With the goal of achieving net-zero emissions from its operations by 2040, Desjardins is committed to embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles across all its business activities, including digital technologies. As the IT provider for Desjardins entities, Group Technology Desjardins selected CGI as its strategic partner to measure its IT carbon footprint and define a decarbonization plan.
Green IT plays a critical role in reducing the environmental impact of digital technologies by minimizing carbon emissions as well as the consumption of energy, water and raw materials throughout the lifecycle of products and services. According to GreenIT’s 2025 study, digital technology accounted for approximately 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, more than double Canada’s total.
This push for Green IT comes at a pivotal time, as technology continues to accelerate through innovations such as artificial intelligence, automation and cloud computing. For financial institutions, these technologies are essential to operations and remain top investment priorities, as highlighted in CGI’s 2025 Voice of Our Clients research across retail banking, corporate and transaction banking, asset and wealth management, and capital markets.
Establishing an IT carbon emissions baseline
As part of its Social and Cooperative Responsibility strategy, Desjardins identified sustainable technology as a key lever to reduce its operational emissions. However, a major challenge remained: building a clear and reliable picture of the carbon footprint generated by its technology environment in order to define a realistic and effective reduction roadmap.
Measuring impact and building a roadmap
CGI’s Business Consulting experts worked closely with Desjardins’ IT and Sustainable Development teams to calculate the organization’s IT carbon footprint and support the development of a decarbonization strategy. This collaboration included:
- Developing a customized calculator to measure the IT carbon footprint in alignment with the GHG Protocol
- Engaging internal and external stakeholders to gather and consolidate data from multiple sources, including IT equipment, cloud usage, data centers and internal tools
- Defining a decarbonization plan and prioritizing initiatives based on greenhouse gas reduction potential and implementation effort
- Assessing Desjardins’ sustainable IT maturity and benchmarking it against peers in the financial sector
- Providing strategic recommendations to sustain and scale the approach over time
From baselining to strategic action
Through this collaboration, Desjardins moved beyond measurement to define how sustainable IT can contribute to its broader technology strategy and overall Social and Cooperative Responsibility objectives. By identifying key IT emission drivers, Desjardins was able to design concrete decarbonization initiatives and actively engage stakeholders across the organization.
The customized calculator also delivered greater transparency and consistency in calculation methodologies, while ensuring the reliability of data sources used—establishing a solid foundation for long-term governance and decision-making.
With CGI’s guidance, Desjardins is positioning itself as a Canadian leader in sustainable technology, demonstrating how financial institutions can translate Green IT ambitions into measurable, actionable impact.
