Technological solutions for various problems can often be effective, and major tech companies have been trying to use this approach to tackle the most significant threat of all: climate change. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, big tech corporations including the likes of Alphabet, Apple and Salesforce said that they would be investing half a billion dollars into carbon capture technology that can remove carbon from the atmosphere and reduce global warming in the process.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this is in line with what the UN has been saying. The United Nations has recently said that reducing emissions is no longer going to be sufficient because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up failing to properly mitigate the damage that has already been done. From that perspective, carbon capture technology will be vital to the protection of the Earth’s future.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, this solution will not do much to reduce the emissions that Big Tech itself is responsible for. Many industries need to create emissions because there is no way for them to function with renewables just yet. In the case of tech companies, much of their emissions come from data centers, and until they start to store data in a sustainable way no amount of carbon extraction would be able to help with all things having been considered and taken into account.
While the importance of proactively removing carbon has become more important than ever, reducing emissions is also a prime concern. Until emissions are reduced, any carbon removal techniques would barely scratch the surface. Big Tech needs to recognize the role it plays and understand that this will not absolve them of the role that they have played in the current climate crisis, a role that they continue to play despite their attempts to brand themselves as the saviors of our planet through carbon removal investments and such.
Read next: New Report Reveals Tech Companies and Lobbyists Might Be Writing US State Privacy Laws
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this is in line with what the UN has been saying. The United Nations has recently said that reducing emissions is no longer going to be sufficient because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up failing to properly mitigate the damage that has already been done. From that perspective, carbon capture technology will be vital to the protection of the Earth’s future.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, this solution will not do much to reduce the emissions that Big Tech itself is responsible for. Many industries need to create emissions because there is no way for them to function with renewables just yet. In the case of tech companies, much of their emissions come from data centers, and until they start to store data in a sustainable way no amount of carbon extraction would be able to help with all things having been considered and taken into account.
While the importance of proactively removing carbon has become more important than ever, reducing emissions is also a prime concern. Until emissions are reduced, any carbon removal techniques would barely scratch the surface. Big Tech needs to recognize the role it plays and understand that this will not absolve them of the role that they have played in the current climate crisis, a role that they continue to play despite their attempts to brand themselves as the saviors of our planet through carbon removal investments and such.
Read next: New Report Reveals Tech Companies and Lobbyists Might Be Writing US State Privacy Laws
