Paris (AFP)

How to reconcile digital development and ecological transition?

The Senate dominated by the right-wing opposition broadly adopted on Tuesday evening at first reading a transpartisan bill aimed at "reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology".

Carried by Patrick Chaize and Guillaume Chevrollier (LR) as well as Jean-Michel Houllegatte (PS) and Hervé Maurey (centrist), the text was co-signed by some 130 senators from all sides.

The uses of digital are "exploding", a trend which should be further accentuated with the disputed arrival of 5G.

The development of digital technology is "essential to the ecological transition, in particular through the innovations it enables in the most polluting industrial sectors, but these gains are associated with environmental impacts", underlined Mr. Chaize, citing carbon emissions, but also energy and water consumption.

Like several of his colleagues, the centrist Hervé Maurey recalled that the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher (LR) had seized the High Council for the Climate on the impact of 5G.

"His report is rather alarming since he estimates that this generation of network will lead to a + significant increase + in the carbon footprint of digital technology," he said.

For the Secretary of State in charge of the Digital Transition, Cédric O, "the will which irrigates the proposed law joins that of the government as part of its interministerial roadmap to bring digital and ecology together" which must be presented "at the start February".

He nevertheless expressed "reservations" on certain points.

The authors of the bill intend to activate four "priority levers".

- "An innovative text" -

An essential point, it aims to limit the renewal of digital terminals, "whose manufacture is the main responsible for the carbon footprint of digital in France": the senators notably propose to "sanction software obsolescence".

Digital equipment, telephones, computers and other electronic equipment, represent around 80% of the environmental impact of digital.

The bill also intends to promote "ecologically virtuous" digital uses, in particular by making "eco-design" of websites compulsory, and "bringing about environmental regulation" to prevent the increase in consumption and emissions from networks and centers. of data.

The senators want in particular to ask operators to subscribe by 2023 to binding multi-year environmental commitments with Arcep, the telecoms gendarme.

On certain points, the government favors an "incentive" rather than "binding" approach, noted Mr. O, specifying that consultations are planned with the telecom operators to accelerate the repackaging of telephones, as well as with digital platforms on the Internet. consumption of videos.

According to the work of a senatorial information mission, if nothing is done, digital technology would by 2040 be the source of 24 million tonnes of carbon equivalent, or about 7% of France's emissions, against 2% today.

The environmental group, which through the voice of Jacques Fernique hailed "an innovative text" with "many strengths", unsuccessfully defended several provisions to "strengthen" it.

The environmental senators especially wanted the research observatory of the environmental impacts of digital technology, which the text proposes to set up, to assess the environmental impact of the deployment of the 5G network.

More critical, Marie-Claude Varaillas (predominantly Communist CRCE) expressed doubts that the scope of the text "is commensurate with the challenges".

"With this text the Senate is doing useful work," said Frédéric Marchand (RDPI with a radical majority).

The digital environmental footprint is "today a social issue on which it is time to adopt a shared strategy, but this bill is in no way the digital trial or the fruit of a reflection by senators above ground. On the contrary, "he added.

© 2021 AFP