Digital and Environment
While technologies can be used to monitor and preserve endangered species or detect pollution levels in fragile ecosystems, rapid digital transformation also comes at a cost for our environment. Environmentally conscious digital policies must address technology’s adverse impacts on the atmosphere, biodiversity, climate change, energy consumption, food and agriculture, land and deforestation, oceans and seas, extraction of rare materials, pollution and e-waste, and water.
The Geneva Environment Network (GEN) holds workshops and roundtables on using high-quality data to track the 2030 Agenda implementation progress, mitigating the carbon footprint of digital tools, and leveraging digital technologies like Earth observations for data monitoring and collection. The Group on Earth Observations leads crucial information and knowledge initiatives such as Land Degradation Neutrality, the Biodiversity Observation Network, Global Agricultural Monitoring, the Global Forest Observation Initiative, and the Global Observation System for Mercury.
