Digitalization and the Anthropocene

Author:

Creutzig Felix12,Acemoglu Daron3,Bai Xuemei4,Edwards Paul N.5,Hintz Marie Josefine267,Kaack Lynn H.7,Kilkis Siir8,Kunkel Stefanie9,Luers Amy10,Milojevic-Dupont Nikola12,Rejeski Dave11,Renn Jürgen12,Rolnick David1314,Rosol Christoph1215,Russ Daniela16,Turnbull Thomas12,Verdolini Elena1718,Wagner Felix12,Wilson Charlie19,Zekar Aicha2,Zumwald Marius2

Affiliation:

1. Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany;

2. Sustainability Economics of Human Settlements, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

3. Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

4. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

5. Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

6. ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability, Berlin, Germany

7. Hertie School, Berlin, Germany

8. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey

9. Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany

10. Microsoft, Seattle, Washington, USA

11. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC, USA

12. Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany

13. School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

14. Mila—Quebec AI Institute, Montreal, Canada

15. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany

16. Sociology Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

17. Department of Law, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

18. RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Milan, Italy

19. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Abstract

Great claims have been made about the benefits of dematerialization in a digital service economy. However, digitalization has historically increased environmental impacts at local and planetary scales, affecting labor markets, resource use, governance, and power relationships. Here we study the past, present, and future of digitalization through the lens of three interdependent elements of the Anthropocene: ( a) planetary boundaries and stability, ( b) equity within and between countries, and ( c) human agency and governance, mediated via ( i) increasing resource efficiency, ( ii) accelerating consumption and scale effects, ( iii) expanding political and economic control, and ( iv) deteriorating social cohesion. While direct environmental impacts matter, the indirect and systemic effects of digitalization are more profoundly reshaping the relationship between humans, technosphere and planet. We develop three scenarios: planetary instability, green but inhumane, and deliberate for the good. We conclude with identifying leverage points that shift human–digital–Earth interactions toward sustainability.

Publisher

Annual Reviews

Subject

General Environmental Science

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