News

by Oliver Hayes,  

Policy and Campaigns Lead 

5 min read

  

Today Global Action Plan releases a new report, written by barrister and digital rights expert Susie Alegre, outlining how the core business model of companies like Meta, Twitter, Google and TikTok is one of the biggest obstacles to climate action.

Many in the climate movement will be aware of the enormous energy use and associated emissions from the vast data centres at the heart of our connected lives.

But as the report points out, Big Tech’s growing energy use is just the tip of the iceberg.

Big Tech’s business model is entirely reliant on advertising. 97% of Meta’s income comes from ad revenue, so it’s hardly surprising that everything about the platform is geared towards maximising people’s exposure to ads.

We also detail the extraordinary waste inherent in today’s dominant ‘ad tech’ systems. Trillions of automated ‘bids’ happen every day, fighting for the right to serve us ads when we load a webpage. But the nature of system means 99% of those bids are unsuccessful – the massive bandwidth and computing power, estimated to be 1% of global emissions, literally results in nothing.

Perhaps the most obvious climate consequence of Big Tech’s ad addiction is the impact it has on our consumption.

There is enormous consumption inequality between and within countries – many people don’t consume enough of the basic goods and services that guarantee a dignified life, a problem that is currently worsening for many.

But there is also massive over consumption among the world’s rich, driving terrifying emissions growth. We are bombarded with an unprecedented volume of ads compelling us to buy ever more stuff while the planet’s natural resources are depleted with accelerating speed. Tech platforms may talk a good game about their climate commitments, but they are hollow commitments while their business relies so comprehensively on consumerism.

Perhaps most worrying of all, however, is what big tech companies are doing to our ability, as a wider society, to confront the climate crisis.

Social media platforms have long known that the way to keep us all hooked online is to serve us the most sensationalist, divisive, extreme and often hateful content. We can’t look away, which means we see more ads. ‘Engagement’, however it is achieved, and whatever the consequences, is great for business.

But hate, conspiracy, distraction, division, mis- and dis-information are the very opposite of what humanity requires to address the deepening climate emergency. Any social progress is going to be limited under these conditions. So while ad revenue is the ultimate driver of every design decision within these companies, and while the toxic recommender systems that maximise that ad revenue are left unreformed, we are fighting the climate crisis with one hand tied behind our back.

The climate movement has tended to focus to date on the symptoms of Big Tech's climate failure, such as misinformation and disinformation. But while it is important to challenge erroneous information online, a parallel and larger effort is now needed to tackle Big Tech’s business model systematically, seeking to ensure that corrosive algorithms and carbon-intensive ad tech are curbed and that the power of online platforms can be harnessed for humanity and the planet’s benefit.

As campaigners digest the outcomes of COP27, they need to recognise that, until properly confronted, Big Tech’s toxic business model presents a systemic digital roadblock to effective climate action. Climate campaigners cannot afford to look away.