Digital pollution statistics:
key figures for 2026, in France and worldwide

Digital pollution statistics (the environmental impact of devices, networks and data centres, also known as the digital carbon footprint when only greenhouse gases are counted): in France, digital technology accounts for 4.4% of the country's carbon footprint, or 29.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e), and 11% of its electricity, according to ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition (study of January 2025, 2022 data). Devices account for 50% of the digital carbon footprint, data centres (buildings that house servers) for 46% and networks for 4%. Worldwide, The Shift Project (a French think tank) puts digital technology at 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, after emissions grew by about 6% a year between 2015 and 2019.

The 2.5% figure for France comes from the previous edition of the same study, published in January 2022 with 2020 data, which did not count data centres located abroad. This page was last updated on 5 October 2026.

1Key figures on digital pollution, and how to cite them

The fact sheet gives 10 figures, 6 for France and 4 worldwide, each with its source and a full citation to copy.

To cite a figure in a presentation, you need only 3 things: the organisation, the year of publication and the year of the data. In the studies cited here, the 2 years differ: the ADEME study published in January 2025 covers 2022, and The Shift Project note of March 2021 covers 2019. Writing "4.4% in 2025" would therefore give the figure the wrong date.

Each percentage also has a scope, that is, a definition of what it counts. The 4.4% is a share of France's carbon footprint, meaning the emissions linked to what the country consumes, imports included: a phone made in Asia and sold in France is counted in it. The 3.5% from The Shift Project is a share of global greenhouse gas emissions. In these 2 cases, the unit is CO2 equivalent (CO2e), which adds up all greenhouse gases by converting them into CO2.

2In France: 4.4% of the carbon footprint and 11% of electricity consumption

In 2022, the digital goods and services consumed in France emitted 29.5 MtCO2e, out of a national footprint of 671 MtCO2e. According to ADEME, this is slightly less than the total emissions of the heavy goods vehicle sector. Per person, that comes to 434 kgCO2e a year (kilograms of CO2 equivalent), equivalent to driving about 3,050 km in a combustion-engine car (our calculation).

Digital technology also consumes 51.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in France, or 11% of national consumption (1 TWh is 1 billion kilowatt-hours). That 11% counts only electricity consumed in France. Adding the data centres located abroad that serve usage in France brings the total to 65 TWh, equivalent to 14% of French consumption.

Why the figure went from 2.5% to 4.4%

The first edition of the study, published by ADEME and Arcep (the French electronic communications regulator) in January 2022, covered 2020: 17.2 MtCO2e (16.9 at publication). It counted only data centres located in France. ADEME estimates, however, that about 53% of digital usage in the country is hosted abroad.

The January 2025 update adds them. The share of data centres rises from 16% to 46% and their emissions from 2.7 to 13.8 MtCO2e, 5 times the previous level (2022 value: our calculation). ADEME also revised the breakdown for televisions and incorporated a study on internet access provision. Overall, emissions come out 70% higher than in the previous study.

The change of scope explains most of this gap: according to ADEME, adding the data centres located abroad alone would have raised the emissions of the 2020 study by 47%, within a total increase of 70%. The move from 2.5% to 4.4% should therefore not be read as a rise between 2020 and 2022. ADEME also describes its results as conservative, meaning that they are more likely to be underestimates: networks outside France and the growth of generative AI are not counted.

3Devices and data centres weigh almost the same, networks far less

ADEME splits the carbon footprint of digital technology into 3 categories. Devices account for 50%: phones, computers, televisions, internet boxes and other connected devices. Data centres account for 46%: they host websites, videos and online services. Fixed and mobile networks make up the remaining 4%.

The manufacturing of all equipment (devices, servers, networks), also known as embodied emissions, accounts for 60% of the carbon footprint of digital technology, distribution and end of life included, while its use accounts for 40%. The previous edition, which did not count the data centres located abroad, gave 78% for manufacturing alone and 21% for use.

The study also counts resources: producing and running this equipment requires 117 million tonnes a year, or 1.7 tonnes per person, all materials combined. The water footprint is not assessed, because ADEME considers the uncertainties in the data too large.

4Per device: manufacturing weighs more than use

A new smartphone has a footprint of 80 kgCO2e over its whole life, of which 99% does not depend on use: manufacturing, transport and end of life. A laptop has a footprint of 193 kgCO2e (96% of it independent of use) and a television 370 kgCO2e (92%), equivalent to about 2,600 km by car (our calculation). These values come from Impact CO2, ADEME's website, and apply to France, where electricity is low-carbon.

Sorting your emails does little next to the manufacturing of a device: 1 new smartphone is equivalent to about 33,000 emails of 1 megabyte (MB), to 36 emails a day for 2 and a half years, or to 1,250 hours of online video (our calculations, using ADEME's reference values). The comparison is only indicative, since more than half of the value for the email and for the hour of video comes from the manufacturing of devices (our calculation).

Keeping a device for longer spreads its manufacturing over more years. A smartphone kept for 4 and a half years instead of 2 and a half has a footprint of 18 kgCO2e a year instead of 32, which is 44% less (our calculation). At national level in France, extending the lifespan of devices by 2 years would avoid 5.2 MtCO2e of manufacturing emissions in 2030 compared with the trend, according to ADEME and Arcep.

According to the Baromètre du numérique, a French survey conducted in 2025, 20% of smartphone owners have a second-hand or refurbished one, and 38% of people with at least 1 digital device have had at least 1 repaired in the past 3 years. For smartphones and tablets placed on the market since 20 June 2025, an EU regulation requires manufacturers and importers, or their representatives, to supply spare parts for at least 7 years after the end of sales. See manufacturers' repair obligations (in French).

5Per use, the figures for email, video and AI depend on what is counted

Per-use figures depend on what is counted: for an email, ADEME's values range from 0.11 to 2.5 gCO2e (grams of CO2 equivalent). ADEME's reference value is 2.5 gCO2e for a 1 MB email. 1 hour of online video emits 36 to 64 gCO2e according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and ADEME. A question to an AI assistant emits about 0.13 gCO2e from server electricity, based on the 0.3 watt-hours (Wh) of energy estimated by the research organisation Epoch AI (our conversion, using the global average carbon intensity of electricity). We cover each of them in the carbon cost of an email, that of TikTok and the environmental impact of AI.

These 3 values do not count the same thing. The 2.5 g for the email and the 64 g for the video include a share of the manufacturing of devices, whereas the 36 g for the video and the 0.13 g for the question to an AI count only electricity.

These per-use values do not explain the national total. Data centres account for 1 to 5% of the footprint of 1 hour of video according to the IEA, the Carbon Trust and ADEME, but for 46% of the digital carbon footprint in France, or about 200 kgCO2e per person per year (our calculation). We found no source that breaks these 200 kg down between video, business services and websites.

6Worldwide: The Shift Project's estimate and how other studies compare

The Shift Project, a think tank, published a global estimate in March 2021: 1.84 billion tonnes of CO2e in 2019, or 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, compared with 2.9% in 2013. The calculation covers the manufacturing and use of devices, networks and data centres, including connected televisions and games consoles.

These emissions rose by about 6% a year between 2015 and 2019, a rate equivalent to a doubling in 12 years (our calculation). For 2025, the note describes 4 scenarios, from 1.7 to 3.1 billion tonnes. Leaving aside the sobriety scenario (moderation in equipment and uses), digital technology was projected to account for 5.5 to 6.9% of global emissions in 2025. These projections date from 2021, and we have found no update.

Other studies give different shares, because the year, the scope and the method vary from one study to the next. A 2025 study by GreenIT, a French association, puts the share at 3.4% in 2023, or 1.8 billion tonnes. A study published in 2021 (Freitag et al.) puts it between 2.1 and 3.9% in 2020. Another, published in 2024 (Malmodin et al.), finds 1.4% in 2020, with televisions counted separately.

Worldwide, the electricity consumption of data centres rose from 165 TWh in 2014 to 420 TWh in 2024, excluding cryptocurrencies, according to the summary of The Shift Project's October 2025 report on AI, which cites the IEA; the agency itself publishes 415 TWh for 2024. Including cryptocurrencies, the report puts it at 530 TWh in 2023 and says it could reach 1,250 to 1,500 TWh in 2030, about 3 times France's electricity consumption (our calculation, using the 451 TWh of 2025 according to RTE, the French grid operator). We cover these projections in AI's electricity consumption.

The Shift Project has itself revised its figures. Its 2018 model gave 4% of global emissions for 2019, with growth of 8% a year. The 2021 model gives 3.5%; for the growth rate, the text of the note gives about 6% a year, while its table 5 gives 5.5%. Its 2025 report gives nearly 4% for 2020, referring back to its 2021 note.

In June 2020, it also acknowledged that a figure given by a member of its team in an interview, 1.6 kg of CO2 for half an hour of video, was wrong because of a unit error in the data rate: 3 megabytes per second instead of 3 megabits per second, which is 8 times too high (our calculation). It states that this figure does not come from its reports.

7Looking ahead: +45% in France between 2020 and 2030 if nothing changes

If nothing changes, the carbon footprint of digital technology in France would rise by about 45% between 2020 and 2030, to 25 MtCO2e, and then to 49.4 MtCO2e in 2050, nearly 3 times the 2020 level. This is the trend scenario of ADEME and Arcep, published in March 2023: it extends observed trends and assumes 6 times as much data traffic and nearly 65% more equipment in 2030.

The same study tests a sobriety scenario, which assumes in particular a stable number of devices and a device lifespan extended by 2 years. According to the study, the footprint would then fall by 16% compared with 2020, to 14 MtCO2e in 2030 (-19% against 17.2 MtCO2e: our calculation). For 2050, ADEME's 4 scenarios range from 9.3 MtCO2e ("Frugal Generation", Génération frugale in French) to 81 MtCO2e ("Reparatory Bet", Pari réparateur in French).

These trajectories were calculated before the 2025 update: they start from 17.2 MtCO2e in 2020 and do not count the data centres located abroad. They therefore do not match the 29.5 MtCO2e estimated for 2022. Generative AI is not included either. According to the summary of The Shift Project's October 2025 report, AI accounts for 15% of the electricity used by data centres worldwide in 2025, cryptocurrencies included (from one fifth to more than one third without them, depending on the estimates), and would account for at least 35% in 2030.

The world produced 62 million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) in 2022, of which 22.3% was documented as collected and recycled; the total is projected to reach 82 million tonnes in 2030, according to ITU (the International Telecommunication Union) and UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research), 2 United Nations bodies. This count covers all devices with a plug or a battery, from refrigerators to phones.

8Key takeaways

• Digital technology accounts for 4.4% of France's carbon footprint and 11% of its electricity (ADEME, 2022 data).
• The 2.5% figure dates from the previous edition, which did not count data centres located abroad.
• Manufacturing accounts for 60% of this footprint, and 99% of a smartphone's: keeping devices for longer reduces these emissions.
• Worldwide, The Shift Project puts digital technology at 3.5% of emissions in 2019; GreenIT gives 3.4% for 2023, and 2 other studies 1.4 to 3.9% for 2020.

For a company, the levers are set out in the IT carbon footprint of a company.

Further resources

Frequently asked questions

1What is digital pollution?

Digital pollution is the combined environmental impact of devices, networks and data centres: greenhouse gas emissions, metal extraction, electricity consumption and waste. It arises when equipment is manufactured, while it is in use and when it reaches the end of its life. In France, the manufacturing of equipment and infrastructure accounts for 60% of the digital carbon footprint and their use for 40%, according to ADEME (2022 data).

2What share of CO2 emissions comes from digital technology?

Worldwide, The Shift Project estimates 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, GreenIT 3.4% in 2023 and 2 other studies 1.4% to 3.9% in 2020, with scopes and methods that differ. In France, digital technology accounted for 4.4% of the country's carbon footprint in 2022, or 29.5 million tonnes of CO2e, according to ADEME.

3What pollutes most in digital technology: devices, data centres or networks?

Devices and data centres weigh almost the same: 50% and 46% of the digital carbon footprint in France, against 4% for networks (ADEME, 2022 data). By stage, the manufacturing of equipment and infrastructure accounts for 60% and their use for 40%. For a single device, from 78% (internet box) to 99% (smartphone) of the footprint does not depend on use (our calculation, based on Impact CO2 values).

4How much CO2 does it take to make a smartphone?

Manufacturing and transport account for about 79 kgCO2e of a smartphone's total footprint of 80 kgCO2e over 2 and a half years of use, according to Impact CO2, ADEME's website. Electricity for charging accounts for less than 1 kgCO2e over that period. Keeping the phone for 4 and a half years brings its footprint down from 32 to 18 kgCO2e a year (our calculation).

5Does digital technology pollute more than aviation?

It depends on what is counted. The Shift Project puts digital technology at 3.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 and civil aviation at about 2.5% of these emissions in 2018. Another study (Malmodin et al., 2024) gives 1.4% for digital technology in 2020, with televisions counted separately. For aviation, the industry reports 882 million tonnes of CO2 in 2023, about 2% of human CO2 emissions. These figures do not measure the same thing: the digital figure covers all greenhouse gases, including those from the manufacturing of devices, whereas the aviation industry figure covers only the CO2 from fuel and leaves out the other climate effects of aviation, such as contrails.

6How can you reduce your digital pollution?

Start by keeping your devices for longer, having them repaired and buying second-hand or refurbished, since 99% of a smartphone's footprint does not depend on its use. Next, limit the number of screens: a television has a footprint of 370 kgCO2e, a smartphone 80. Values per use are smaller per unit (2.5 gCO2e for a 1 MB email, 36 to 64 gCO2e for 1 hour of video), and we have not found a source that quantifies what reducing these uses avoids on the data centre side.

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