{"id":29905,"date":"2020-03-02T09:44:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T09:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=29905"},"modified":"2020-03-04T09:44:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T09:44:08","slug":"tech-and-the-carbon-spiral-what-is-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/tech-and-the-carbon-spiral-what-is-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech and the carbon spiral – what is right?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018The time is always right to do what is right\u2019.\u00a0<\/strong>Martin Luther King<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2019, a fairly unknown report published by The Shift, a French think tank, claimed online video streaming in 2018 was responsible for nearly 300 million tons of CO2. This is \u2018equivalent to what a country the size of Spain releases in a year \u2013 for all sectors\u00a0combined\u2019<\/a>. And this is before Disney and Apple really entered the scene and announced the launch of their streaming services.<\/p>\n

When we start to compare tech with other industries commonly associated with carbon emissions, what we are discovering is sobering.\u00a0DW.com<\/a>\u00a0commented, \u2018digital technologies have even surpassed the aerospace industry in terms of carbon emissions. While aviation’s share of global CO2 emissions is estimated to be around 2.5%, and rising, nearly 4% of all CO2 emissions can now be attributed to global data transfer and the necessary infrastructure\u2019.<\/p>\n

This is just one area of technology\u2019s carbon responsibility. When chatting with\u00a0Zoe Amar\u00a0<\/a>recently, she pointed out that\u00a0Emily Chasan<\/a>\u00a0reported \u2018data storage could balloon to 8% of planetary energy use by 2030\u2019. Emails, images, digital files, AI models are all data which needs energy to preserve it in data servers.<\/p>\n

So, acknowledging the challenges faced by our planet, the exponential growth of technology and referring to the timeless quote by Martin Luther King (above), we as the Data & Technology department at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) are starting to ask a new question:<\/p>\n

‘What is right?’<\/h4>\n

Recently there have been a lot of bold statements by technology organisations, which we could argue are slightly in competition with each other. However for all other industries who have technology departments, how are we calculating our emissions and are we offsetting? There are no obvious standards as there are for aviation for example. How can we navigate our way through the\u00a0‘offsetting Wild West’<\/a>? Can we really become carbon natural \u2013 or even carbon negative?<\/p>\n

There are so many questions, but which actions are right?<\/p>\n

The Data & Technology team here at the RIBA have started to take action, as well as asking the question. As a department we are currently:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Calculating what our\u00a0technology carbon footprint<\/strong>\u00a0is, starting with infrastructure consumption, with the aim of eventually looking at our whole digital, data and technology estate.<\/li>\n
  2. Working out what we can\u00a0reduce\u00a0<\/strong>(and whether this is possible)\u00a0or offset<\/strong>\u00a0(and whether this is advisable).<\/li>\n
  3. Setting ourselves\u00a0realistic targets and a timeline<\/strong>\u00a0for change.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We not only want to do the right thing, we want to\u00a0‘do the right thing, right’<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a challenge posed by our RIBA President, Professor\u00a0Alan M Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Our question to you, our fellow technology peers and those in technology departments\u2026<\/p>\n

    How are you taking action?<\/h4>\n