As EU sustainability regulations tighten, companies face a dual challenge: reducing their actual carbon footprint and rigorously proving this progress. In 2026, the era of generic green claims is over. The entry into force and enforcement of the Green Claims Directive obliges organizations to provide concrete, verifiable, and audited data for any sustainability-related statement.
While most ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategies focus on the supply chain or physical waste management, IT infrastructure remains a major source of invisible emissions. From on-premises servers and data centers to fleets of professional displays, laptops, and printing equipment, the IT department can generate between 2% and 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions—a figure comparable to that of the aviation industry.
In this practical guide, we analyze how companies can accurately measure the carbon footprint of their technology infrastructure and what concrete steps can be implemented to achieve true IT decarbonization.
What is the green claims directive and why does it affect the IT department?
According to the European Commission on Environmental Policy and Green Claims, the new directive aims to combat greenwashing (environmental misinformation). It establishes that any claim regarding a product or service being "green," "carbon neutral," or "eco-friendly" must be backed by recognized scientific methodologies, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
For an IT department or a CFO reporting ESG metrics, this means it is no longer enough to claim that you use "green cloud" or "efficient equipment." Precise data on energy consumption (kWh) and an accurate calculation of 
equivalent (
) emissions are required.
How is the carbon footprint of IT Infrastructure calculated?
Measuring technology-generated emissions relies on the GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) international standard, broken down into three major scopes:
|
Emission Scope |
Source in IT Infrastructure |
Measurement Method / Impact |
|
Scope 1 (Direct) |
Backup diesel generators for servers, refrigerants in data center cooling systems. |
Direct fuel consumption and refrigerant gas leakage. |
|
Scope 2 (Indirect - Energy) |
Grid electricity consumption of servers, PCs, AV displays, and printing equipment. |
Measured in kWh and converted to |
|
Scope 3 (Indirect - Value Chain) |
Embodied carbon from hardware manufacturing, transport, and recycling, as well as third-party cloud. |
Often represents over 70% of a company's total IT footprint. |
Calculating IT emissions requires auditing not only active plug consumption, but also data center energy efficiency metrics, known as Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
3 concrete strategies for IT decarbonization in your company
1. Print fleet optimization and transition to Managed Print Services (MPS)
Legacy or unoptimized printing equipment is a major consumer of energy and supplies. By implementing modern Managed Print Services solutions, companies achieve:
- Energy consumption reduction: transitioning to modern equipment featuring advanced energy-saving modes (Auto-Sleep) and eco-friendly printing technologies.
- Digitalization and e-Archiving: implementing Document Management solutions reduces unnecessary paper printing, directly impacting Scope 3 emissions.
2. Server consolidation and smart cloud migration
Hosting applications on underutilized physical servers ("zombie servers") generates massive energy consumption for powering and cooling.
- Migrating workloads to modern or hyperscale cloud data centers enables significantly higher PUE efficiency (close to 1.1–1.2, compared to 1.8–2.0 in traditional server rooms).
- Infrastructure consolidation exponentially reduces Scope 2 energy consumption.
3. Hardware lifecycle management (Circular IT)
The embodied carbon footprint of manufacturing a laptop or server accounts for the majority of the emissions that equipment will ever generate.
- Extending the lifespan of IT equipment from 3 to 5 years reduces annual Scope 3 carbon footprint by up to 30%.
- Implementing extended warranty policies, buyback, refurbishment, and responsible recycling eliminates electronic waste (e-waste).
IT decarbonization is not only a regulatory obligation, but also a major cost-optimization opportunity. Accurately measuring consumption and selecting technology partners that prioritize sustainability gives your company a clear competitive edge in an increasingly responsibility-driven market.
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