Global digital companies are under mounting scrutiny as their emissions continue to rise despite progress in climate reporting and renewable electricity adoption.

Findings contained in ‘The Greening Digital Companies: Monitoring Emissions and Climate Commitments 2026 report’, released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), showed a sobering picture of the sector’s climate performance.

The study, now in its fifth edition, assessed 200 digital companies worldwide using publicly disclosed data from the 2024 reporting year. It tracked greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption, climate targets, renewable energy use, and, for the first time, climate transition planning.

The findings highlighted both the promise and peril of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), which is simultaneously enabling efficiency gains and driving unprecedented energy demand.

Accordingly, in 2024, digital companies reported 301 million tonnes of operational emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent. This figure represented 0.8 per cent of global energy-related emissions and marked a 1.2 per cent increase compared to 2023. For companies that disclosed value-chain emissions, these dominated their carbon footprint, accounting for 76 per cent of total emissions. This, according to ITU, underscores the sector’s challenges in managing supply chains, manufacturing, and product use.

Electricity consumption is equally striking, according to the report. It disclosed that a total of 494 terawatt-hours (TWh) was consumed by 163 companies in 2024, equivalent to 1.7 per cent of global electricity consumption. More than half of this consumption was concentrated in just 10 companies, surpassing the yearly electricity use of some countries.

While digital companies remained among the world’s largest corporate purchasers of renewable electricity, progress is uneven. Only 25 of the 200 companies assessed reported sourcing 100 per cent renewable electricity, highlighting a gap between ambition and implementation.

The report found that 151 companies (76 per cent) submitted near-term reduction targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions. However, only 114 targets were validated by science-based frameworks, and just 85 are currently on track. This raises concerns about the credibility and effectiveness of corporate climate pledges.

Equally troubling, according to the report, is the lack of comprehensive transition planning. Only 81 companies (41 per cent) demonstrated robust climate transition plans that included strategic ambition, implementation strategies, clear metrics, and governance. Without such plans, the sector risks falling short of the economic, social, and energy transitions required to meet global climate goals.

Further, the report revealed that Artificial intelligence emerged as a defining factor. Operational emissions from four major AI and cloud providers soared, reaching up to 239 per cent of their 2020 levels. This surge was driven by the rapid expansion of infrastructure and skyrocketing energy demand. By contrast, 14 large telecom operators managed to reduce their emissions by 11 per cent over the same period.

AI is recognised as a powerful tool for climate action, supporting energy optimisation, renewable forecasting, and efficiency gains. Yet its environmental costs cannot be ignored. “While digital technologies offer immense potential for climate action, their rising energy demands and emissions cannot be overlooked,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin.

Executive Director of the World Benchmarking Alliance, Gerbrand Haverkamp, emphasised the need for companies to address emissions across their supply chains: “The electronics sector, which provides many inputs underpinning digital infrastructure, accounts for 53 per cent of reported emissions across all three subsectors.”

The report identified priority actions for the sector. They are strengthening climate reporting, reducing Scope 3 emissions, improving climate transition planning, and aligning AI and digital infrastructure expansion with clean energy development.

Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, stressed the urgency of moving from pledges to practice: “Realising that potential means turning climate commitments into implementation, cutting emissions, strengthening collaboration among various sector actors and ensuring that digital growth, including AI, advances alongside clean energy development.”

ITU said it continued to support this work through initiatives such as its Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators, which is developing harmonised national-level indicators for tech-related GHG emissions and energy use.