Answer given by Mr Breton on behalf of the European Commission
2.6.2020
The carbon footprint of the digital sector is targeted by the latest Commission initiatives: European Green Deal, Digital Strategy-COM(2020) 67[1], and, Circular Economy Action Plan-COM (2020) 98[2]. The measures put forward in these documents, to be adopted by end of 2021, include requirements on data centres to be highly energy efficient and climate neutral by 2030 and telecoms operators to be transparent regarding their environmental footprint.
A Circular Electronics Initiative will aim to ensure that devices are designed for durability, maintenance, dismantling, reuse and recycling, to avoid premature obsolescence and provide consumers with a right to repair or upgrade. The Commission is also working on ecodesign measures for computers, smartphones and tablets, in order to set out requirements on energy and material efficiency. These initiatives complement existing measures to reduce electronic waste[3], to limit the use of hazardous material in electronics[4], eco-design measures for servers[5] and electronic displays[6], and criteria to guide the public sector when procuring data centres and cloud services[7].
The quoted estimates of the GreenIT consultancy are one of several estimates regarding the digital sector’s footprint. Such estimates vary vastly from 2 to 3.8% of total emissions. Commission studies examine the impact of the data centre sector in Europe[8],[9],[10] as well as the impact of the entire digital sector. Most of the large Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) companies are taking commitments to become carbon neutral by 2030, to self-finance the greening of the ICT sector[11], as well as to assist other sectors (energy, agriculture, mobility, manufacturing) in reaching their climate ambitions.
Relevant EU programmes will also support the green digital start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and smaller data centres in their transition to climate neutrality.
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2020:67:FIN
- [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2020:98:FIN&WT.mc_id=Twitter
- [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32012L0019
- [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011L0065
- [5] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/GA/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R0424
- [6] Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2021 of 1 October 2019, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1586959479006&uri=CELEX:32019R2021
- [7] Energy-efficient Cloud Computing Technologies and Policies for an Eco-friendly Cloud Market’ — SMART 2018/0028, to be published June 2020
- [8] Study on the impact assessment of the ICT product sector’s energy consumption (ongoing)
- [9] Study on the practical application of the new framework methodology for measuring the environmental impact of ICT — cost/benefit analysis (SMART 2012/0064 ), https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/study-practical-application-new-framework-methodology-measuring-environmental-impact-ict
- [10] https://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sustainable_growth/docs/studies/2008/2008_impact-of-ict_on_ee.pdf
- [11] https://gesi.org/posts/ict-industry-agrees-landmark-science-based-pathway-to-reach-net-zero-emissions ; https://www.telecomtv.com/content/green/the-gsma-agrees-climate-change-targets-for-telecoms-37849/