Global e-Sustainability Initiative

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) brings together around 35 companies from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, with the aim to contribute to achieving integrated social and environmental sustainability through the use of ICTs.

GeSI works to identify opportunities and develop solutions for improving energy and resource efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and footprints, ensuring sustainable practices in the supply chain, encouraging access to sustainable technologies, and supporting ICT-enabled transformation across all industries and sectors around the globe. GeSI partners include UN agencies (such as the International Telecommunication Union and the Climate Technology Centre and Network), industry associations (such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Green Building Council, and research organisations (such as the Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production and the Carbon Trust).

The association undertakes projects and carries on research on existing and emerging issues in the area of ICT and sustainability. Examples include: the SMARTer2030 Report on how ICT can enable the transition to a low-carbon economy while improving people’s quality of life and creating growth opportunities; the development of a sustainability assessment framework for evaluating the overall sustainability of ICT products and services; and ongoing work on the fundamental contribution that ICT can provide to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Finally, the GeSIHuman Rights Committee works with stakeholders in the area to assess and address the impact of ICT on human rights (for instance on topics such as freedom of expression and privacy).