ICT for Sustainable Development: Assessing the Carbon Footprint of National Communication Networks

Information and communication technology (ICT) is widely promoted as an enabler of low-carbon development, yet the networks that deliver connectivity are themselves a growing source of electricity consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Global estimates place the ICT sector's life-cycle carbon footprint at roughly 1.5-4% of worldwide emissions, but country-level evidence remains sparse: only a small number of national telecommunications regulators or operators publish emissions data with sufficient granularity to support policy decisions. This gap is particularly acute for developing and emerging economies, where network densification, generation upgrades (2G to 5G), and continued reliance on diesel back-up power at off-grid sites can move national ICT footprints in directions not captured by global averages. This paper addresses that gap by proposing a tiered, bottom-up methodological framework for assessing the carbon footprint of a national communication network, combining network inventory data, segment-level energy modelling, national grid emission factors, and equipment life-cycle data, in line with ITU-T Recommendations L.1410, L.1420, and L.1450. The paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on ICT energy and emissions, develops a mathematical formulation for use-stage and embodied emissions and a companion scenario module for renewable-energy and efficiency pathways to 2030, and presents an illustrative application demonstrating the framework's outputs using synthetic, clearly labelled data rather than measured results, since no primary national dataset was available for this study. The discussion interprets what such a framework can and cannot show, situates the results relative to international benchmarks, and considers governance, data-availability, and equity implications for policymakers and regulators. The paper concludes that a standardised, transparent, tier-based national assessment methodology is a necessary precondition for evidence-based ICT decarbonisation policy, and it sets out a concrete agenda—centred on regulator-mandated disclosure, primary energy metering, and cross-country validation—for turning the proposed framework into an empirically grounded research programme.