The case of Korea

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have drawn attention recently as a solution to reinforce environmental protection, reduce the impact created in the environment by human activities, and address key environmental challenges such as climate change. The possible uses of ICT to promote environmental sustainability can be grouped into two types of applications which could be defined as ‘Greening of ICTs’ and ‘Greening through ICTs’. ‘Greening of ICT’ here refers to the reduction of carbon intensity of the ICT sector itself, while ‘Greening through ICT’ indicates the de-carbonization that can be achieved in other sectors by implementing ICT services. Considering that the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by the ICT sector represent about 2-3% of global emissions, it can be affirmed that ‘Greening through ICT’ may have greater effects on the environment since its positive effects can be applied to the overall global GHG emission potentially with much greater degree than ICT’s own footprint. (The rest omitted)