The Netherlands leading in sustainable digital – position paper published

The National Coalition for Sustainable Digitalization (NCSD) published the position paper "Netherlands leader in sustainable digitalization" last week. The position paper outlines how the environmental impact of and by digitalization can be reduced. It was launched during the ECP Annual Festival on Wednesday, 15th November 2023, and was presented to the King.

The position paper, among other sources, draws on research findings by Dialogic on the contribution of the Dutch digital sector to CO₂ emissions, both current and future. The research estimates the total CO₂ emissions of the digital sector and then examines how this could develop in the future based on scenarios related to the growth of digital services on one hand and advancements in digital technology efficiency (the 'Moore's Law') on the other.

In parallel, SEO investigated within the same research project the potential contribution that the digital sector could make to sustainability. This research project was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The results were presented on 29th September at the ABN AMRO headquarters during the event "Perspectives on the environmental impact of the digital system" by the NCSD. The research reports have not been published at the time of writing - please keep an eye on our website for updates.