EU Tech Consortium set to Tackle 6G Environmental Impact

EU-funded tech consortium, EXIGENCE, has been launched to tackle the growing environmental impact of digital devices.
Incorporating sustainability into digital transformation strategies has become critical for businesses, as they seek to both remain competitive and on-track to meet their sustainability targets.
To confront this challenge, the consortium consists of 10 organisations, including telco leaders Telefónica and Huawei, who are seeking to reduce the total carbon footprint of telecommunications systems.
EXIGENCE lists partners in telecommunications, academic research and digital transformation across seven EU Nations, with its first mission to mitigate the environmental impacts of next-generation (6G) mobile systems.
“Our commitment to driving sustainability standardization with 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is anchored in advancing service-level energy consumption measurements, inter-domain eco-data exchange, and green optimisation,” says Artur Hecker, Director of Future Network Technologies at Huawei.
Confronting the digitalisation/sustainability paradox
As the world moves closer to embracing 6G, increased digitalisation is transforming our relationship with telecommunication technologies.
With skyrocketing demand, e-waste is becoming one of the fastest-growing environmental challenges. Discarded devices can release chemicals that can impact soil and water, which becomes more of an issue as consumers more frequently update their devices to the latest model.
As such, there is an unsustainable increase in power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
By working with the mobile ecosystem, including two of the world’s largest manufacturers of digital devices, EXIGENCE promises to provide an integrated platform for mobile systems to unveil green insights.
- Measure energy consumption
- Optimise service provision
- Incentivise behavioural changes among IT users
The consortium also seeks to provide solutions for managing the use of mobile technology and focus the discussion on the vital role sustainable practices can play in achieving the EU’s Green Deal - the European Commission’s goal of making the EU climate neutral in 2050.
Key partners for the project include Telefónica and Huawei in addition to seven other partners across Europe.
Artur adds: “Even though domain-specific optimisation and control will continue playing an important role in meeting energy and CO2 reduction targets, what sets the EXIGENCE project apart is the active role that service consumers play in carbon footprint minimisation.
“We are proud to be part of this novel, collaborative approach towards ICT sustainability, which we are certain will have a profound impact on the industry.”
Making the path to 6G greener
AI and increased connectivity continues to drive significant amounts of data into every aspect of people’s lives.
In 2024 alone, connected devices consumed 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy, which were then fed by data centres consuming another 500TWh. As a result, both sides of the fast-growing connected device energy consumption already equal the amount of energy consumed in Japan every year.
Such a significant amount of power is leading business leaders to confront their sustainability pledges.
Speaking on Europe’s need to be more environmentally conscious, Ester Asin, Director of WFF European Policy Office explained: “Europe can achieve its climate and nature goals, but only if we make sure existing laws are implemented efficiently and effectively. Simplifying regulations carelessly risks throwing away decades of progress.”
F6S, the global innovation network where more than five million founders access funding grants and other growth opportunities worth in excess of US$1bn annually, is coordinating the EXIGENCE project.
Sean Kane, Co-Founder and Chair of F6S explains: “Despite the growth in renewable technology, the rapid increase in energy required to feed connected devices will produce ever greater amounts of greenhouse gases for the foreseeable future.
“That’s why F6S is proud to partner with leading entities in this space to introduce actionable sustainable practices.”
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