The climate crisis has become a major global issue at the heart of sustainability discussions for the past twenty years, profoundly challenging economic, social and political systems. In the data age, despite an unprecedented increase in the production of climate crisis-related information and data, it is clear that these comprehensive data are not reflected effectively in policy design or social behaviour. This discrepancy is referred to in the literature as the 'green gap', and refers to the difference between climate-related discourse and actual behaviour and policy outcomes.

Although current data show that climate awareness is rising, this awareness has limited capacity to translate into policy production, individual attitudes and changes in social behaviour. Thus, despite data-driven decision-making processes, the green gap evolves into a policy gap, followed by a compliance and coordination gap. The reluctance of states to meet carbon reduction targets due to short-term economic and geopolitical concerns leads to the Paris Climate Agreement's envisaged global compliance weakening.

This section examines why the gap between discourse and action persists despite the big data, digital monitoring, modelling and risk prediction capabilities offered by the data age. The concept of the green gap is examined in the context of data production and interpretation, digital policy tools, and global governance practices.