Carbon footprints embodied in the value chain of multinational enterprises in the Information and Communication Technology sector

Understanding the carbon footprints (CFs) within the value chains of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) multinational enterprises (IMNEs) is vital for reducing their global environmental impact. Using a multi-regional input-output model, we assess for the first time the evolution of IMNEs' value chain CFs from 2000 to 2019 and apply structural path analysis to identify key emissions hotspots for mitigation. We found that IMNEs' CFs accounted for over 4 % of global emissions during this period. By 2019, China became the largest host, contributing 558 MtCO2, but geopolitical shifts post-2010 led to growing emissions in India and Southeast Asia by 4.0 % and 4.8 % annually. Upstream and downstream emissions made up 94.5 %–95.8 % of total CFs respectively. ICT manufacturing multinational enterprises (MNEs) had significant upstream emissions from electricity and heavy manufacturing, while ICT services MNEs were more affected by downstream business and transportation emissions. Low-income economies contributed heavily to direct emissions, while high-income economies experienced a rise in downstream emissions, reaching 46.8 % in 2019. Middle-income economies shifted toward more downstream activities, with upstream emissions declining to 67 %. Thus, we highlight the need for targeted emissions reduction based on the distribution of value-chain CFs to maximize mitigation potential.