Assessing environmental impacts of digitalization: A special issue

Digital technologies have been transforming societies for decades (Lange et al., 2023), with published studies on their environmental impacts dating back to the early 2000s (e.g., Berkhout & Hertin, 2001; Fichter, 2002; Koomey, 2000). The public launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 and the subsequent rise of generative AI has sparked widespread interest in the environmental impacts of AI and wider information and communications technology (ICT) sector (Luers et al., 2024). For example, half of all assessments of data center energy use over the past decade have been published since January 2024 (Kamiya & Coroamă, 2025).

Digital technologies are used across economies and societies and result in wide-ranging environmental impacts. These impacts are typically classified into three types or “orders”: first order (direct), second order (indirect), and higher order (structural and behavioral) (Berkhout & Hertin, 2004; Hilty & Aebischer, 2015). Direct impacts describe the (always detrimental) environmental impacts from raw material extraction, production, use, and waste management of ICT devices and equipment. Indirect effects—which can be both detrimental or beneficial—arise from the use and implementation of digital technologies. Higher-order indirect effects can also be both positive and negative, and include changes to production and consumption patterns, various types of rebound effects, as well as learning and induction effects (Börjesson Rivera et al., 2014). Assessing each type of effect requires different data and methodologies.

Digital technologies and their applications are evolving quickly, making it increasingly challenging to conduct robust environmental assessments on their widespread uses and impacts. A major challenge is the lack of data as well as a lack of established methodologies, particularly when assessing indirect effects (Bergmark et al., 2020; Bremer et al., 2023; Coroama et al., 2020; Masanet et al., 2024). Digital technologies are deeply integrated and applied across many sectors, raising challenges in defining system boundaries and allocation of environmental impacts to specific technologies or services.

This special issue invited papers addressing either direct or indirect environmental impacts of specific or aggregated digital technologies as well as the environmental impact of digitalization at the application, network, sectoral, or macro level. The call for papers specifically welcomed studies addressing methodological challenges and advances in the assessment of environmental impact of the digital economy.

Table 1 provides an overview of the nine articles included in this special issue, which include methodological papers, case studies, a bibliometric analysis, and a book review. The articles consider both direct and indirect effects, and a range of environmental impact types.

The papers in this special issue make valuable contributions to the growing literature of environmental impacts of ICT. Further developing and advancing this field of research is critical to keep pace with the spread and impact of digitalization. This compilation indicates trends in the literature, but also some gaps.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.