Decarbonising the Cloud

The cloud has become the backbone of the modern digital economy, powering everything from global business operations to AI-driven innovations. Yet, this growing reliance on cloud services comes with a significant environmental cost. Data centres—critical for cloud operations—consume enormous energy and resources, contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resource depletion.

Decarbonising the cloud is a pressing need, and Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) offer a powerful framework to identify and mitigate its environmental impact. By linking the decarbonisation of the cloud to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, organisations can adopt a structured approach to sustainability while driving meaningful change on a global scale.

LCAs: A Framework for Cloud Sustainability

LCAs are comprehensive evaluations of the environmental impact of a product, service, or system across its entire lifecycle. For the cloud, this includes:

1. Raw Material Extraction: Assessing the resources used in server and hardware manufacturing.

2. Manufacturing: Measuring emissions and energy consumption during production.

3. Operations: Quantifying energy use and associated GHG emissions during the cloud’s operational phase.

4. End-of-Life Management: Evaluating disposal, recycling, or repurposing of outdated hardware.

This end-to-end analysis empowers organisations to pinpoint environmental hotspots and take actionable steps to decarbonise their cloud operations.

Aligning LCAs with the SDGs

The decarbonisation of the cloud aligns directly with several SDGs, including:

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

• Target 7.2: Increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
  LCAs encourage cloud providers to transition to renewable energy sources for their operations.

• Target 7.3: Doubling the global rate of energy efficiency improvement.
  Through LCAs, organisations identify energy-intensive operations and adopt efficient cooling technologies and infrastructure upgrades.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

• Target 9.4: Upgrading infrastructure for sustainability and resource efficiency.
  LCAs drive innovation in cloud hardware, promoting modular designs and sustainable materials.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• Target 12.2: Achieving sustainable management of natural resources.
  LCAs help optimise resource use, reducing dependency on finite materials in cloud infrastructure.

• Target 12.5: Substantially reducing waste through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse.
  LCAs highlight opportunities to minimise electronic waste from cloud hardware.

SDG 13: Climate Action

• Target 13.2: Integrating climate measures into strategies and policies.
  LCAs provide actionable data for cloud providers to implement climate-conscious strategies, enabling emissions reductions.

Connecting LCAs to GRI Standards

Integrating GRI disclosures with LCA insights allows organisations to effectively report on and improve their sustainability efforts. Key GRI standards relevant to decarbonising the cloud include:

GRI 302: Energy

• Disclosure 302-1: Measuring total energy consumption within cloud operations.

• Disclosure 302-4: Highlighting reductions in energy consumption achieved through efficiency upgrades.

GRI 305: Emissions

• Disclosure 305-1: Direct (Scope 1) emissions from on-site operations.

• Disclosure 305-2: Energy indirect (Scope 2) emissions from electricity consumption.

• Disclosure 305-3: Other indirect (Scope 3) emissions, including supply chain impacts.

• Disclosure 305-5: Demonstrating reductions in GHG emissions through targeted interventions.

GRI 306: Waste

• Disclosure 306-2: Managing significant waste impacts, such as e-waste from outdated servers.

GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment

• Disclosure 308-1: Evaluating suppliers using environmental criteria.
  LCAs encourage cloud providers to select sustainable suppliers for hardware and services.

GRI 301: Materials

• Disclosure 301-1: Reporting on materials used by weight or volume.
  LCAs promote transparency around the sourcing and use of raw materials in cloud infrastructure.

Challenges and Opportunities in Linking LCAs, SDGs, and GRI Standards

While the benefits of integrating LCAs, SDGs, and GRI standards are clear, challenges remain:

• Data Gaps: Comprehensive LCAs require detailed data on energy use, supply chains, and waste management, which may not always be readily available.

• Standardisation: Consistent methodologies are needed for LCAs across the tech sector to ensure comparability.

• Resource Intensity: Conducting LCAs and reporting against GRI standards can be time-consuming and require significant expertise.

However, these challenges also present opportunities for collaboration. Governments, cloud providers, and third-party organisations can work together to develop standardised frameworks and share best practices.

Adopting the GRI Standards Makes Business Sense

Decarbonising the cloud is essential for meeting global climate goals, and LCAs provide a roadmap for achieving this transformation. By linking these assessments to the SDGs, cloud providers can align their efforts with broader global priorities. Incorporating GRI standards further ensures transparency, accountability, and stakeholder trust.

Organisations that embrace LCAs not only reduce their environmental footprint but also position themselves as leaders in sustainable innovation. By leveraging LCAs, SDGs, and GRI disclosures together, we can achieve a cloud infrastructure that is both powerful and sustainable—propelling us toward a greener digital future.

About the Author Section

Omar Hadjel, MCIM, GRI Certified Sustainability Professional
Omar is a marketing consultant, bid support specialist, and sustainability adviser with a passion for helping organisations achieve their social, economic, and environmental goals. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a GRI-certified professional, Omar brings a wealth of experience in integrating sustainability into business strategies. He is particularly focused on aligning organisational efforts with global standards like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and GRI disclosures. Omar's expertise spans public sector procurement, sustainability reporting, and innovative strategies for decarbonisation. Through his thought leadership, Omar seeks to inspire actionable change for a greener, more sustainable future.