Draft BEREC Report on Sustainability Indicators for Electronic Communications Networks and Services

The protection of the environment is higher than ever on the agenda of European and global public decision makers. In line with its Strategy 2021-2025, BEREC committed itself to contribute to the ‘twin’ green and digital transition by supporting the ICT-related parts of the European Green Deal and international environmental targets. In June 2022, BEREC published a first report on sustainability “Assessing BEREC's contribution to limiting the impact of the digital sector on the environment”.1 One of the toughest challenges identified by this report was the lack of available data, as well as the need to adopt a harmonized approach to methodologies and standards for assessing the environmental impact of digital technologies. BEREC is committed to addressing these challenges, taking part in processes on implementing a common and harmonized assessment methodology and transparency measures regarding the environmental footprint of electronic communications networks and services (ECN/ECS) in the European Union (EU). Hence, BEREC decided to include in its Work Programmes 2022 and 2023 a new workstream elaborating on sustainability indicators for ECN/ECS.

BEREC based its work on sustainability the existing EU regulations and initiatives that are detailed in the present report as well as on active dialogue with other relevant bodies engaged in this topic. The report provides a summary of main findings from a call-for-input lead by BEREC in 2022 through two questionnaires and a series of workshops with stakeholders to establish an overview of sustainability indicators currently used and perceived as relevant for assessing the environmental footprint and performance of the electronic communications sector. It also presents a preliminary assessment of main challenges and learnings regarding sustainability indicators for ECN/ECS.