Sun. Feb 9th, 2025

Brussels, 2 December 2024

  • Opening: 02 December 2024
  • Closing: 27 January 2025

The Commission launches a call for tenders to develop a methodology and assess the net climate impact of digital infrastructures.

The twinning of the green and digital twin transitions is a political priority of the EU. It is not only about minimising the environmental footprint of the ICT sector, but more importantly, about the synergy of these two megatrends. This synergy holds great potential to accelerate the climate action and environmental protection, while catering for economic and social aspects.

Recently the European Green Digital Coalition developed Net Carbon Assessment Methodology for specific ICT solutions such as smart grids, connected mobility, precision farming, that are deployed in energy, transport, construction, agriculture and manufacturing sectors and in smart cities settings. What became clear is that ICT solutions can contribute to greenhouse gases emission reduction that is larger than its carbon footprint if properly used and governed. This has also been the understanding of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCCC) report of 2022 that recognised the potential of ICT solutions to reduce emissions, if properly governed.

This European Green Digital Coalition methodology can be used to estimate the Net Carbon impact of a given solution but not a net carbon impact of a digital infrastructure in a given geographical region or in a given context of use.

The objective of the call is to develop a method to assess the net climate impact of digital infrastructures in a given setting. Digital infrastructures include physical and software-based components needed to deliver digital goods, products and services such as digital networks, data centres, cloud and edge services, platforms, including AI platforms, Internet of Things components, devices and many others. Many governments as well as financial institutions and private investors, are interested to use climate (green, sustainable) finance instruments to invest in digital infrastructures.

In the case of digital networks and data centres it can also be calculated at a telecom provider (company) level. The duration of the tasks envisaged in this tender may not exceed 12 months.

Economic operators interested in this call are invited to submit a tender via the electronic submission system (e-Submission) available from the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Call deadline: 27/01/2025 16h00 CET.

Call for tender reference: EC-CNECT/2024/OP/0071

Source – EU Commission

 

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