Adoption of eco-friendly green programmes could result in positive gains of a country's economy. The United Nations Environment Programme released a report in late 2010 proving that investing in green technology - that is, processes that enhance the planet's "natural capital" - would have long-term benefits in terms of ensuring availability of natural resources for any industry, more jobs, and even more efficient industries that produce more for less raw materials.
One sector that has fully embraced green technology is the information and communications technology (ICT). This sector has become the backbone of nearly all industries as it builds on the need for faster and more efficient transactions at lesser costs. In fact, an International Data Corporation study revealed that ICT investments went up to US $3 trillion in 2010. This already points to increasing demand for ICT in various businesses.
With ICT having a lot of potential going for it, it is also a very resource-intensive industry, consuming space and power for use in communication and data transfer. This will not decrease especially as more companies, homes, and government rely heavily on ICT infrastructure for basically all modes of transactions.
Furthermore, the green ICT implementations are minimal or rudimentary at best. Despite what seems to be the ICT industry's own negative, albeit relatively minimal environmental impact and the slow process as to which major industries are implementing green ICT, there are still areas where ICT itself can still be a key tool in ensuring a sustainable green economy. Businesses can also increase their efficiency using ICT technologies. Increasing productivity at only a fraction of the cost means that companies can use the savings on investing in their core business or even expand their operations.