UK government boots up sustainable ICT strategy with new net zero obligation for suppliers

The UK published a policy paper titled Greening government: ICT and digital services strategy 2020-2025, which outlines the endeavours of the government to achieve the UN sustainable development goals (SGDs) and its national climate targets. The strategy focuses on how the government is planning to reduce the environmental impact of its digital activities over the next five years while ensuring that all its information and communication technology (ICT) suppliers have credible net zero emissions strategies in place, with a special focus on reduced carbon and costs, as well as increased resilience, responsibility, transparency, and accountability. ‘ICT and digital services are increasingly held up as a key component of any solution to the global climate crisis and associated targets and goals. These include the UK government’s commitment to net zero carbon by 2050, the Greening Government Commitments 2020-2025, The UN sustainable development goals and the 25 Year Environment Plan’, noted Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Chief Digital Information Officer Chris Howes.