Data management and intelligent systems provide new possibilities and trajectories for environmentally robust industrial production. Global climate change has evoked a number of fresh studies on data management, openness and environmental innovation. This literature review approaches current academic research focusing on big data, industry, and emissions. The paper is based on key word searches that returned publications from high-class scientific journals dedicated to this particular topic. The article reading illustrates that big data is utilised in various industries, and explores a large variety of polluting substances. The authors argue that innovative and insightful new ways of using big data provide tools for emission monitoring and clean technology utilisation. The diversity in the analysed articles proves the complexity of market operations and corporate responsibility. The paper concludes in addressing the need of using and combining data resources, particularly at the industry unit level, in order to develop more efficient tools for environmental monitoring and decision making.