The commentary article critically reflects on the article “Rethinking digitalization and climate: don’t predict, mitigate” by Gritsenko et al. published in the journal npj Climate Action in 2024. Gritsenko et al. consider methods such as the life cycle assessment (LCA) to be inadequate for analyzing the environmental impact of digitalization. The authors of the commentary acknowledge that environmental assessments are associated with uncertainty and that there is already a need for action to address the environmental impacts of growing digitalization. However, it is argued that LCA offers valuable insights into potential environmental impacts and conflicting objectives and can identify potential for improvement along supply chains. Particularly in the rapidly evolving digital environment, LCA helps to manage the uncertainty of decision-makers and to take targeted measures for the introduction and use of sustainable digital infrastructures.

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