<p>The benefits of digitalisation have become central to public policy. In this article, we question this development in the context of public policies. Based on our developed methodology, we quantify the significance of the fact that the segment of digitalisation does indeed contribute significantly to CO₂ reduction. CO₂ emissions from a desktop computer working with digital documents and office paper production for paper-based documents are compared. Using mathematic modelling methods, this study has developed an original methodology to determine break-points where the CO₂ emissions of a digital document become greater than that of an office paper-printed document in regards to time, electrical input and CO₂ emissions. In the conditions studied, the amount of CO₂ emissions is higher when working with an electronic document on a standard office computer compared to a printed document (A4 format) if it takes longer than 11&#xa0;min and 35&#xa0;s. Based on the results, this paper offers recommendations for public policies and thus opens up an original approach for further research and at the same time provides an important information base for public policymakers who should critically consider the implications of paper digitalisation.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>