Following last year’s COP27, all eyes are once again on the world’s leaders to forge a path towards Net Zero and deliver on temperature targets. However, as emissions hit a new high last year, it’s clear that many organisations are hitting roadblocks to delivering on their commitments. The imperative is to find real solutions to the intensifying climate crisis – and technology promises to play a leading role in getting businesses on track to help meet their targets.
Despite this, the reality is that technology is currently contributing to the issue at hand, both for brick-and-mortar businesses and purely digital organisations. The carbon emissions of producing, running and disposing of hardware are significant – and with new devices constantly being developed and upgraded, mitigating the environmental impact is a key challenge. Added to this is rising energy consumption from running software as more devices and data centres are brought online. As can be seen from this article in 2021, it was estimated that data centres consume up to 3% of the world’s total electricity.
It calls for more efficient ways of assessing day-to-day emissions and understanding how energy is used across the enterprise. But to get there, measures need to be put in place to report on and track emissions generated, as well as drive innovative sustainability projects.
Practical steps to sustainability
Companies can make great strides towards their goals by taking several pragmatic actions, including embracing the cloud. Moving away from on-premises setups can have a huge impact, especially when choosing the right providers. For example, AWS have committed to reaching 100% renewable energy usage by 2025, and Azure offers similar benefits as Microsoft have committed to achieving the same goal, as well as becoming carbon negative by 2030.
The environmental cost of hardware that’s decommissioned every three to four years to support corporate upgrade cycles can also be addressed. Companies can find a new use for devices that would have otherwise gone to landfill and support a circular economy by donating to charities, schools and communities. It is important to remember to replace the hardware’s storage first with a new drive before donating, from a data security perspective, but that is a low cost to pay for the value given to the next owner. When 80% of a computer’s carbon footprint is in its production, devices can be refurbished or upgraded, with every upgraded laptop saving 150kg of CO2 emissions and every desktop saving a staggering 250kg. In the long term, product development teams can also help make leaps towards reducing waste by addressing the cause of the issue and creating software that’s compatible with all hardware and browsers.
Another powerful step to progress is setting up initiatives to educate teams on software that minimises the amount of energy required. In order to keep on top of the latest developments, businesses can look to champion Green Software best practices within their operations. Endava, for example, does so by aiming to deliver services that ultimately support clients with meeting their own green agenda commitments.
Good for people, performance & the planet
Many emerging technologies are gaining traction to not only support sustainability initiatives, but also fuel stronger workforce experiences and business performance. As we see the adoption of the metaverse, augmented reality and virtual reality increase, the need to travel for work is likely to reduce as these tools become more suitable to conduct client meetings, team brainstorms and even onboard new employees. Virtual remote solutions have the potential to become key tactics in wider strategies for meeting Net Zero targets, while also meeting rising demand for flexible working and countering implicit biases in the workplace.
Similarly, growing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins and IoT have proven benefits for supporting sustainability targets and decision making in certain sectors. The automotive industry is already using AI and digital twins to test hypotheses to their production lines in the virtual world and assess the impact on energy consumption without incurring the cost of doing so in the real world.
IoT also has many applications for driving sustainability, while providing more satisfying workplace experiences with the tools to work smarter. It can detect inefficiencies through live reports and predictions, using these insights to better manage the energy consumption of buildings or provide insights on issues that can impact the fuel efficiency of delivery trucks in logistics. When IoT is coupled with AI, businesses gain the capability to make automatic adjustments, identify patterns and support better decision making as they work towards creating a greener business. While many industries are yet to utilise these technologies in their sustainability strategies, the opportunities are ripe as they advance in digital maturity.
A comprehensive approach to cutting carbon
With hardware requirements already in place for 2024 as the EU introduces a new standard for USB-C charging to help reduce e-waste, the pressure to act on the climate crisis will only grow. It’s only a matter of time until sustainability requirements for software products will become a norm. Also, website carbon calculators and eco-friendly web design practices are already starting this shift. But while siloed efforts may edge companies towards Net Zero targets, getting there demands a comprehensive view of technology and careful consideration of how digitalisation can drive ongoing benefits for the environment and people.
Moving forward, achieving sustainable business practices will inevitably require greater upfront investment in technology. However, the benefits beyond meeting emissions targets can translate into the significant ROI through cost savings or intangible impacts such as an increase brand value driven by client and workforce satisfaction.
Once companies embed sustainability into all digitalisation projects, they can pave the way for greener, cleaner operations and thriving workforces.
