Sustainability & AI
GHG Protocol ICT Sector Guidance
Established 2017 guidance for assessing life-cycle emissions of ICT products and services, subject to newer GHG Protocol standards and updates.
Definition
Sector-specific guidance, developed with GeSI, applying the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Product Life Cycle Standard to ICT products and services.
Quick reference
At a glance
- Subject
- Sustainability & AI
- Editorial status
- Editorial draft
- Definition status
- Established
- Last updated
- 21 August 2026
References
This source provides part of the technical or institutional basis for the definition.
This source supports the explanation of how the term is applied, measured or governed in practice.
Overview
What it means
The 2017 guidance, developed with GeSI and the Carbon Trust, applies the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Standard to ICT products and services. It remains a useful established reference for boundary setting, shared-infrastructure allocation and use-stage electricity, but GHG Protocol warns that older sector guidance should not automatically be assumed to conform to standards updated later.
How it is used
Companies use it to calculate product and service footprints, compare procurement options and report scope 3 emissions for digital services. As AI workloads grow within ICT services, allocation questions — which customer, which model, which share of infrastructure — become increasingly material.
Why it matters
AI footprint estimates inherit many conventions from ICT accounting, so this guidance remains useful context. It should be treated as an established reference—not automatically as the definitive current rulebook—and checked against the latest applicable GHG Protocol standards.
Current status
Published in 2017. Use alongside the latest applicable GHG Protocol standards and update notices.
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