The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives aimed at ensuring that the EU achieves climate neutrality by 2050. In light of this challenge, the parallel goals of the green and digital transitions are at the forefront of the European Commission’s priorities, but are they compatible? A new study from the UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) warns of the risk of grouping these two transformations together, as environmental challenges may be relegated to a secondary role compared to digital innovation.
The study highlights that the EU is using this dual or twin transition to gain “a competitive advantage in the digital market, placing environmental governance at the service of a very narrow aspect of sustainability: the sustainability of the new digital sector.”
Neglecting the Most Pressing Environmental Challenges
The research, based on a comprehensive analysis of high-level EU policy documents, shows how the merging of the green and digital transitions “turns environmental issues into business opportunities that can be exploited by digital technologies (such as AI, big data, and blockchain), thereby creating new markets.” At the same time, it places environmental governance at the service of the digital sector, distancing it “from environmental concerns and promoting the sustainability of the new digital sector,” the authors state in the article.
As Kovacic explains, this is a clear case of “lamp posting,” meaning a focus on problems that are easier to solve rather than those requiring urgent solutions. “Significant environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, soil degradation, changes in geochemical cycles, and water depletion and pollution, to name just a few, are being overlooked as a result of the dual transition because they are not digital challenges. Instead, priority is being given to issues that can be addressed with digital technologies,” the researcher affirms.
Complete study:
Kovacic, Z., García Casañas, C., Argüelles, L., Yáñez Serrano, P., Ribera-Fumaz, R., Prause, L., & March, H. (2024). The twin green and digital transition: High-level policy or science fiction? Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486241258046
