Green IT: Sustainable digital transformation

The growth of generative AI, data centres and digital infrastructure offers enormous opportunities for innovation, efficiency and competitiveness. At the same time, the environmental impact of these technologies is rising rapidly, particularly due to the increasing energy and resource consumption of data centres and AI models. Green IT — the pursuit of sustainable, energy‑efficient and socially responsible use of information technology — is therefore a strategic priority for organisations that want to remain future‑proof.

Environmental impact of AI and digital infrastructure 

According to the Generative AI Outlook Report 2025 by the European Commission, the growth of AI is leading to a significant increase in energy consumption, water usage and resource extraction. In 2022, data centres in the EU consumed an estimated 45–65 TWh of electricity (1.8–2.6% of total EU consumption), and this share is growing rapidly due to the demand for computing power for AI training and applications. Water consumption and e‑waste production are also on the rise.

Regulation and societal expectations 

The EU is leading the way globally with regulations such as the AI Act and the Energy Efficiency Directive. These set requirements for transparency, energy consumption and sustainability of AI systems and data centres. Organisations are expected to make their IT landscape more sustainable — not only for compliance reasons, but also due to increasing expectations from stakeholders, customers and investors.

Strategic opportunities and risks 

Green IT offers opportunities for cost savings (through lower energy and cooling costs), reputation enhancement and risk management. At the same time, there are risks: insufficient attention to sustainability can lead to higher operating costs, reputational damage and even exclusion from markets or financing. Investing in Green IT is therefore not only an ethical choice, but also a prerequisite for continuity and competitiveness.

Recommendations for boards and management

• Integrate sustainability into your IT strategy: Make sustainability an explicit part of your IT and data strategy. Set targets for energy consumption, CO₂ reduction and circular use of hardware.
• Monitor and report: Measure the energy and water consumption of data centres and cloud applications. Report on this in your annual report and ESG disclosures.
• Invest in innovation: Consider energy‑efficient hardware, edge computing and AI models that require less computing power. Encourage the use of open source and participation in European initiatives for sustainable data infrastructures.
• Awareness and training: Ensure that employees, IT teams and management are aware of the environmental impact of digital technology and foster a culture of responsible use.
• Collaboration across the value chain: Work with suppliers and partners to make the entire digital value chain more sustainable, for example by setting requirements for green cloud and data centre services.

Green IT is not a side issue, but a strategic theme that directly affects the licence to operate of organisations. By investing in sustainable IT, you not only comply with regulations, but also contribute to a future‑proof, innovative and socially responsible business model.

Forvis Mazars plays a signalling and advisory role in this area, highlighting both risks and opportunities around Green IT and sustainability in digital transformation. Would you like to learn more? The specialists from IT Audit & Advisory would be happy to discuss this with you.