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The field green ICT focuses on the greening of ICT and using ICT to optimise the energy footprint of the ICT-supported processes. For organisations, applying green ICT in the broadest sense presents them with challenges. In this paper we explore what factors are influencing the adoption of green ICT. We follow three organisations that used a green ICT tool, the SURF Green ICT Maturity Model, to identify such factors. Tools like the maturity model help organisations identify the what and how. We found other factors, such as strategic alignment, culture and leadership, determine the why. As ICT is a general purpose technology, it potentially affects all processes in an organisation. To have a greening impact, the main challenge for green ICT is to take a systemic approach and involve all (relevant) parties. ICT departments often position themselves as support (followers, not leaders), this proves to be a big hurdle in the adoption of green ICT.

Context: Many publications have described, measured, tracked or assessed Informationand Communication Technology (ICT) activities that impact the environment. A complete conceptualview of the environmental impact of ICT can be described in three orders of effect: Direct, indirectand systemic. Objective: The goal of this study is to find out how the existing literature contributestowards our understanding of the environmental impact of ICT. We approach this question byidentifying factors that can be of influence on the environmental impact and map these factors onto aconceptual framework of Green ICT. Method: We used a systematic literature review to collect factorsof influence regarding the environmental impact of ICT. Results: From the data we collected and theanalyses made, we created a taxonomy, and report on the frequencies of the factors of influence in theprimary studies as well as gaps and additions compared to the conceptual framework. We foundfive main classes of influence that can form a continuous cycle, but noted that the research field isstrongly focused on the direct impact of ICT. Conclusion: Our study contributes towards a betterunderstanding of the environmental impact of ICT by framing factors of influence in a conceptualframework. The taxonomy we create and the analysis of the studies could be helpful in defininga research agenda, to further enable the full potential of Green ICT. In addition, the taxonomy canbe used as a starting point for a practical tool, for organizations that wish to apply Green ICT to itsfull extent.