The new study presented by digitalswitzerland and economiesuisse, in collaboration with Accenture, highlights the importance of digital technologies in achieving Switzerland’s climate target by 2030.
By accelerating digitalization, Switzerland can reduce up to 20% of the emissions required to achieve the climate target by 2030 (“climate gap”). This is shown by the new study “Smart and green – achieving the climate goal through digital technology” presented by digitalswitzerland and economiesuisse, in collaboration with Accenture. The study highlights the importance of digital technologies for achieving Switzerland’s climate target by 2030 and shows that digitalization constitutes a significant lever.
2030 climate objective: Switzerland must drastically reduce its CO2 emissions
According to the Paris Agreement, Switzerland has committed to reducing its annual emissions by 50% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. This means going from 55 million tonnes to around 28 million tonnes. of emissions, in CO2 equivalent (CO2 eq.). Emissions are already falling, but a challenge remains: over the next six years, Switzerland must reduce more CO2 emissions than it has in the last 34 years. The gap to be closed to achieve its climate objective is currently around 16 million tonnes of CO2 eq. It is a herculean task, which requires activating all the levers available.
Digital technologies hold considerable reduction potential
The study examines how digital technologies can help reduce CO2e emissions in the buildings, transport, industry, agriculture and energy sectors. To do this, the study looked at specific digital applications, such as intelligent building management systems, real-time route optimization in freight transport or automated processes in industry. To do this, two digitization speeds – standard and ambitious – were compared, which are distinguished by the pace at which the applications considered are adopted.
The use of all the applications examined would make it possible to reduce CO2 eq emissions by 1.2 to 3.2 million tonnes per year by 2030, which represents 7 to 20% of the objective to be achieved. , or between one and two times the current emissions of the canton of Thurgau. The pace of digitalization determines the strength of the leverage: with ambitious digitalization, the emissions reduction is more than doubled compared to standard digitalization. Therefore, if the current trend continues and the adoption of digital technologies accelerates, it will be possible to fully utilize their potential for climate protection.
Economy and politics have a responsibility
The results of the study clearly show that, by using digital technologies, Swiss companies and individuals are making an important contribution to climate protection. It further appears that the reduction potential varies considerably depending on the scanning speed. Switzerland will be able to fully realize its reduction potential provided that political circles create the necessary framework conditions and strengthen digitalization, for the innovation site that is Switzerland.
Click here to access the study.
