It seems unbelievable, but the Internet is one of the biggest producers of CO2 on the planet. Using a geographical metaphor, we could place the digital world in the top ten most polluting ‘nations’ in terms of emissions. Websites, e-mail, streaming, file sharing: everything that travels on the net produces carbon dioxide, a few grams generated and emitted because of the energy needed to run devices and power wireless networks.

 

HOW MUCH DOES A WEBSITE POLLUTE?

Answering this question is not easy. According to recent studies, it is estimated that the web is the fourth « power » in terms of CO2 emissions in a year, after China, the United States and India, according to data from the Global Carbon Project, the annual impact would be equal to 1,850 million tons.

In terms of digital pollution produced by big tech companies, Amazon leads the way with over 54 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2020. Samsung places second with 29 million, followed by Apple with 22 million. Google is the worst with over 12 million tons of CO2, followed by Microsoft with 11 million and Facebook with 4 million. Aware of the negative impact in terms of environment and image, web giants are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

HOW TO REDUCE POLLUTION

Some large digital companies, such as Microsoft and Amazon, are directing most of their green policies towards the creation of photovoltaic and wind farms and the planting of new trees. Others, such as Google, have activated various green and environmental sustainability projects to reduce emissions and mitigate the impact of their products on the environment.

However, if we compare the revenues generated by big tech with the investments actually funded for the planet, we see that the volume of appropriations is still a small fraction compared to the enormous revenues generated by the activities of the digital giants.

THE ROLE OF FINANCE

A shift towards sustainable policies can come from finance and institutional investors. An example comes from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (Plsa), a trade association for pension providers, which protects the interests of 20 million savers and manages investments worth £1 trillion.  Plsa has long adopted an internal policy that obliges companies in which they invest to respect certain environmental parameters, such as having programmes to contain greenhouse gas emissions and being transparent in communicating the actions taken in favour of sustainability. In the event of non-compliance, companies risk expulsion from the pension fund. The UK example is just one of many cases where finance plays a key role in reducing emissions, which often remains an abstract statement of intent on the part of companies.

HOW TO REDUCE CONSUMPTION

Analysts agree that even small measures can help reduce CO2 emissions, such as closing navigation windows after visiting a website, or not keeping multiple web pages open at the same time when not necessary.

In addition to these measures, other energy-saving functions are also being studied to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, such as the design of websites that go into standby mode autonomously when not consulted or browsed. Analysts claim that these design measures could save tens of thousands of tons of CO2, with a beneficial effect similar to eliminating 5 or 6 thousand cars from our roads.