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Green Technology: IT’s Critical Role

in Global Sustainability

The Digital Revolution and the Decarbonization Challenge: How the IT Sector is Reinventing Strategies
for Sustainable IT.

The fight against global warming will be marked in the history of energy; and the change in the relationship between production and
Humanity as the longest of the battles experienced by our civilization. consumption � from the linear to the circular model.
A threat that began silently, as a reflection of an Industrial Revolution
(1850) without any environmental concern, has become consolidated According to a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, full use
in the way consumption has been established in our society, and today, of clean energy sources will account for 55% of GHG emission
makes eloquent � and increasingly frequent � demonstrations of its reductions. The remaining 45% should be obtained by altering the
power in destabilizing the planet’s climatic balance. current economic modelling.
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Due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Earth’s temperature is 1.1°C As an ally in this theatre of operations, information technology has
above pre-industrial levels. The last decade was the hottest in 125,000 been presenting fundamental solutions to optimize processes and the
years. CO2 concentration is unprecedented in two million years. The more rational and efficient use of physical and natural resources so
sea is also more acidic, hotter and with an accelerating rising level. that companies and organizations intensify strategies to decarbonize
Glaciers have shrunk like never before in the last two thousand years. their activities.
Arctic ice is the smallest since the year 1000. According to researchers
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in the From data intelligence and the use of disruptive technologies � such as
Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), published in March, all this context is the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence � it will be possible
related to human activities. 1 to increase productivity and simultaneously reduce environmental
impact in economic sectors such as agriculture, logistics and oil and gas.
Under the current warming level, extreme weather events that
occurred every 10 years have become more intense and frequent. We High investments in technology reflect this interest. According to
just have to look at the heatwaves that hit the Northern Hemisphere the “Smart Agriculture Market” research, published on the Markets
last July � considered by scientists from the U.N. World Meteorological and Markets portal , the amount spent on software, hardware
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Organization (WMO) and Copernicus Climate Chance Service, as the and technological services for precision agriculture, storage and
hottest in 120,000 years. In California, United States, the temperature agricultural production monitoring is set to jump from US$ 16.2 billion
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reached 54°C ; in northern China, 52.2°C and 47°C in Greece. this year to U$ 25.4 billion in 2028 � with a constant annual growth
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rate (CAGR) of 9.4%.
The scenario � discussed at the United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP 28) in Dubai (UAE) � has contributed to jeopardizing In this scenario of digitalization for decarbonization, the information
food security in the most vulnerable countries, destabilizing economies and communication technology (ICT) industry itself must seek a more
and deepening poverty indicators worldwide. efficient energy approach and solutions that contribute to mitigating
the environmental impact of its activities.
DECARBONIZATION AND CIRCULARITY
In the campaign to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the impact FIRST FRONT: ENERGY
of climate change, two fronts are defined: the urgent decarbonization As recorded by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the electric
of the global economy, focusing on the adoption of renewable consumption of data centres last year was between 1-1.5% of the

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