The GSMA, a London-based industry body, has stated that mobile and digital technology can help reduce carbon emissions by about 40% in the top-emitting industrial sectors over the next decade. These sectors include manufacturing, power and energy, transport, and building, which collectively account for about 80% of global emissions. The Mobile Net Zero report for 2023 suggests that digitalization, seen as a key enabler of the decarbonization transition, can help reduce the carbon footprint of these sectors if deployed at scale.
The report highlights that for any country or company to achieve net zero by 2050, reductions of 50% will be required in each successive decade leading up to that point. The next 10 years to 2030 are therefore crucial, with the required cut in global carbon dioxide emissions around 26GT. The report states that mobile connectivity, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and other digital technologies are being used by enterprises to lower their own energy use and emissions.
As digitization continues to grow across the economy, the report suggests that the energy reduction aspect of advanced technology will increasingly become a unique selling point for telcos, equipment vendors, and tech companies. However, the cost of investment, integration complexities, and a lack of information on returns is considered to be the main challenges in trying to achieve the goal. The GSMA is also pushing for a circular economy within the mobile device sector, which relies on the supply of finite resources, causing one of its biggest environmental impacts.
The circular economy is an economic system that focuses on reducing the extraction of natural resources, minimizing waste, and regenerating natural systems. The GSMA believes that a circular economy is a fast-emerging trend to boost rates of reuse, remanufacture, refurbishment, recyclability, and recycling in the mobile device market.
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