UN Trade and Development calls for sustainable and equitable strategies to mitigate digital economy’s growing environmental impact
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - A global shift towards circularity focusing on responsible production and consumption is crucial to making the digital economy an empowering force for people and the planet, UNCTAD said in a press release issued here Friday .
The Digital Economy Report 2024 analyses the growing environmental impact of the world’s expanding digital economy, saying developing countries shoulder the environmental impact of the digital economy but receive relatively small benefits from key mineral digitalization.
"Increased demand for minerals and metals required for digitalization offers resource-rich developing countries a unique opportunity to diversify within the digital value chain and drive development for their citizens."
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 10 July launched The Digital Economy Report 2024, shedding light on the significant environmental impact of the global digital sector and the disproportionate burden developing countries bear.
"This detailed report highlights that while digitalization drives global economic growth and offers unique opportunities for developing countries, its environmental repercussions are becoming increasingly severe. Developing countries remain unevenly affected both economically and ecologically due to existing digital and development divides but they have the potential to leverage this digital shift to foster development," the report said.
UN Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan underlined the need for a balanced approach: “We must harness the power of digitalization to advance inclusive and sustainable development, while mitigating its negative environmental impacts. This requires a shift towards a circular digital economy, characterized by responsible consumption and production, renewable energy use and comprehensive e-waste management. The digital economy’s growing environmental impact can be reversed.”
The report emphasizes the pressing need to address the environmental costs of rapid digital transformation. Key concerns include the depletion of finite raw materials for digital and low-carbon technologies, escalating water and energy consumption and the growing issue of digitalization-related waste.
As digitalization progresses at an unprecedented rate, understanding its link to environmental sustainability becomes increasingly critical.
Developing nations bear the burden but do not reap the benefits. This can change, it said, adding: Developing countries are pivotal in the global supply chain for transition minerals and metals, which are highly concentrated in a few regions.
Africa’s vast mineral deposits, essential for the global shift to low-carbon and digital technologies, include cobalt, copper, and lithium, crucial for a sustainable energy future. The continent holds significant reserves: 55% of the world's cobalt, 47.65% of manganese, 21.6% of natural graphite, 5.9% of copper, 5.6% of nickel and 1% of lithium.
According to the World Bank, demand for minerals required for digitalization like graphite, lithium, and cobalt could surge by 500% by 2050. The increased demand presents a development opportunity for resource-rich developing countries if they can add value to extracted minerals, utilize proceeds effectively and diversify within the value chain and other sectors.
Amid current global crises, limited fiscal space, slow growth and high debt, developing countries should maximize this opportunity by domestic processing and manufacturing. This would help them secure a larger share of the global digital economy, generate governments revenues, finance development, overcome commodity dependence, create jobs and raise living standards.
"Rising global demand for clean energy commodities is already boosting driving foreign direct investment in Latin America, accounting for 23% of the region’s greenfield project value over the past two years.
The environmental impact of the digital economy; soaring energy and water consumption, growing digital waste.
The environmental footprint of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector is significant, encompassing the entire lifecycle of digital devices and infrastructure – from raw material extraction and processing to manufacturing, distribution, usage, and disposal.
This process consumes vast amounts of transition minerals, energy, and water, significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
In 2020, the ICT sector's CO2 equivalent emissions were estimated between 0.69 to 1.6 gigatons, accounting for 1.5–3.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that is expected to rise with the growth of the digital economy.
The development of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining are of particular concern. Bitcoin mining, for example, saw its global energy consumption increase approximately 34-fold between 2015 and 2023.
-0- PANA RA 12July2024.
