- GSMA finds that mobile data traffic shoots, but emissions decreased, a rare victory in the climate in the quick lane of Tech
- Europe leads the race in the mobile emission court, but Asia is quickly closing
- The more than one billion 5G users of China have just made a friendly twist that could change everything
The global mobile industry has reduced its carbon operational emissions by 8% between 2019 and 2023, despite a mass increase in data use worldwide, according to official figures.
The GSMA Mobile Net Zero report found that mobile data traffic grew four times during this period, while mobile connections increased by 9%.
On the contrary, global emissions increased 4% during the same window, but the report makes clear: the rhythm of progress must be doubled if the sector must align with zero net goals by 2050.
Better energy efficiency and renewable adoption
“Our findings show that the mobile industry is not green washing or Greenwishing, it is green performance,” said Steven Moore, head of climate action in the GSMA.
“The emissions are in a trend in the right direction, but the rhythm of progress must now double.”
Geographically, the impulse varies. Europe, North America and Latin America are leading, which has reduced emissions by 56%, 44%and 36%, respectively, since 2019. Meanwhile, Asia and Africa are beginning to show a stronger commitment.
There is a remarkable change in China. As the world’s largest mobile market with more than one billion 5 g connections, China saw that its operational emissions fell 4% in 2024.
Despite these profits, GSMA is cautious on the way ahead, noting that the 4.5% drop in the issues projected by 2024 is encouraging, but remains below the annual reduction of 7.5% necessary until 2030 to remain in progress for the net zero.
Discarking efforts throughout the industry are evident, and many operators take deliberate measures to improve energy efficiency.
These include closing obsolete inherited networks and getting away from diesel generators, and operators are also resorting to renewable sources, such as solar and battery storage.
An area that needs urgent attention are the emissions of scope 3, which are derived from the supply chains and the manufacture and represent more than two thirds of the fingerprint of the sector.
Another growing approach area is circularity. Consumers show a growing interest in sustainability, with 90% of those responded to the GSMA saying that they value the longevity of the device and the repair, and almost half indicated that they would consider buying a telephone restored below.
Since restored devices produce 80-90% less emissions than the new ones, this trend could play a role in reducing emissions, since the second-hand telephone market is expected to expand rapidly, reach $ 150 billion by 2027.
Despite the progress, the industry’s ability to maintain this trend depends largely on external support.
“To maintain this progress, we need broader support: better access to renewable energies, more policy certainty and a stronger collaboration throughout the ecosystem,” Moore said.
