Anna Fountain explains why the input of so many contributors from across departments is so fundamental to producing the Government’s annual health check of ICT sustainability.
If you've ever wrestled with spreadsheets, chased down asset numbers, questioned whether a device should sit in one category or another, or spent time tracking down supplier data, then you may have contributed to this year’s Greening Government ICT Annual Report 2024–25.
The publication of the annual report marks another important milestone in government's journey towards more sustainable digital and technology services. Behind every figure in the report is a huge amount of work from colleagues across government who collect, validate and submit the data that makes reporting possible.
So, before we continue, we'd like to start a thank you to those colleagues who contributed.
One of the things that makes the Greening Government ICT reporting process unique is the scale of collaboration involved. Teams from across government, including sustainability specialists, asset managers and suppliers all play a part in helping us understand the environmental impact of government ICT.
The annual report provides an important evidence base for understanding where we're making progress and where further work is needed and data gaps remain. But it can only do that because colleagues across government invest the time to gather the underlying information.
Whilst there are still significant improvements to be made, the quality of our reporting continues to improve year on year, giving us greater confidence in the data and better insight into the environmental impact of our technology estates across hosting and hardware.
Progress on digital sustainability performanceThis report covers the digital sustainability performance of every UK Government department over the 2024–25 financial year and highlights the impact UK Government’s IT estate has. For example, we generated nearly 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2024-5. Similarly, UK Government was responsible for over 950 tonnes of IT waste (and has over 900,00 laptops in its estate). This shows we have a big opportunity to embed circularity and minimise waste, delivering cost savings & using taxpayer money responsibly.
It’s encouraging that the report shows that emissions and e-waste from UK Government’s IT estate reduced in 2024-5, and that we continued to meet our target of sending less than 1% of e-waste to landfill. The progress shown in this report should give us confidence to continue innovating and working across departments and supply chains to deliver a more sustainable IT estate for UK Government
Sustainability isn't just a reporting exerciseIt's easy to see the annual return as a once-a-year activity, but the report demonstrates something much broader: sustainability is increasingly becoming part of how government designs, delivers and manages digital services.
Every decision matters.
Whether it's extending the life of an end-user device, consolidating infrastructure, embedding GreenOps into cloud design, or ensuring equipment is reused before recycling, small actions taken across thousands of assets can have a significant impact.
The report shows that departments continue to make progress while managing growing demand for digital services and technology. As government becomes increasingly digital, continuing to understand and manage the environmental impact of ICT will remain essential.
Improving the numbers behind the numbersThis year's report also reflects continued improvements in the way we estimate and report emissions and energy consumption.
We would like to acknowledge the contribution of GDSA members, Ewen Anderson, Anthony Levy & Mark Butcher, who have provided invaluable support in improving our underlying estimations of Scope 3 embodied carbon and energy consumption calculations. These are complex areas where data availability and methodology continue to evolve, and the expertise shared across the community has played an important role in helping improve the quality and consistency of reporting.
A growing sustainability communityOne of the most encouraging aspects of recent years has been the growth of the digital sustainability community across government and the public sector.
What started as a relatively small group of specialists has developed into a network of practitioners who are actively sharing ideas, lessons learned and good practice. Through forums such as the GDSA, colleagues are helping one another tackle common challenges, improve data quality and identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact.
That collaboration is essential. No single team or organisation has all the answers, but together we are building a stronger evidence base and a more mature approach to sustainable ICT.
Looking aheadThe insights contained within the report helps shape our strategy and guides individual departments understand the environmental impacts associated with their ICT estates.
We have been working across government and with industry and academia to develop a new UK Government Digital Sustainability Strategy to set out our priorities over the next few years to deliver:
Improved environmental and social outcomes from UK government ICT Reduced waste and improved circularity across UK government IT Improved efficiency across UK government’s digital services Enhanced resilience of UK governments ICT infrastructure and digital services Supporting British businesses, growth and innovationThe publication of the annual report is not the end of the process, it's an opportunity to learn, improve and build momentum. By using these insights to inform decision-making, drive collaboration and identify opportunities for improvement, we can continue to deliver meaningful change and ensure that government ICT supports environmental objectives, wider economic and social outcomes, and the efficient use of taxpayers’ money through more sustainable, resilient and cost-effective digital services.
More informationAnna Fountain is the reporting lead in Defra’s Digital Sustainability Team.
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seen at 09:31, 4 August in UK Government Sustainable ICT.