Orange is launching a major public consultation for more eco-responsible digital technology. The goal: to collect proposals from citizens to act for the environment and implement the most relevant ones. A participatory process in tune with the times…
It’s no surprise to anyone, but the networks of communication, terminals – computers, smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, etc. – and digital uses have a significant impact on the environment. According to Arcep, digital today accounts for 3 to 4% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide and 2.5% of the national carbon footprint. However, the annual growth in digital consumption (volume of data, terminals, etc.) will only worsen the situation. According to estimates, digital GHG emissions should increase by 60% by 2040 and represent 6.7% of national GHG emissions if nothing is done to reduce the footprint. And that’s without taking into account the fact that, to really take into account the environmental footprint of digital technology, we have to go beyond the emission of greenhouse gases by taking into consideration the entire life cycle of networks, equipment and terminals: the resources used for their creation and for their use (rare earths, water, energy), but also their lifespan and the conditions for their recycling – in particular with the problem of electronic waste.
Aware of the need to act and that change requires a collective commitment, Orange launched on January 16, 2023 a citizen consultation in partnership with Make.org in order to mobilize the whole of society around the following question: “How can we reduce the environmental impacts of digital technology together (equipment, internet, mobile, video use, etc.)?” The ISP explains that “the principle of this consultation is to massively involve citizens around a question of general interest and to extract the most popular consensus.” Everyone can participate on Make.org via this address until March 12. The results will be made public in the second quarter of 2023.
Public consultation: adopting measures for a greener digital environment
Orange is carrying out this public consultation in partnership with Make.org in order to benefit from its clear and ergonomic interface, as well as from the proper moderation of the platform’s proposals and its algorithms which effectively detect their authenticity – very practical for avoiding spam. In 24 hours, the initiative gathered 850 proposals and more than 90,000 votes – the mobilization is much greater than that for Bruno Le Maire’s public consultation on the supervision of influencers, which is currently taking place. Here are some of the most popular proposals:
- “We must deploy servers using less energy-consuming components(Alexander, 22 years old).
- “Ban annual releases of new phones and move to 2 years” (Anouk, 53 years old).
- “Employees should be offered to buy equipment (PCs, screens, etc.) and furniture (desks, chairs) rather than throwing away(Evelyne, 49 years old).
- “We need to create a universal mains charger” (Daniel, 21 years old).
- “Phones must be guaranteed for 5 years, manufacturers would be forced to get out of planned obsolescence” (Jean Jacques, 59 years old).
- “Battery replacement must be affordable (5% of the price of the phone) for 5 years(Daniel, 21 years old).
- “We have to be more assiduous and vigilant about sorting Waste Electrical Equipment (WEEE), especially from our copper exchanges” (Florian, 28 years old).
- “Customers should be encouraged and rewarded for keeping their mobiles for a long time rather than renewing them too frequently“, (Olivier, 55 years old).
- “Data centers must be powered by renewable energy and where possible produce heat,” (Fred, 58).
The platform allows everyone to give their opinion for each proposal using a green thumb for a “yes”, a red for a “no” and a gray for the undecided. We can then specify the reason for this vote (favorite idea, realistic, unachievable, banality, no opinion…) before seeing the results. A special page also allows voting for the most controversial proposals, such as “we must reduce the storage capacity of our computers, on computer networks and on One Drive” Where “box rentals must be eliminated and everyone should have their own router. This avoids waste and will bring down the price of subscriptions”. For Orange, “The challenge here is to reflect collectively on concrete solutions to improve digital uses and reduce their environmental impact.” The ISP then undertakes to put in place “relevant actions” that will emerge from the consultation.