiveness of pan-European policies and regulations for the green digital transformation – WS 01 2022]]
*[[Open Forum: The road ahead for ICT sustainability in Europe and beyond – Pre 08 2022]]
*[[Greening Internet Governance, Part II – Enabling an Environmentally Sustainable Digital Transformation in Europe – FS 01 2021]]
*[[Greening Internet governance – Environmental sustainability and digital transformation – PL 04 2020]]
*[[Fighting climate change with emerging technologies – for good or ill? – Flash 13 2019]]
*[[Drowning in data – digital pollution, green IT, and sustainable access – WS 11 2017]]

== Important clarification ==

As information and communications technology (ICT) sustainability becomes more prominent both within and external to the IGF ecosystem, it is important to clarify the scope of this work. When referring to greening the Internet, it typically refers to one or more of the following:

#ICTs for sustainable development and sustainable digitisation;
#The sustainability of ICTs themselves, their production, consumption, and end-of-life, and their underlying infrastructure;
#The importance of data, such as climate/environmental data to track progress, data for lifecycle assessments, the availability of public datasets, etc.;
#The sustainability of ICT organisational operations (e.g., carbon neutrality efforts, sustainable procurement, etc.);
#The resilience of ICT infrastructure and its ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as natural disasters, rising sea levels (especially for vulnerable coastal infrastructure), etc.; and
#Sustainable web design and technological innovation, as applicable to, for instance, the Internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data analysis, etc.

== <span class="dateline">Get involved!</span> == 
You are invited to get involved in this intersessional project! Please subscribe to the [https://list.eurodig.org/mailman/listinfo/greeningig '''mailing list'''] to join the team and answer the email that will be sent to you requesting your subscription confirmation.