Quantifying the Carbon Neutrality Impact of ICT Solutions: Insights from South Korean Telecommunication Operators

Quantifying the Carbon Neutrality Impact of ICT Solutions: Insights from South Korean Telecommunication Operators

The international community is increasingly strengthening carbon emission regulations to achieve the 2050 carbon neutrality goal. In this context, telecommunication companies are also expected to face inevitable economic costs due to carbon emissions trading. While telecommunication companies contribute to indirect carbon reductions by providing ICT solutions that lower emissions in various sectors, current carbon regulations do not account for these contributions. We study quantitatively measures the contributions of telecommunication companies to carbon reduction in South Korea and proposes a framework to calculate their net carbon emissions. The quantification of avoided emissions revealed that annual avoided emissions enabled by ICT solutions across various industries amount to approximately 23.8 million MtCO2e, which is about 2.8 times higher than the combined emissions of South Korea's three major telecommunication companies. We aim to re-evaluate the contributions of telecommunication companies to carbon reduction and suggest a desirable direction for improving future carbon-related regulations.