{"id":37397,"date":"2024-08-12T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T07:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.striped-giraffe.com\/?p=37397"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T09:15:47","slug":"unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.striped-giraffe.com\/en\/blog\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"UNCTAD Highlights Environmental Costs of Digital Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #ef6c00;\">While digitization undeniably drives global economic growth, its environmental repercussions are becoming increasingly severe. The latest \u201cDigital Economy Report 2024\u201d by the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) serves as a wake-up call, urging us to confront the environmental consequences of our digital lifestyles.<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;20px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The report warns that rapid digitization comes at a significant environmental cost. The production, usage, and disposal of digital devices and infrastructure contribute heavily to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, resource depletion, and e-waste.<\/p>\n<p>While highlighting the economic benefits and enhanced connectivity of technological advancements, the UNCTAD report underscores the pressing environmental challenges accompanying this growth. Let\u2019s take a look at the key figures.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;20px&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;37385&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;20px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>Environmental impact of digitization<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The information and communications technology (ICT) sector\u2019s carbon footprint in 2020, estimated at between 0.69 and 1.6 gigatons of CO2 equivalent emissions, accounted for 1.5% to 3.2% of global GHG emissions \u2013 at the upper range, slightly below the entire shipping industry\u2019s contribution to CO2 emissions.<\/li>\n<li>The production of a single 2 kg computer requires the extraction of a staggering 800 kg of raw materials.<\/li>\n<li>The production of minerals essential for the digital transition, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, is projected to surge by 500% by 2050.<\/li>\n<li>Data centers consumed an estimated 460 TWh of electricity in 2022, with consumption expected to double by 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Digital-related waste increased by 30% between 2010 and 2022, reaching 10.5 million tons globally.<\/li>\n<li>Developed countries generate 25 kg of digital waste per person, compared to less than 1 kg in developing countries and just 0.21 kg in least developed countries (LDCs).<\/li>\n<li>Only 24% of digital waste was formally collected globally in 2022, with a mere 7.5% collection rate in developing countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;40px&#8221;][vc_column_text]As we delve further into the digital economy, one sector stands out for its rapid growth and profound impact: <strong>e-commerce<\/strong>. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing UNCTAD\u2019s recommendations for fostering sustainable digital commerce, along with success stories from companies making impactful changes.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 <\/span>check out our blog regularly and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5392994\/\">social media<\/a> to catch every installment of this series!<\/p>\n<p>You can download the entire UNCTAD report for free <a href=\"https:\/\/unctad.org\/publication\/digital-economy-report-2024\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;20px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>You may also like:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our free e-book <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.striped-giraffe.com\/en\/esg-ebook\/\">\u201cESG \u2013 It is our responsibility\u201d<\/a><\/strong>: everything you need to know now about ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) and how you can meet your responsibilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text] While digitization undeniably drives global economic growth, its environmental repercussions are becoming increasingly severe. The latest \u201cDigital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[417],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-news-en","wpbf-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.5 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UNCTAD Highlights Environmental Costs of Digital Transformation - Striped Giraffe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UNCTAD Report: While digitization undeniably drives global economic growth, its environmental repercussions are becoming increasingly severe.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.striped-giraffe.com\/en\/blog\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNCTAD Highlights Environmental Costs of Digital Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UNCTAD Report: While digitization undeniably drives global economic growth, its environmental repercussions are becoming increasingly severe.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.striped-giraffe.com\/en\/blog\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Striped Giraffe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-12T07:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T09:15:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Striped Giraffe Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Striped Giraffe Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Striped Giraffe Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec927d63d1ba2192e5547709e188c6d5\"},\"headline\":\"UNCTAD Highlights Environmental Costs of Digital Transformation\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-12T07:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-25T09:15:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/de\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Short News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.striped-giraffe.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/unctad-highlights-environmental-costs-of-digital-transformation\\\/\",\"name\":\"UNCTAD Highlights Environmental Costs of Digital Transformation - 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