Digitize or save the world. Digitize, while saving it.
Summary
The article argues that rapid digitisation and the rise of AI are driving huge increases in global energy and resource consumption. While digitising reality promises efficiency gains and new revenue pools, the infrastructure required (data centres, training LLMs, servers) risks severe environmental impact unless energy strategy and sustainability are redesigned alongside technology adoption.
It highlights the need for businesses to map the energy and ESG footprint of exponential technologies, embed accountability into IT and procurement, and use legal and contractual tools to ensure suppliers meet environmental, social and governance standards. Examples include clauses demanding green data centres, monitoring of digital carbon, privacy protections, DEI requirements and governance standards enforced via ESG-SLAs, audits, indemnities and even blockchain smart contracts.
Key Points
- AI and tech are rapidly increasing global electricity demand; GenAI queries alone would need the output of two new nuclear reactors every year, the article warns.
- Digitisation offers major efficiencies and new profit pools but must be aligned with sustainable energy policies to avoid environmental damage.
- Companies must map technology consumption and make IT and Procurement teams accountable for suppliers’ ESG performance.
- Legal and contractual tools — ESG-SLAs, periodic third-party ESG audits, indemnity clauses and smart contracts — should be used to enforce sustainability across tech supply chains.
- Organisational focus should include environmental metrics (PUE, renewable power), digital social rights (privacy), workforce DEI and governance standards (ISO 26000, GRI), not just compliance but a forward-looking stance on where tech and consumer expectations are headed.
Why should I read this?
Look — if you care about growth but don’t want your tech bill to come due in the form of a trashed planet, this is a fast wake‑up call. It tells you what to ask vendors, what your procurement and legal teams must do, and why CEOs should be at the table when energy and tech meet. Short, sharp and useful.
Author’s take
Punchy and practical: Francesco Pagano pushes a clear message to execs — digitise, yes, but make sustainability a non-negotiable part of buying and deploying technology. He amplifies Caterina Alessia Dibitonto’s legal perspective on embedding ESG into contracts and urges leaders to start talking energy with institutions, suppliers and customers now.
Source
Source: https://ceoworld.biz/2025/11/03/digitize-or-save-the-world-digitize-while-saving-it/
