by Brianna Crandall — March 11, 2011—Information and communications technology (ICT) companies and their customers will soon have common approaches and methodologies to calculate the carbon footprints of ICT products and services thanks to industry guidance due to be published at the end of 2011.
The guidance is being developed through a collaboration between the Carbon Trust, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).
It will also involve NGOs, government experts and academics. GeSI is playing a leading role in bringing ICT companies on board and in promoting the initiative to the ICT industry. Already a number of major global ICT companies have committed their support.
It is expected that the new guidance will encourage companies to measure, report, and reduce the carbon footprint of their ICT products and services, thus contributing to global emission reductions.
This guidance will be published as an ICT Sector Supplement to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Product Accounting and Reporting Standard—part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, which is reportedly the most widely used global accounting and reporting standard for corporate GHG emissions.
