BUSINESS STRATEGY
Marco Fanizzi , Vice President and General Manager EMEA at Commvault
conference scheduled for later this year in Glasgow , the organisation met online beforehand to discuss the urgent issues of the climate .
Avoiding single-use plastics , conserving water and using public transportation are easy switches that individuals have been advised to make . Similar advice , however , is not so clear for businesses .
If every business had the tools and initiatives to prioritise sustainability and reduce its carbon footprint , the environment would reap the benefits . This would be especially prominent if businesses from all industries across the world took these steps . The technology industry , in particular , could dominate this movement . With the necessary innovation to make discoveries , it has the potential to help resolve the climate change issue .
The pandemic ’ s lasting impact
The COVID-19 pandemic of the last 18 months has left no business unaffected . Every industry has been disrupted and the UK government ’ s work from home order has permanently changed the way that organisations operate .
Digital Transformation swept the nation in March 2020 as businesses rushed to pull together resources and solutions that allowed them to maintain operations . New IT infrastructure and processes were established to enable employees to work from home .
As we move towards the post-pandemic world , it seems unlikely that things will revert back to how they were before . Remote working has become the norm – 84 % of UK business leaders plan to keep hybrid working practices in place and 42 % of European businesses are continuing to invest in new tech solutions to support a hybrid workforce .
Every day there are more big businesses announcing their plans to enforce permanent hybrid working models . These trends are apparent across the globe and spanning all industries . From ASDA ’ s offices in the UK to UBS ’ 72,000 global employees , few workers will be heading back to their offices full-time once COVID restrictions are lifted .
While many employers and employees alike welcome this flexibility , the planet does not .
As workers set up offices in their homes and those forced into self-isolation have become reliant on streaming services like Netflix to pass the time , Internet usage and data consumption has skyrocketed . Worldwide Internet traffic is 25 %– 30 % higher than pre-pandemic rates , as of April 2021 .
This is bad news for the environment . Data storage and Internet usage requires power and electricity , and thus predominantly relies upon the burning of fossil fuels . An estimated 3.7 % of global greenhouse emissions are caused by our electronic devices , data and Internet usage . This figure is set to double by 2025 as this upward trend shows no signs of slowing anytime soon .
Advice for consumers on how to be more environmentally friendly when using the Internet is easy to obtain and understand . Individuals can make small changes that make big differences : streaming film and music in lower resolutions , keeping your old devices rather than upgrading at the first opportunity and choosing sustainable businesses , for example . But how do businesses become the sustainable organisations that consumers want to buy from ?
Data can be detriment
Every business produces data , no matter its size or industry , and this data is the crown jewels of business . It allows them to operate , grow and make profits . However , a lot of this data is not essential and could be the key to reducing their environmental impact .
Data centres have the same carbon footprint as the aviation industry . As businesses continue to produce more data , Climate Home News predicts that , by 2025 , data centres will consume
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