Eco-Discourse in Digital Transformation: A Corpus-Based Study of Green IT Narratives

Abstract

The environmental impact of information technology (IT) must be evaluated with great urgency as digital transformation gains traction, and green IT and sustainable information systems (IS) are proving to be the most important answers to the issue of environmental degradation. The proposed study will involve a hybrid approach to corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the linguistic construction of sustainability in corporate sustainability reports, policy reports, and media articles on sustainability published between 2020 and 2025. Through metaphor analysis (e.g., journey and revolution), keywords (e.g. net-zero and circular economy), and markers of stance (e.g. net-zero and circular economy), we are able to uncover the ways these texts construct the responsibility and innovation towards digital sustainability. The results indicate that the discourse is swinging between corporate, regulatory, and media cynicism, and unveiling ideological conflict in which economic concerns are frequently placed above an environmentally responsible stance. The study bridges the existing void in ecolinguistic literature by showing how language plays a dominant role in creating green IT discourse and proposes ways in which policymakers and organizations can use rhetoric to reflect green environmental practices. The paper recommends open communication to curb greenwashing and create a digital future that is truly concerned with sustainability.