Stakeholders Decry Growing Carbon Footprint in ICT Sector

Samuel Mobolaji

Global stakeholders have decried the growing carbon footprint and energy consumption in the digital technology sector, while attributing the menace to global demand for hardware, network services, data storage and emerging technologies.

It is worthy of note that the Greening Digital Companies in its 2024 report, evaluates the greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of 200 leading digital companies around the world. And of the 200 companies covered in the report, 148 reported electricity consumption totaling 518 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022, about 1.9 per cent of the world total.

The 10 companies with the highest consumption levels – all headquartered in East Asia or the United States – consumed 51 per cent of this total, nine per cent higher than in 2021

Alongside commitments expressed across industry to embrace both digital growth and environmental sustainability, a report co-authored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), revealed an overall decline in progress towards climate goals.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the global tech sector have increased, while transparency and accountability remain a challenge, the report averred.

In his reaction, ITU secretary-general, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, said: “An effective green transition needs digital companies to drive progress and lead by example. This report is an important tool for understanding where to focus efforts to maximize digital technology’s immense potential to advance sustainability in the face of climate change for the digital future we want.

The report’s findings formulate a clear call for action for leaders gathering at the Green Digital Action meeting at COP29’s landmark Digitalisation Day.”

The report’s 2024 edition provides the first comprehensive overview of corporate value-chain emissions. Often referred to as “Scope 3,” these make up most of the emission footprints of digital companies. Scope 3 emissions include everything from material suppliers and outsourced device production to the use of a company’s end-products by consumers. Such end-products range from cell phones and computers to search engines and AI chatbots.

“On average, these emissions are six times greater than the combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions that a company produces itself or is responsible for indirectly, according to the report. Many companies struggle to accurately calculate and attribute their Scope 3 emissions, with common challenges including lack of data from suppliers, double counting, and inconsistent application of emission-allocation principles,” it stated.

While digital technologies offer numerous socio-economic benefits and can accelerate progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report averred that tech can enhance weather predictions and climate-change monitoring, optimize energy use, and help integrate low-emission technologies; but to advance sustainable development, industry must monitor and address its own environmental challenges, including carbon emissions, energy and water consumption, e-waste, and raw-material depletion.

Director of Research and Digitisation at the World Benchmarking Alliance, Lourdes Montenegro, said, digital companies need to do their part in the fight against climate change, adding that this report uniquely offers evidence-based insights on the sector’s state of play. “We are bringing these data and insights to the attention of the international community to help ensure that the impact on people and planet is consequential to success in business,” Montenegro added.