The Power of the GreenOps Ecosystem: How Collaboration Drives Scalable Impact

This article is based on a discussion that took place at Sopht’s UK launch in London, with the participation of Sunil Veddam, Senior Director of Sustainability Future at Capgemini, Andrew Morrow, UK SA Sustainability Lead at AWS, moderated by Magali Saúl, International Expansion Lead at Sopht.  

The speakers unanimously emphasised that collaboration across the digital sustainability ecosystem is key to making a difference in this space.   

The context 

From the opening, Magali set the framework: “the sustainability challenge is not something we can solve alone.“ 

Andrew and Sunil deepened this idea by emphasizing the need for an ecosystem approach, where partners share expertise and tools to achieve tangible results. 

Rethinking sustainability as a collective challenge 

Sunil, from Capgemini, quickly painted an alarming picture: while IT’s contribution to global emissions was between 4% and 6% in 2024/2025, it is expected to rise to around 30% over the next five years. This exponential increase is mainly attributed to the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence.  

In light of this, Capgemini is working with the British government to define reference frameworks: comprehensive ‘manuals’ incorporating standards, performance indicators and data points, enabling organisations to better measure and manage their actions.

Collaborating between technologists and sustainability experts 

Andrew emphasized an essential point: the companies that advance the fastest are those where engineers and sustainability leaders actually talk to each other. 

Too often, these two worlds evolve in parallel, when they should unite to translate environmental ambitions into actionable data. 

The lack of engineers and data scientists specialized in sustainability remains a major barrier. This is why it becomes crucial to clearly express objectives and connect them to data, in order to guide decisions on factual bases. 

But how can we break down these silos in organizations where technical and sustainability teams have historically had little interaction? 

Co-creating sustainability from the design phase 

Both speakers converged on the same idea: sustainability must be integrated from the earliest design phases, not added at the end of a project. 

Sunil emphasized that it is more expensive to “fix” retrospectively than to invest upstream in responsible choices.At AWS, this approach translates into a sustainability pillar integrated into cloud architecture since 2022. 

Andrew encouraged teams to adopt this pillar so that sustainability stops being a one-time criterion during procurement and becomes an ongoing reflection throughout the application lifecycle. 

Sharing data to drive action: the AWS example 

Andrew presented the latest updates to AWS’s Carbon Footprint Tool, designed to provide increased transparency on cloud carbon footprint. 

These improvements, based on customer feedback, now enable organizations to: 

• Understand geographic impact: organizations can see how the choice of cloud region influences their carbon footprint 

• Export and cross-reference data: teams can integrate this information into their own analysis tools for consolidated reporting 

• Cover the value chain: the integration of Scope 3 data provides a more complete view of environmental impact 

For Andrew, these advances enable organizations to make better decisions. 

Learning together: training teams in digital responsibility  

For both experts, upskilling is an essential lever. 

Sunil emphasized the need to train technical, data, and service teams so that sustainability is integrated “at the beginning of the journey rather than an afterthought.“ 

Andrew broadened the discussion by emphasizing that skills should not be limited to technical profiles. He highlighted the importance of also involving non-technical employees, so they can understand data, adopt the right tools, and know how to make informed decisions from them. 

He also shared a practice that is bearing fruit: bringing together groups of people from different organizations to learn together, exchange their experiences, and strengthen collective understanding of sustainable digital issues. 

According to him, this type of collaborative approach accelerates the market’s overall maturity. 

For example, these exchanges foster a better understanding of environmental issues holistically: while carbon remains a central indicator, organizations are now seeking to integrate other data, such as those related to water or biodiversity. 

In short 

This meeting marking Sopht’s launch in the United Kingdom illustrated an essential point: digital sustainability is a collective adventure. 

Three first steps emerge for organizations wishing to commit to this path: 

1. Train technical and non-technical teams in environmental impact measurement, starting now 

1. Integrate sustainability from the design phase, rather than correcting retrospectively 

1. Join inter-company learning communities to accelerate collectively.  

For example, the French association Boavizta is “at the core of Sopht”. It plays a crucial role in pushing for “more data” and “rigorous methodologies” to better measure the impact of IT.   

By combining technological expertise, methodological frameworks and a collaborative approach, it is possible to combine performance, innovation and responsibility.