The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Annual Global Risks Report ranks climate and environmental risks top and concludes that only a unified global effort and a more aggressive approach to accelerating the energy transition can avert climate catastrophe in the long term. But this report also shows cybersecurity and digital dependence risk in seventh place.
The coexistence of these two dangers at very high positions for humanity is paradoxical. A nuanced reading seems necessary. In essence, digital technology consumes energy and the growing digitization of the economy will be greedy in electricity. But if the digital contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is accelerating sharply and should double by 2025, it currently represents only 4% on a global scale, far behind transport, industry or the built environment.
The digital activity that seems to be most at odds with sobriety and decarbonization is cryptocurrency mining. The consumption to create bitcoins would have represented the colossal volume of 143 terawatt hours [NDLR : 143 milliards de kilowattheures] in 2021, which is nothing less than the equivalent of Poland’s energy consumption! However, cryptomining platforms are committed to exploring more lean computational processes.
Have the right orders of magnitude
Orders of magnitude to bear in mind and to know how to reuse, when we hear the emergence of discourses mocking, for example, the use of e-mails. Much more trivial and essential than bitcoin mining, their transfer and storage represent only 0.2% of total digital emissions worldwide. Even if it is common sense, individual self-discipline to reduce the number of e-mails will not significantly change the game!
But there is more essential to assess the risk of digital dependence with regard to climate risk. Digital solutions are essential to support the decarbonization of the economy and energy sobriety. While one of the most effective ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels is to replace them with low-carbon electricity, it is digitized measurement equipment and artificial intelligence tools that offer the possibility of optimizing the electricity consumption as close as possible to needs. There are many innovations in this area to improve driving performance.
Then, one of the major lessons of the Covid pandemic was that digital solutions make it possible to rethink the methods of professional activity for many. Remote working has drastically reduced commuting and international travel. A 2021 study calculated that one hour of virtual meeting emits around 150 grams of CO2 compared to the 6 kilos emitted on average for a trip of around thirty kilometers by car. The combination of remote and face-to-face working hours will be a determining factor in reducing emissions from the transport sector.
Cybersecurity, a necessary fight
Who says digital finally says cybersecurity risk. More digital devices and uses increase the attack surface and potential vulnerabilities. The development of the Internet of Things for the optimization of energy flows leads to a tenfold increase in the number of entry points for hackers into information systems. Attacks against critical infrastructures, disinformation, fraud put companies and States under pressure. They have an impact on the trust we place in digital and undermine the operational and financial resilience of organizations.
However, increased exposure to the risk of cyberattacks should not jeopardize digital expansion efforts. Cybersecurity and data protection must be priorities, they are completely in line with the famous criteria of sustainable development, or ESG.
Beware of shortcuts. The potential of digital to help create a lower carbon economy is tremendous. Digital addiction can be good! Considering limiting their expansion and innovations would be counterproductive to achieving our climate goals. But that in no way prevents you from making reasonable use of it.