The possible mission of the ecological transition
(by Vito Coviello - AIDR Member and Head of the Digital Technologies Observatory in the Transport and Logistics sector)
Year 2050, The European Union has won its challenge: there are no more net emissions of greenhouse gases having implemented an economic and financial system that uses only sustainable solutions.
The energy supply system has been completely rethought and reorganized, which is now clean in all sectors: transport, industries, construction, agriculture, production and processing of food products, now protect ecosystems with a sustainable use of resources.
It was not easy, but it was also achieved on other continents thanks to the leadership of the EU.
The Planet is now safe, the health of human beings is also safe.
No country, no human being was left behind because the survival of all humanity was at stake.
It could be the script of an upcoming science fiction film, not catastrophic for once, or as we all hope, even if not all of us will be able to see it in person, the incipit of the newspapers of January 1, 2050, all strictly online of course. .
We cannot predict the future, but we must believe it for ourselves and for the generations to come after us.
The European Union believes that with the new Green Deal declares that it wants to achieve the above objectives.
The energy transition is a central point of the program but it involves a radical change in our lifestyle, are we really ready to do it?
If we try to imagine the transition over the next 30 years as an intergenerational relay, at the first change of baton between the current generation and the next we must have demonstrated that we have successfully launched the plan, especially in Italy.
Figure 1 represents at a high level how the European Union intends to make the transition and transform the economy for a sustainable future.
Figure 1. The European Green Deal source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/"
The union will obviously not only limit itself to launching the new measures and ensuring the economic coverage of the plan, but will collaborate with all member states and will ensure that the plan is implemented effectively and on schedule.
Italy, like the other countries of the union, will have to present its ecological transition plan, giving ample space to innovations, but with a strong focus on environmental effects.
It will have to start with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) 2021-2026 and then continue towards the most important milestones of 2030 and 2050, passing the baton to future generations without interruption.
The UN 2030 agenda is the timeline signed in 2015 by the 193 UN member countries and includes 17 sustainable development goals that can be traced back to three fundamental and inseparable dimensions for implementing sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. .
The European Union with its Green Deal has drawn up the action plan even going beyond 2030 and aims to be the first zero-emission continent in 2050: no net emissions of greenhouse gases, economic growth dissociated from the use of resources and nowhere, no person who will be left behind in this process of approaching the goal.
Over time, we have all become aware of both the state of environmental degradation in which the planet finds itself and of the triggering causes: continuous deforestation to make room for grasslands and farms, excessive consumption of meat, uncontrolled exploitation of resources, excessive use of derivative energy fossil, scarce use of alternative energies, unbalanced industrial production regarding the use of resources and much more.
It is fascinating to be able to think that in the next thirty years a 360-degree turnaround can be achieved and that humanity bans all economic, political and social conflicts and achieves such a challenging goal.
It is fascinating but we must believe it if we care about our fate and those of future generations: we must bequeath a planet where we can continue to live.
It is also easy to understand that the digitalization of processes will play a fundamental role in this challenge but have we ever asked ourselves whether digitalization also pollutes?
This question may seem out of place in such a complicated moment where it is essential to ensure the growth of digital and the skills necessary to use it.
In order to clear the field of all doubts, digital and its growth is indispensable in the context of the Green Deal but we must also be aware that it is not the solution to all evils and that even its correct use contributes to lowering the pollution.
Below is an interesting passage from an article written by Guido Rancilio in Avvenire:
“… I don't know how many have noticed, but in less than two months we have gone from one excess to another. Even those who considered digital to be the cause of all ills have discovered how useful it is. But now we are faced with the opposite problem.
One of the biggest mistakes, in fact, that we can make in digital - together, as we have mentioned, to consider it the cause of all the problems and evils that afflict us - is to experience it as a sort of magical tool. Something capable of giving us "super powers".
In times of pandemic, even those who harshly criticized him have found that with the digital tools at our disposal we can easily do great things. But that's only largely true. Because digital tools really allow you to do (quite easily) many things, but technology alone is never enough. Having discovered live broadcasts on Facebook and Instagram or video chat services like Zoom is only part of the solution to the problems ... "
Digital is therefore not the cause of all evils and not even the solution to all problems, but it is certainly indispensable on the way to the # PianetaTerra2050 roadmap.
Digital can contribute to pollution if we understand every source produced by these tools.
We must distinguish the two sources of digital pollution: one linked to the production of any digital instrument and the other linked to the functioning of the Internet but it is certain that the digital sector also emits significant quantities of greenhouse gases, like other forms of pollution and resource consumption.
Regarding the production of digital instruments, there is a need to extract rare materials such as yttrium and lanthanum contained in screens and batteries. Regarding the functioning of the internet, there are billions of connected people who consume energy and many data centers and servers that we use for data management.
Digital pollution must be addressed in terms of recycling of materials used, balancing of resources, energy needs to be met with alternative energy sources.
In recent years, e-commerce has greatly increased with a consequent increase in logistics and packaging services: also this strong increase in pollution (road transport, paper / plastic packaging to be disposed of) will have to be managed in the coming years: of drones for deliveries and less polluting solutions for packaging.
The Hashtag of our future is, therefore: # PianetaTerra2050, Innovation yes but without environmental impact - the possible mission of the ecological transition.