What is the role of digital technology in relation to climate action?
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), tasked with monitoring global temperatures, reported that at least 10 countries have recorded temperatures above 50 °C in 20241 such extreme heat increases the risks of wildfires, droughts, water shortages, and food insecurity. Scientists believe this global burning will likely continue due to the continuous release of greenhouse gases from human activities, e.g., burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes. In parallel, digital technologies are continuously being used and integrated by individuals, businesses, and governments too. Sustainable IT is an approach to IT that aims to minimize negative impacts of IT operations to the environment and society and encompasses the entire lifecycle of IT. This article launches a series of content over the course of this year to provide more information about sustainable IT. PALO IT Thailand is committed to implementing sustainable IT in the way we work. This article will highlight two examples of environmental and social impacts (one each) and what solutions PALO IT has applied to address them.
Environment Impacts
Starting with the negative environmental impacts, there are several – the increased use of electricity, water, rare earth minerals, and waste from IT equipment to name a few. However, the most urgent would be the monitoring and reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The digital technology sector has a significant GHG footprint and to do GHG accounting, it will require the technical know-how and to diligently track the direct and indirect emissions across the various stages of the technology lifecycle. Thus, there are several challenges in GHG accounting in the digital technology sector: the technical skill of doing GHG accounting according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, obtaining accurate and consistent data on energy consumption and emissions across the entire value chain, rapid technological advancement makes it hard to keep track of emissions associated with each type of technology and business models, and the complex, global supply chain of the sector makes it difficult to trace emissions accurately. Considering these challenges, PALO IT has developed an automatic GHG accounting module within our PALO IT Impact Tracker, an ESG data management platform, which can track and manage other types of sustainability data e.g., energy, water, and waste too. PALO IT uses this tool to track and monitor our GHG emission footprint, help us plan towards net zero, and offer it as a solution to our clients.
Social Impacts
For the social impacts, digitalization has impacts on people, specifically their personal data and interaction with digital services. A pressing issue is the low prioritization of diverse expertise e.g., sustainability, safety/human rights, and/or security experts involved in the development, assessment, or monitoring the use of digital technologies to ensure there is no harm or misuse. An example if from Facebook/Meta, specifically the Cambridge Analytica case in 2018, where 50+ million Facebook user’s personal data was taken without consent and sold to political campaigns to influence politics in the United States2.
More recently, in January of 2025, Meta also announced the elimination of fact-checkers, which was started in 2016 after bad-faith actors leveraged its platforms to spread misinformation and cause discord in the US3 despite admitting that more harmful content will appear on the platform. PALO IT is mindful of responsible technology, applying ‘do no harm’ principle, and take pride in having diversity of both technical knowledge (from business innovation, data scientists, AI experts, engineers to sustainability/human rights experts) and cultural diversity (more than 50+ nationalities). PALO IT continuously trains all staff on sustainability and positive impact.
There is no doubt that digital technology bought a wide-range benefits across various aspects of our lives: enhanced communication and connectivity; increased efficiency, customer experience, and economic growth; and expanded access to information, education, and cultures etc. However, as technology advances or changes, we must be mindful and understand how it impacts the economy, environment, and society in a balanced way. PALO IT Thailand champions sustainable IT because it is the right thing to do and how we contribute to make a positive impact with our clients for society and the environment.
Please stay tuned to part two of this series to be released in February 2025, explaining the difference between sustainability and ESG.
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