The digital sector in global emissions
Share of digital in global greenhouse gas emissions, in %
The digital sector in global emissions
Sources
Source: Shift Project; GreenIT; Freitag et al.; Malmodin et al.. projetcelsius.com/en/ai · CC BY 4.0- The Shift ProjectImpact environnemental du numérique : tendances à 5 ans et gouvernance de la 5GMarch 2021 (new tab)
- GreenITImpacts environnementaux du numérique dans le mondeFebruary 2025 (new tab)
- Lancaster UniversityFreitag et al., The real climate and transformative impact of ICT, Patterns, 2021September 2021 (new tab)
- Ericsson and TeliaMalmodin et al., ICT sector electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions - 2020 outcome, Telecommunications Policy, 2024April 2024 (new tab)
The analysis
- Estimates range from 1.4 to 3.9%: of the order of aviation for the highest.
- The gap comes first from scope: Malmodin and his co-authors, researchers at Ericsson and Telia, do not count televisions.
- These studies predate the rise of generative AI: it weighs almost nothing in them.
The figures
- The Shift Project (2019 data): 3.5 %.
- GreenIT (2023 data): 3.4 %.
- Freitag et al. (2020 data): 2.1 to 3.9%.
- Malmodin et al. (2020 data, excluding televisions): 1.4 %.
Assumptions
- Digital: devices, networks, data centres; televisions depending on the study.
- Different years of data, from 2019 to 2023.
- Digital changes fast: these shares age within 2 or 3 years.
More on climate
The whole Climate topic →Charts and maps
Chart
ClimateThe digital sector in France, in 3 categories4.4%of France's carbon footprintChartClimateGoogle and Microsoft emissions58 to 81%rise in emissions since the baseline yearChartClimateElectricity emissions, by contract or by grid1 to 4,400the same scope 2 at Meta, depending on the methodChartClimateOne question, 4 ways of counting CO2eover90timesgap between the lowest and the highest
ClimateThe digital sector in France, in 3 categories4.4%of France's carbon footprintChartClimateGoogle and Microsoft emissions58 to 81%rise in emissions since the baseline yearChartClimateElectricity emissions, by contract or by grid1 to 4,400the same scope 2 at Meta, depending on the methodChartClimateOne question, 4 ways of counting CO2eover90timesgap between the lowest and the highestAnalyses
AnalysisClimate12 November 2026Why do estimates of AI's impact differ?Calculated with French electricity, one question to an AI emits 0.012 gram of CO2e; Mistral AI publishes 1.14 gram, more than 90 times as much. Its water use ranges from 0.26 to 45 millilitres depending on the published measurements. These figures are accurate; they do not cover the same scope.
Where does this figure come from?Climate20 October 2026"Meta's electricity emits only 1,358 tonnes of CO2e"In 2024, Meta reports 1,358 tonnes of CO2e for the electricity it buys, the annual footprint of 170 people in France. The same report also gives 5.97 million tonnes. Both of the 2 figures are accurate.Tools
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