The Government Digital Sustainability Alliance (GDSA) Summit in London this week marked a significant step forward in the UK’s digital sustainability agenda, convening nearly 300 leaders across government, technology, academia and policy. The day highlighted a clear shift in mindset: sustainability is increasingly viewed not as a cost burden, but as a cost-saving and resilience strategy embedded into “business as usual”.
This momentum was reinforced by the event’s first-ever in-person ministerial keynote, alongside technical discussions spanning AI, climate resilience, circular procurement and digital infrastructure. Across sessions, one theme consistently emerged – sustainable digital transformation must now move from ambition to implementation.
Government as a market maker for sustainable digital
Delivering the summit’s headline policy address, Minister for Nature and Circular Economy Mary Creagh (pictured) positioned digital sustainability as central to modern government reform and net zero delivery.
She praised the collaboration across sectors, telling delegates: “Your collaboration, your expertise and your willingness to act and to step forward supports us to deliver a modern Digital Government and to change the dial on sustainability.”
The Minister highlighted both the opportunity and the responsibility facing government as the UK’s largest ICT buyer, spending approximately £14 billion annually.
“Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the country… so we have a huge responsibility and the leverage to do things differently,” she said.
Creagh also directly addressed the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure. “ICT now produces around four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than international aviation, and that figure continues to rise.”
Rather than seeing sustainability as a constraint, she highlighted its economic and operational benefits, noting that efficient digital systems reduce energy use, cut costs and strengthen resilience to climate and supply chain shocks.
Digital sustainability in the Anthropocene
In a defining keynote, sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee framed digital transformation within the broader context of the Anthropocene – an era where human activity is the dominant force shaping Earth’s systems.
He warned that technological progress without proportional wisdom risks deepening environmental instability.
“We’re fantastic at energy and technology… but as we create more of it, we need increasing wisdom and care to go with it. And we’re out of kilter at the moment,” he told attendees.
Berners-Lee also highlighted a paradox in ICT sustainability: efficiency gains often drive increased usage rather than reduced impact. “The more efficient it gets, we find that we do more of it at a faster pace.”
He stressed that sustainable digital requires selective, purpose-driven technology adoption, not blanket innovation. “It’s not good enough to say this technology can be used for good things. We have to be able to say we’re only going to use it for good things.”
Digital infrastructure as critical national risk
One of the summit’s most urgent panels explored the intersection of climate risk, digital resilience and cybersecurity. Speakers argued that digital infrastructure now functions as a societal backbone, meaning climate-triggered outages can cascade across healthcare, utilities and public services.
“We’re already at 1.5 degrees and accelerating faster than a lot of the models show… risks baked in here include flood, heatwave, storm and supply chain issues,” noted Ben Tongue, Digital Net Zero Lead at NHS England.
Panellists highlighted how climate stress can amplify cyber vulnerabilities and operational fragility. Manogna Goparaju, lead for climate adaptation and sustainable finance at Capgemini Invent, described a growing systemic risk cycle: “We’ve got the convergence of climate risk increasing digital fragility, that then increases cyber risk.”
A key recommendation was to embed climate risk into organisational risk registers rather than siloing it within sustainability teams, alongside proactive system stress testing and diversified infrastructure planning.
AI, innovation and the sustainability governance gap
Discussions on AI and disruptive technologies revealed growing concern about environmental trade-offs and governance readiness. While AI is delivering operational efficiencies across government, speakers warned against reactive adoption without lifecycle sustainability planning.
“I would move faster… but also more strategically, rather than staying in tactical, efficiency-orientated use,” noted HMRC’s deputy director, head of user-centred design, Jeremy Davis.
Policy experts also raised concerns about the growth imperative embedded in modern tech ecosystems.
“Endless, unfettered growth is inherently at odds with sustainability and living within constrained planetary boundaries,” said Alison Griswold, Senior Policy Adviser at the Royal Society.
Governance was repeatedly identified as a critical lever, with AI Governance & Ethics Manager at Kainos, Seto Adenuga stressing: “Sustainability should never be an afterthought and needs to be embedded throughout the lifecycle – design, development, deployment and decommissioning.”
Circularity, procurement and systemic change
Circular economy principles emerged as one of the most actionable levers discussed throughout the summit. Government procurement, in particular, was highlighted as a powerful mechanism to reshape markets and supply chains.
Creagh reinforced this point, noting the strategic importance of reuse, repair and longer device lifespans in reducing critical mineral demand and supporting the circular economy growth plan.
Industry and policy speakers also warned of material constraints ahead, with digital and clean energy sectors competing for the same resources. This reinforced the need for modular design, remanufacturing and lifecycle extension across government digital estates.
Addressing social risks and maximising social value
A dedicated panel on social risk underscored that sustainable digital transformation must extend beyond carbon and efficiency to include people, equity and ethical supply chains. Said Defra’s Sally Taylor: “This is the people’s sustainability… social issues [are] often overshadowed by the environmental and economic areas, but yet it’s deeply connected.”
Speakers highlighted the digital divide as a critical and growing risk as public services become increasingly digitised. Christine Liang, head of digital inclusion at DSIT, noted that “about 1.6 million people in the UK just completely live offline,” often due to affordability, skills or confidence barriers, which can limit access to essential services and economic opportunities.
The panel also drew attention to hidden social risks within ICT supply chains, particularly labour exploitation and limited visibility beyond tier-one suppliers. Head of social value UKI at DXC Technology, Shelley Cotterill, warned that “the further down that you go, the less visibility you have,” while techUK’s Craig Melson identified modern slavery and upstream mineral sourcing as some of the most significant risks in global tech value chains.
Crucially, panellists emphasised that social value must be embedded from the outset rather than treated as an afterthought. Net Zero and sustainability lead at NHS England Rebecca Griffiths stressed that “social value doesn’t start and end with procurement,” but should be integrated strategically into commissioning, delivery and community outcomes.
From momentum to implementation
Reflecting on the growth of the GDSA itself, speakers noted a tangible shift in engagement and maturity compared to previous years. Collaboration, shared standards and cross-sector capability building were repeatedly cited as essential to scaling impact.
Said Creagh: “Change is hard, but the direction is correct. The momentum is real, and the case for sustainable tech as a matter of efficiency, resilience and economic opportunity has never been stronger.”
Matt Stanley, founder of Think Digital Partners, noted that the GDSA event itself was born from a desire “to help amplify these really important conversations around digital sustainability across government… and position these conversations in front of a wider audience.”
“Last September I had a conversation with Tom Parry and Lydia Tabbron at Defra about the potential of a follow up conference to our 2025 Think Digital Sustainability for Government,” he explained.
“Fast forward six months and with some hard work, creative thinking and some amazing collaboration between Defra and the GDSA we have managed to create a packed agenda, including two keynotes, one from the Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh and the second from renowned author and sustainability expert, Mike Berners-Lee; add to this eight panel discussions covering most of the important topics addressed in the government’s soon be announced digital sustainability strategy. What a day…”
