This recently released paper from the University of Bristol, University of Cambridge and Fraser Nash Consultancy, commissioned by the UK Government Departments DCMS and DCIS shed light on the nature of the UK's digital emissions, and an outline of current policy interventions.

What we particularly like about this paper is:

• It provides a robust discussion about the dynamics of how increasing digital usage may impact emissions - much aligned to DIMPACT's first Policy Paper
• Stressing the importance of embodied emissions when considering policy interventions.
• An outline of the current policy landscape, and how policymakers are currently addressing digital emissions - including a useful 'policy taxonomy' in the Annex, complete with examples.
• The role of industry and collaboration in delivering emissions reductions despite increasing use.

This study focuses on embodied carbon emissions of user devices associated with accessing networks: Tablets, smartphones and feature phones, laptop and desktop PCs and customer premises equipment (CPEs).

The paper investigates the embodied carbon emissions by applying different approaches:

• the commonly used approach where estimated product carbon emissions are scaled up by shipments
• allocation of the electronic sector companies’ reported data combined with materials data for the products, and the upstream carbon emissions reported by user device vendors (final manufacturers).

Despite its sensitivity to allocation the second approach is considered to give the most reasonable overall result of about 180 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) related to chosen user device types and shipments in 2020.

This article, from leading thinkers on digital sustainability, argues that digitalisation is a major ‘wild-card’ in the pursuit of a cessation of global warming. They explain how digital technologies can directly and indirectly increase or decrease GHG emissions.

The paper assesses the methodological challenges in estimating each of these effects, and thus the future of digitisation as a tool to combat global warming.

The authors then provide a set of recommendations to increase consistency and robustness of estimates of digital sustainability, while also helping to identify key levers to maximize the potential benefits of digitalization while minimizing its risks. They advocate for coordinated and complementary efforts from policy makers, industry, researchers, and other organisations.

This publication is a follow-up that provides additional insight into a question that has naturally arisen from the seminal Carbon Trust study: “now that it is clear that emissions from device use make up the majority of internet uses like streaming, what should we do next to continue reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions?”

Contents of this paper include:

1. Principles for evidence-based policy decision-making, built upon a technical review of academic and industry input.
2. Key messages distilled from academic and industry experts on the historical progress and future-facing opportunities for decarbonisation of the digital sector.
3. Reframing of some misconceptions about the digital sector’s energy consumption trends, which have arisen from (a) a lack of insight into different modelling types and their limitations, and (b) an incorrect association of demand growth for digital services vs. energy consumption and carbon footprint changes.