This article is written by Laurent Devernay, Web Sustainability Expert at Greenspector and Mike Gifford, Senior Strategist at CivicActions.
- The problem: Information Technology (IT) is responsible for a significant environmental footprint (GHG emissions, water use, consumption of rare minerals, etc.) Currently, most governments are unaware of the impact IT causes, however France is the exception.
- Why it matters: Governments can have a huge impact on national IT trends through intentional procurement practices. This is a good opportunity to reduce CO2, and minimise resource use.
- The solution: Governments should look to see if they can build on or apply these approaches in their own jurisdiction.
France is leading the world in legislation and education on digital sustainability. Unfortunately, because not enough people speak French, this has gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the world.
We are truly in an all-hands-on-deck moment for climate action, and yet in many parts of the world governments and industry are simply oblivious to the environmental impacts of information communications technology (ICT). At least in France, this is no longer the case. Digital tools have an environmental impact but, at the same time, they are essential in the deployment of the ecological transition.
It is exciting to think that this legislation could have an impact in producing more durable and repairable products.
There are two pieces of French legislation that we are going to highlight. The ‘Réduire l'empreinte environnementale du numérique’ (REEN) [FR] legislation has been built to reduce the environmental footprint of digital technology. The second is the ‘Anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire’ (AGEC) [FR] or fighting against waste for a circular economy.
These two pieces of legislation work together to frame both the culture and technology which is required to reduce the environmental footprint of digital technologies.
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In addition to this, official studies were conducted to establish the environmental footprint of digital and perspectives to mitigate this. Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (ADEME) is the Agency for Environment and Energy management. Arcep is an independent administrative authority that is responsible for regulating electronic communications. ADEME and Arcep were instructed to create a measure of the digital environmental footprint in France and identify levers of action and best practices for reducing it. This joint task force started publishing their reports [FR] in early 2022.
The digital legislation
REEN was passed in 2021. It touches on municipalities, education, data centres, Internet providers and extending the lifespan of digital tools, with a new observatory to frame all this. Five highlights of this act include:
- As of 2025, cities and local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants will need to establish a strategy for reducing the environmental footprint of their digital services.
- Engineering students studying computer science should be trained in digital sustainability best practices. Hopefully other digital roles will be included in the future.
- Knowing that most of the environmental impacts of connected devices comes from their manufacture, this act touches on planned obsolescence. Extending the lifespans of our digital devices can have a significant impact on total CO2e emissions.
- This act also created an observatory for environmental impacts of digital: the HCNE (‘Haut Comité pour le numérique écoresponsable’ : High Committee for Eco-responsible Digital) [FR]. The results of the second edition [FR] will include a contribution to the decarbonisation roadmap, and a public funding programme for research and development.
- In 2021, the ‘Référentiel général d'écoconception de services numériques’ (RGESN) [FR] for general repository for the eco-design of digital services was created. It includes evaluation criteria to assess the sustainability of government digital services, covering the whole lifecycle of such services. It is likely that this will be the repository used to enforce REEN in public structures and is already used as such by some of them, as well as by more and more private companies.
Kick-starting the circular economy
The AGEC makes it mandatory to design digital products for energy efficiency. This bill, like the REEN and RGESN, will fight against digital obsolescence, and help promote the circular economy. Its approach is complementary to the REEN. Production of digital hardware must consider energy consumption and planned obsolescence in the design stage for improved resource management. The ability to collect, sort and recycle materials at a state level, will also include digital devices. There are many rare minerals in digital hardware, and separating that out from the waste stream is often expensive and even dangerous. Building in state-level mechanisms will make it much easier to create solutions that scale.
It is exciting to think that this legislation could have an impact in producing more durable and repairable products. The ‘Right to Repair’ movement is growing globally, The repairability index for smartphones and laptops was made mandatory in early 2021. Work is ongoing to produce a “durability index” to provide incentives for products to be repaired or reused. A fund to support the repairability of smartphones came into effect in late 2022 to help kick-start an industry that would make restoring products easier for French consumers.
Even just setting up the systems to allow for traceability of our digital products will make it much easier for them to be recycled. In a world with an increasing demand for rare minerals for our digital products (and the batteries that often come with them), this is important. The more materials can be safely recycled, the less we will need to mine and process new resources from the earth.
Working together
Combined, these legislations will have a larger impact. Because the AGEC is targeting a broader range of products and services, it should be more top-of-mind than a purely digital legislation. Yet the specifics of the REEN should begin to have an impact on digital design practices and also electricity demand as it rolls out.
Together, this legislation could accomplish a great deal, including:
- Raise awareness of the environmental impact of digital technology.
- Promote local strategies for adopting more environmentally sustainable digital tools.
- Extend the life-span of digital devices.
- Support initiatives to reduce the energy and water consumption required by digital tools.
- Promoting less energy-intensive data centers and networks.
Global adoption
We would like to see other governments step up and take on this challenge. How can these ideas be applied to other jurisdictions? Is there existing legislation or regulations that could be extended to achieve this, or does new legislation need to be drafted? Federal states may have additional challenges if they need to coordinate responsibilities along state/provincial lines.
However, having a clear example from France should allow other governments to both learn from the legislation and its implementation. France’s population is only 67 million. This legislation will have an impact in France, particularly for material produced in France, but is unlikely to have a significant impact globally. Especially for digital technology, since much is produced outside of France. If adopted by the EU or the US, this legislation would have a much greater impact.
There are clear indications that the EU’s new requirements for businesses under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will move the rest of Europe more with the work that France has already implemented.
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(Image credit: Unsplash)
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