An environmental issue
It is often wrongly imagined that digital technology is immaterial. And yet…
Smartphones, computers, tablets, televisions and other connected objects are very real. Their manufacture, use and end-of-life all have an impact on the environment! Including cellular base stations, satellites, servers and data centres, which play a key role in the processing and storage of our data.
Digital technology is ubiquitous and mobilises enormous resources. Did you know that the information and communications technology sector alone emits 2.5% of greenhouse gases and consumes around 10% of electricity in France? And that is without counting all of the digital equipment integrated into the other sectors of transport, agriculture and industry, which further increases this impact.
With the growing digitalisation of our societies, the environmental impact of digital technology is continuously increasing. In addition to the direct impact connected with the increase in these practices, digital technology also generates indirect effects, the famous “rebound effects”. For example, a 5G antenna consumes less energy than a 4G antenna and provides better throughput. But beware! These gains are in danger of being cancelled out or even exceeded by the increase in uses, such as watching high-definition videos.
In order to reduce our environmental impact, a number of different actions are possible. Major societal changes need to take place, in particular through the rethinking of our modes of manufacturing and consumption, for manufacturers of terminals and for both users and providers of networks and data centres.
Digital pollution in France means:
- 2.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, that is to say the same amount as the waste sector!
- 10% of national electricity consumption
- 80% of our environmental impact comes from the manufacture of our devices
- 800 million devices, i.e. more than 10 devices per person on average!
If nothing is done, the impact of digital technology could triple by 2050, when France is aiming to divide its greenhouse gas emissions fourfold. Source: ADEME-ARCEP
Impact beyond the environment
The knock-on effects of digital technology go far beyond the environment. This is why we speak of the responsible use of digital technology. It encompasses not only the environmental, but also the social and economic footprint of digital technology…
But what does more responsible use of digital technology mean in practice? Well, it begins with avoiding and reducing digital pollution, while keeping an eye on indirect effects such as rebound effects…
Responsible use of digital technology also means being more ethical. This means taking into account people with disabilities (digital accessibility), issues of inclusion and diversity and, above all, thinking about the human beings behind each digital product and digital service. For example, did you know that more than 40,000 children work in cobalt mines in the Congo? And yet, cobalt is essential for producing the batteries in our digital equipment.
If you want to delve deeper into the subject of the human impact of digital technology, the SystExt association (Systèmes extractifs et Environnements – ‘Mining and Extraction Systems and Environments’) provides a good basis for understanding the issues. It is crucial to understand that these impacts concern not only the manufacture of our phones and other digital devices, as in the case of the mining of minerals and their assembly. But they also continue when we dispose of our devices at the end of their lifespan. A proportion of our old telephones, earpieces and headphones, games consoles and computers are still sent illegally to other countries, particularly to Africa and Asia, where their processing has a serious impact on human health and the environment. Lastly, we should not forget that digital services also have a social impact. For example, ‘click workers’ who train artificial intelligence algorithms, often work without any social security cover, performing repetitive and degrading tasks.