The digital sector now accounts for around 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than civil aviation. According to l’ADEME, a figure that could double by 2025 if no change takes place. Because this impact on the climate is unsustainable, and because we have understood that our resources are not infinite, we wanted to become involved in questioning our digital consumption patterns and thinking about new models. We remain convinced that digital technology is an essential lever for innovation and virtuous development on a global scale, but only if we succeed in creating the conditions for more sober and, if possible, regenerative use.
FileVert is our first step in tackling this challenge. Why? Because file transfer is a prime example of the impact of our actions in the digital world, which seems infinite compared to the reality of a physical world with limited resources. Our aim today is to provide consumers with the conditions for raising awareness and adopting more responsible digital alternatives, by making available to them a file transfer tool and an information vector with a controlled, reasoned footprint, as well as documentary resources enabling them to concretely reduce their digital footprint on a daily basis. We want to involve private individuals in this movement, of course, but above all businesses, which have a key role to play in implementing new models.
Focus on data, 27% of the problem!
Our data consists of more than 4,517 data centers in 123 countries. And all this has a cost for the environment: greenhouse gases, use of large quantities of water for cooling systems, 60 million tonnes of non-recyclable electronic waste, use of non-renewable raw materials… All symbols of a plethoric consumption of resources that we now know are finite.
3 out of 4 French people don’t know what digital pollution is
The second problem we face is that, for the majority of French people, the Internet is dematerialized and therefore good for the planet! Less paper, fewer trees cut down, connected thermostats that save energy… Yet only 40% of French people make the connection between their computer or telephone and climate change… and 73% of French people have never heard of digital ecology!
Yet for the time being, the benefits for the climate are far from offsetting the pollution linked to infrastructures that consume a lot of resources and electricity. And while the French law on energy transition and green growth of August 17, 2015 (LTECV) has set the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 40% between 1990 and 2030, the digital sector is not escaping a necessary adjustment.
Digital sobriety as an alternative
To meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the digital sector needs to get in step with the controlled, reasoned consumption that now concerns all sectors. Just as we reduce our consumption of meat, prefer trains to planes, or abandon plastic water bottles in favor of reusable water bottles: everyone must now commit to a more sober and “conscious” digital consumption
The French expect companies to commit
According to Club Green IT, the average annual digital footprint of an employee is :
- 3,460 kWh of energy (i.e. 50% of the annual electricity consumption of a French person) ;
- 360 kg CO2 equivalent (or 2,400 km by car) ;
- 5,000 liters of water (or 36 days’ consumption for a French person) ;
- 3 kg of electronic waste ;
- 20 kg of graphic paper (i.e. 15% of the annual paper + cardboard consumption of a French person).
- The e-mails sent in a company with 100 employees over the course of a year represent the equivalent of… 13 round-trips between Paris and New York.
It’s easy to see why companies need to integrate criteria linked to digital sobriety into their purchasing and internal use policies.
An asset for companies at a time of ” raison d’être “
Companies have a lot to gain by adopting the sustainable pursuit of their digital transition, particularly in terms of cost containment but also in terms of image stakes. Indeed, 80% of French people would be more loyal to a brand if it made strong commitments to fight against its digital pollution.
FileVert, there are no small gestures for the planet
With FileVert, we position ourselves as a company resolutely focused on the common good. This is essential at a time when we face a major challenge and must, individually and collectively, imagine the uses of tomorrow.