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The deployment of 5G in France will likely increase greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, the country’s High Council on Climate said today.
“The carbon impact of 5G deployment could amount to between 2.7 and 6.7 million tons of CO2-equivalent in 2030. That’s a significant increase compared to the tech sector’s environmental impact (about 15 million tons of CO2-equivalent in 2020),” the independent body wrote in a report.
The report was commissioned by the French Senate in March to assess the impact of 5G on greenhouse gas emissions.
The rollout of 5G has proven controversial in France. In September, dozens of elected officials from the Greens, Socialists and left-wing France Unbowed asked for a moratorium until the summer, because of uncertainties around the technology’s health and environmental impact.
But protests on the streets and local opposition by mayors were not enough to stop the 5G spectrum auctions.
According to the High Council on Climate report, the rise of greenhouse gas emissions will be caused by the manufacturing of new 5G-compatible electronic devices such as smartphones and connected objects, and the construction of new telecom networks and data centers. The rollout of 5G will also lead to more production and consumption of electricity.
To limit the environmental impact, the independent body recommends to set European energy-consumption norms for the usage phase of electronic devices and infrastructures. At the national level, the country’s telecom regulator Arcep could set objectives for operators.
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