The article calls for greater transparency and accountability from tech companies about their environmental impact and resource use. It suggests that policy should support companies moving in the right direction and that disclosure of environmental practices should be a condition for government support. The author argues for a comprehensive systematic view to mitigate the tech industry's environmental impacts, integrating knowledge at all levels and adopting a holistic perspective. The article concludes that it's time to approach today's grand challenges systemically, so that the solution to one problem does not exacerbate another.
Key takeaways:
- The tech industry, particularly datacentres and large language models like ChatGPT, consume massive amounts of energy and contribute significantly to global greenhouse emissions.
- These energy-intensive operations also potentially exacerbate water consumption issues, especially in drier regions, and the extraction of minerals needed for datacentre batteries can lead to pollution and human rights violations.
- There is a need for greater transparency from tech companies about their environmental impact and resource use, and for government support to be conditional on improved environmental practices and impacts.
- Policymakers face the challenge of cultivating less extractive business models in the tech industry, requiring a comprehensive, systematic approach that integrates knowledge at all levels and mitigates the significant environmental impacts of the industry.