Data centers, bitcoin… Five things to remember about the United Nations report on pollution in the digital sector

The United Nations report, released Wednesday, highlights the growing environmental impact of the digital economy. Five key points.

How much do your smartphone or laptop emit? A question that may seem strange, but only in appearance. If the digital economy is currently driving global growth, it also generates its share of waste and greenhouse gases. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published a report on the subject on Wednesday, July 10: it calls for tightening current regulations and investing in renewable energy to minimize the impact of the digital sector. Franceinfo presents five key points from this report.

Digital technology produces up to 3% of global CO2 emissions

While the digital economy is booming, especially in some developing countries, it is also taking an increasingly important place in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the report of UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, this figure reaches up to 3% of global emissions. It is set to increase with the continued development of this industry in the years to come.

An increase in digital waste between 2010 and 2022

But where there is a boom in industry, there is an explosion of waste. Since 2010, the volume of digital waste has increased by 30%, reaching 10.5 million tonnes worldwide. Developed countries remain the biggest polluters: they produce 3.25 kg of digital waste per person, compared to less than 1 kg in developing countries. LDCs (least developed countries) only reject 0.21 kg of digital waste on average. Only a quarter of this waste is collected, according to the United Nations.

Data centers, big polluters

In 2022, data centers, these places where equipment and computer data, consumed 460 terawatt hours of electricity. These figures are enormous, according to Rebecca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD: “To give you an idea, countries like Belgium or Finland consume less than 90 terawatt hours per year. We can’t say that this is something marginal.” According to the United Nations report, while these consumption figures are already significant, they are expected to double again by 2026.

Artificial intelligence and bitcoin are increasingly energy-intensive

The electricity consumption of the digital sector also depends on practices, which are evolving. The success of cryptocurrencies is not without impact: the activity of mining bitcoin, which allows bitcoins to be created, is very energy-intensive. Its consumption has increased 34-fold between 2015 and 2024, reaching 121 TWh. This is twice as much as France’s electricity production by wind turbines. Artificial intelligence is also turning the meters. The electricity consumption of 13 major data center operators has more than doubled. The United Nations points out “the urgency of tackling the energy and water footprints of these technologies”.

Digital resource consumption is exploding

Water, too, is essential to the entire digital economy. Because it is this resource that cools the infrastructure that powers your mailbox, or an artificial intelligence.It is estimated that just to train Chat GPT, Microsoft used 700,000 liters of water to [refroidir] its data centers in the United States.” And according to the report, these infrastructures are located in areas where water is already scarce. Demand for minerals, essential to the production of digital equipment, such as batteries, could increase by 500% by 2050.

The United Nations report qualifies: digital dematerialization does not only have positive aspects. The organization recommends accelerating the ecological transition and tightening the regulations in force.