Technology can solve the problems of climate change, but it is also the cause

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It’s that time of year again when everyone eagerly awaits the annual fall release of the latest and greatest digital devices and apps from tech companies. Their leaders are expected to pull out all the stops with hour-long stage performances, complete with twinkling lights and spectacular marketing materials. And the internet is teeming with rumors about what the tech sector has in store for us. But few talk about the other side of the coin: the dark underbelly of the tech industry that is slowly but surely eroding our planet.

Yes, you read that right. The very industry that gave us life-changing innovations like the smartphone and social media is also responsible for some of the most pressing environmental issues we face today. For example, one major sustainability-related technological development has barely made the headlines: the recent landmark EU ruling to amend the Radio Equipment Directive and require all mobile electronic devices to adhere to a single uniform USB-C charging port by 2024.

The amendment is expected to reduce approximately 11,000 tonnes of e-waste in the EU alone each year. While this decision is a positive step towards environmental responsibility, the sad reality is that the wider tech sector is facing a sustainability crisis.

For most people, digital technology is a solution, not a driver, of our unsustainable practices. Digital apps are driving a revolution that promises and delivers transformative societal benefits. From smart cities and precision agriculture to the prospect of immersive meetings in the metaverse and ultra-efficient AI-powered supply chains, the idea that digital technology will serve as a panacea for all our unsustainable practices is often praised.

Blinded by shining promises

The danger is that the promises of digital technology can blind us to its lesser-recognized contributions to climate problems. Emissions from the ICT sector already rival those of the airline industry. Moreover, the few studies carried out so far (a,b,c) suggest that emissions from the ICT sector will at least double to 2-3 GTCO2e and if the increase in global GHG emissions is limited to 1 .5˚C by 2030 will contribute about 10% of the global GHG load — almost equal to that of the automotive industry. And these are conservative estimates.

This poses a dilemma not just for ICT companies, but for all technology leaders and investors at all levels. It's time for tech leaders to proactively address the sector's sustainability challenges by critically and collectively questioning supply and demand before its carbon footprint is set in stone, despite the vertflationary impact. short term that the transition could entail. If they don't, the side consequences could derail its sustainability benefits. Then, like the many industries that came before it, challenges could arise in a fractured future of enforced disruption.

Channels for an unsustainable digital future

In 2016, Yale environmental scientist Karen Seto and her colleagues described three types of carbon locking. These blockages cause emissions to become entrenched in a sector and set it on a path of worsening climate change. All three types of lockdowns are present in today's ICT sector and the longer they are ignored, the harder it will be to reverse their consequences.

First, there are behavioral locks related to customer demand for ICT goods...