How Does Climate Tech Compliance Address The Rising Climate Changes?

In 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement, an international treaty aimed at combating climate change by limiting global warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Paris Agreement focuses on reducing carbon emissions, promoting renewable energy, and making climate tech regulation and compliance a global priority.

Climate tech compliance is a sustainable way to combat the effects of climate change. Recently, the Climate Change Committee recommended that the UK sets a new emissions target to become Net Zero in greenhouse gases by 2050. This initiative falls within the scope of the Paris Agreement and contributes to reducing global warming.

The UK’s IT sector is also one of the main industries working towards achieving the Net Zero goal.

How Have IT Companies Catalysed Carbon Emissions?

Increase In IT Data Centres

IT companies leave carbon footprints through the proliferation of data centres, the development of hardware and software, the generation of e-waste and the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the production of technology.

These factors contribute to significant carbon emissions that directly disrupt Earth’s radiative equilibrium and affect other environmental cycles, such as increasing ocean temperatures, deforestation, and disturbed precipitation.

They require vast amounts of energy to run, and this energy mainly originates from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. By 2030, their energy consumption is expected to be triple in amount.

IT Shipping Operations

The transport of hardware and electronic equipment ( IT ), which includes global supply chains and long-distance transport, is one of the main contributors to the increased carbon footprint of the IT sector.

Shipping operations include the sourcing of materials from different countries, energy-intensive manufacturing and global distribution of products. Thus, emissions from transport, including cargo ships, planes and trucks, together with packaging waste, contribute to the sector’s carbon footprint.

Inefficient Software Engineering

Inefficient software designs and coding can lead to energy-intensive operations and excessive resource consumption, which in turn increases energy demand and carbon emissions from data centres and servers.

For example, poorly optimised blockchain/ Web3 algorithms and inefficient code can cause unnecessary computational load and longer processing times, requiring more energy to perform transactions. This contributes to higher energy consumption and carbon emissions.

IT Industry’s Climate Tech Compliance: Initiatives & Frameworks

Climate Tech compliance can help IT companies reduce their carbon footprint and play a critical role in sustainable tech innovation.

Notable Initiatives For Climate Tech

Currently, the IT industry is working towards standardised carbon calculation methods. It is also initiating incentives for employees to reduce their carbon footprints by implementing green payment programs. Green payment programs are rewards to employees for their contributions to cut on their carbon footprints.

For instance, Gedling Borough Council’s Green Rewards program encourages residents to adopt sustainable behaviours by offering incentives such as discounts and vouchers. You get these rewards for engaging in activities like cycling, walking, recycling, and volunteering in environmental projects.

As stated by United Nations Climate Change, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are also essential instruments to reduce carbon emissions. In NDC, countries work together to reduce their carbon emissions and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Companies like Youtility have created a carbon emissions calculator to help businesses measure and manage their carbon footprints, aiding in decarbonisation. They also provide energy monitoring software to identify areas where energy efficiency can be improved.

Carbon offsets are crucial to decarbonisation and are supported by Youtility. They compensate for carbon emissions by supporting projects that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, including tree planting and funding renewable energy infrastructures. Carbon offsets help individuals or organizations offset their carbon footprint.

Climate Tech Compliance Framework

To address the challenges of climate change, IT companies can adopt a climate tech compliance strategy. For instance, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) represent the commitment of each country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Carbon Disclosure Projects (CDP) is a global platform encouraging organisations to disclose their environmental impacts, such as GHG emissions, water usage, and deforestation risks. The platform also provides a scoring system that enables organisations to evaluate their environmental performance against peers.

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) offers a science-based approach to establishing emissions reduction targets that align with the Paris Agreement’s goals. It enables organisations to achieve emission reduction targets based on the latest climate science.

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) is a global ecolabel that assists organisations in selecting sustainable electronics based on environmental performance criteria, such as energy efficiency, product life cycle, and recyclability.

By adhering to these Climate Tech compliance frameworks, IT companies can effectively minimise their environmental impact and contribute to combating the havoc of climate change.

Climate Tech Compliance For IT: Road Ahead

Considering that climate change needs our prime attention, we will see more robust regulations around climate tech in future. These regulations may include companies’ reports on carbon emissions, adopting sustainable practices, and investing in clean energy technologies.

To comply with these regulations, global IT companies should integrate sustainable practices like transitioning to renewable energy sources, implementing circular economy principles to reduce waste, and investing in carbon capture and storage technologies.

By embracing sustainability as a core value and aligning their business strategies to address climate change, global IT companies can play a critical role in creating a more equitable future for all.

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