IT & digital

After gradually permeating every area of our personal and professional lives, and every sector of the economy, digital technology has become an integral part of our society. It is reinventing our ways of thinking and acting, and is revolutionising our means of producing and communicating.

Digital solutions are recognised as being a lever for considerable economic development and they are sometimes promoted for their potential of optimising physical processes. But what is the truth behind all this?

In fact, the digital sector, with its infrastructures, equipment and services, brings with it a swath of environmental impacts. Digital equipment gives rise to considerable levels of pollution throughout its lifecycle (fabrication, utilisation, end of life), and the sector alone is responsible for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that has been rising in recent years, contrary to other economic sectors. According to the Shift Project report ,it is the only sector whose demand for energy is increasing, particularly due to the rebound effect.

The vulnerability of digital infrastructures to climatic hazards and the depletion of certain resources and raw materials should also be taken into account.

The diversity of business actors and their role throughout the value chain does not at present allow them to understand their respective contributions to GHG emissions, or their vulnerabilities and opportunities that the transition necessary involves.