Since 2020, Arcep has been collecting data from the country’s main operators on their environmental footprint, which led to the publication of the first edition of the annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey. The third edition, which is due to be published in early 2024, will also include data collected from data centre operators and device manufacturers[1].
With this new Decision, Arcep is further expanding its data collection in 2024, with a view to the fourth edition of its annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey, scheduled for publication in the first half of 2025
Arcep is posting its new Decision on environmental data collection, which was approved on 15 February 2024. With this Decision the Authority is expanding its data collection to include mobile network equipment suppliers, focusing on the main types of hardware that make up a cell site. The indicators being collected include:
- volumes of equipment sold in France;
- that hardware’s greenhouse gas emissions;
- the volumes of rare earths and precious metals used to produce them.
Arcep is also clarifying the data collection process that already exists with electronic communications operators, data centre operators and device manufacturers. In particular, data collected from data centre operators will henceforth include indicators regarding their physical footprint and the quantity of refrigerants that they emit into the atmosphere.
These new indicators were defined following a series of interactions with the stakeholders affected by the data collection, then submitted to public consultation. Some ten contributions in all were received. The following are being published today:
- the Decision on data collection,
- the questionnaires that each type of company is required to complete,
- details of indicator definitions,
- responses to the public consultation.
The affected stakeholders must submit all of the required data to Arcep by 31 March 2024.
Annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey: a tool to inform public debate and discussions over a low-carbon strategy for digital technology
There are four main objectives attached to Arcep’s annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey:
- Inform citizens, public sector players and all of the stakeholders on the digital sector’s environmental footprint;
- Identify economic players’ activities that are likely to have an impact on the environment;
- Encourage stakeholders to take steps to achieve the most efficient measurement possible of their environmental footprint;
- Monitor the progression of these indicators over time, creating the ability to assess the impact of environmental protection actions put in place by businesses, and to supply relevant information for evaluating public policies on digital and the environment, and particularly the Authority’s actions in this area.
“Achieving digital sustainability” and the new powers conferred on Arcep In June 2020, Arcep launched the “Achieving digital sustainability” collaborative platform, calling on associations, institutions, operators, tech companies and interested experts to contribute to the investigative process. After six months punctuated by five thematic workshops and two “big discussions” with 127 participants, Arcep published a status report which was the culmination of the work done thus far, and included 42 contributions authored by participating stakeholders. In this report, the regulator set forth 11 proposals for successfully combining the ongoing increase in the use of digital tech and reducing its environmental footprint, which included the creation of a Green barometer. In 2021, the Government entrusted Arcep with the task of creating this barometer, covering the entire digital ecosystem. The “Chaize Act”, on reinforcing regulation of the digital sector by Arcep, strengthens Arcep’s powers by giving it the ability to collect environmental data not only from electronic communications operators, but also from online communication service providers, data centre operators, consumer device manufacturers, network equipment suppliers and operating system providers. To find out more: Core issue: “The digital environmental footprint” |