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Name :	JOAO, Santana
Date :	December 07, 2021
Organization :	AICEP
Country :	Portugal
Job Title :	Mr
Contribution :	ICT has been always seen as an important ally in the global effort against climate changes because of its disruptive capacity to transform processes and practices in every economic sector. With the internet and the different digital devices which surround us nowadays, many people is able to work from home, without going to their working places, and as such, without contributing to the increase of global heating. However that potential has not been fully used and the digital infrastructures as well as digital products of high energy use, are growing without control. The energy consumption related to ICT’s has been increasing 9% year after year, with consequent effects in the greenhouse emissions. ICT sector is seen of paramount importance to mitigate the causes and to adapt to climate changes. However in general terms the direct and indirect environmental impacts related to the growing use of digital equipment are constantly being undermined due to the small dimension of the devices and the invisibility of the related infrastructure. Therefore the changes of consumption patterns towards a digital sobriety, especially in developing countries, may give rise to a digital transition aligned with the global concerns with climate changes. A balanced digital transition has to do basically with the purchase of low energy consumption devices, which do not need to be charged often, and to reduce the unnecessary use of high energy consumption devices. To-day the digital transition generates a strong increase of the ICT’s carbon footprint, seen in the energy used to produce and use of equipment (such as servers, networks and terminals) which have been growing at an yearly rate of 9% . Yet the digital consumption is highly uneven. The excessive digital consumption is not a global phenomenon, it is caused by the rich countries, which use more digital devices and more energy to operate them. If we change our relationship with digital technologies, from an excessive consumption to a more balanced use, one may reduce the energy consumption by 1,5% yearly. All of us like to buy broadband plans, and other internet connection without even considering their impact on our environment. This is getting serious as the use of the internet is becoming more common compared to the past times. All of us need to be conscious about this fact and start educating ourselves along with the creation of awareness from those who are ignorant about it. We all use the internet to communicate with others, to use the same for hosting video conference calls or just to call one’s family. The fact remains that we all use the internet increasingly more these days on account of the fact that we can now carry out several tasks from being online. And thanks to IOT, or internet of things, the ways and means through which we can use the net to control our immediate environment has grown tenfold in the last few years. Although we are not yet living in a dystopian world, we may as well be there given the sheer amount of time that each one of us spends online. Given this, it is time that we took a closer look at some of the positive and negative impacts of the internet and the way it is being utilized today.