Greening Digital in Korea: Korea Case Study for Greening the ICT Sector

Publication:
Greening Digital in Korea: Korea Case Study for Greening the ICT Sector

dc.contributor.author	World Bank
dc.date.accessioned	2022-06-15T17:52:31Z
dc.date.available	2022-06-15T17:52:31Z
dc.date.issued	2022-02
dc.description.abstract	Digital technologies are making a significant impact on societies, economies, and the physical world, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the green agenda. Applications of these technologies in sectors such as energy, urban, transport, and agriculture are creating new possibilities for climate change mitigation strategies. However, the rapid expansion of digital technologies increases energy usage too, and is therefore also increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In seeking to address these challenges, the World Bank’s Digital Development Global Practice (DD) will publish a flagship report on Digital Development Opportunities for Climate Change, which will assess opportunities for greening with information communication technology (ICT), as well as opportunities for greening the ICT sector itself. To inspire and inform this flagship report, DD studied Korea’s experience in greening its ICT sector, with support from the Korean Green Growth Trust Fund. The Republic of Korea was selected for the case study due to its experience in both the digital and green sectors, and its status as a globally recognized ICT powerhouse. The country was also an early adopter of a green policy agenda, and is integrating DNA (data, network, and AI) into these policies. The government announced a national policy vision of “Low Carbon, Green Growth” in 2008 and has taken concrete steps to build a solid foundation for the green transition, through legislation, standardization, information-based instruments, economic instruments, research and development (R&D), and green procurement. More recently, the country has been aligning its green ICT strategy with the broader national GHG reduction target. Korea's experience can offer meaningful lessons to other countries looking to reduce the ICT sector’s climate impact. It shows that public policies have an important impact on the ICT market. The policy tools that can spur decarbonization of the ICT sector include green government procurement, information-based instruments, economic instruments, and provision of guidelines on green business practices. Keys to success in applying such tools include strong and early political commitment; long-term planning and comprehensive policies; prioritization; research and development (R&D) and investment; and a governance structure that allows a whole-of-government approach. Additionally, Korea’s experience shows that renewable energy will play an increasingly important role in reducing GHG emissions from the energy-intensive ICT industry. Korea’s experience also underscores the fact that more evidence and analysis are needed to measure and determine the effectiveness of policy and regulatory pathways for greening the ICT sector.	en
dc.identifier	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/152001645712665901/Greening-Digital-in-Korea-Korea-Case-Study-for-Greening-the-ICT-Sector
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/37554
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/37554
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Korea Office Innovation and Technology Note;6
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subject	INCREASE ENERGY EFFICIENCY
dc.subject	ICT SECTOR GHG EMISSION ESTIMATES
dc.subject	GREEN AGENDA
dc.subject	CARBON NEUTRALITY
dc.subject	CLIMATE IMPACT OF ICT
dc.subject	GREEN GROWTH
dc.subject	EMISSION TRADING SYSTEM
dc.subject	ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY TOOL
dc.subject	CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
dc.subject	GREEN PROCUREMENT
dc.subject	CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION STRATEGIES
dc.subject	GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS
dc.subject	DNA (DATE NETWORK AND AI) POLICIES
dc.subject	ICT TAXONOMY
dc.title	Greening Digital in Korea	en
dc.title.subtitle	Korea Case Study for Greening the ICT Sector	en
dc.type	Working Paper	en
dc.type	Document de travail	fr
dc.type	Documento de trabajo	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.date.disclosure	2022-02-24
okr.date.doiregistration	2025-05-05T11:38:00.511578Z
okr.date.lastmodified	2022-02-24T00:00:00Z	en
okr.doctype	Working Paper
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.docurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/152001645712665901/Greening-Digital-in-Korea-Korea-Case-Study-for-Greening-the-ICT-Sector
okr.guid	152001645712665901
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum	090224b088cfc437_1_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	33743469
okr.identifier.report	168973
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pdfurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/152001645712665901/pdf/Greening-Digital-in-Korea-Korea-Case-Study-for-Greening-the-ICT-Sector.pdf	en
okr.region.administrative	East Asia and Pacific
okr.region.country	Korea, Republic of
okr.topic	Information and Communication Technologies::ICT Policy and Strategies
okr.topic	Science and Technology Development::Technology Innovation
okr.topic	Energy::Energy and Environment
okr.topic	Environment::Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases
okr.topic	Environment::Environment and Energy Efficiency
okr.unit	Korea World Bank Group Office (EAPKR)
relation.isSeriesOfPublication	3e126efc-de2f-4a95-be5b-bd2e430a4843
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	3e126efc-de2f-4a95-be5b-bd2e430a4843