Video conferences and digital events reduce CO₂ emissions

Over the past 20 months, our everyday life has shifted into the virtual world at breathtaking speed. This also has a noticeable impact on our professional life, according to a survey by the industry association Bitkom recently up to 10.5 million employees worked exclusively in the home office, a further 8.3 million people made partial use of this possibility. This means that almost 45 percent of all employees have had contact with work from home.

The new everyday life thus also has a certain influence on our environment. Because where business trips, conferences and commuting are eliminated, greenhouse gases are saved. A new study now shows the contribution to climate protection, according to which the relocation of events and conferences to digital space reduces the ecological footprint by up to 94 percent. A hybrid model, on the other hand, can save up to 67 percent of emissions.

There are several reasons for this: The number of conferences and major events has been increasing for years, it is assumed that the value will double every ten years, and in 2017 almost 1.5 billion people from 180 countries around the world traveled to To participate in events.

Since certain sources of emissions, such as flights, transport, the operation of rooms and halls or catering, are eliminated through virtual conferences, digitization makes an immense contribution to protecting our environment. Some estimates suggest that before Corona, each of the above people caused around 3,300 pounds (1.5 t) of CO₂ equivalents.

Nevertheless, the energy balance can of course also be significantly improved in our digital age. Energy-efficient devices should be the standard, while at the same time cloud providers, through which our day-to-day communication runs, are also required. A one hour video conference is according to the Federal Environment Agency responsible for around 55 grams of CO₂ equivalents.

That doesn’t seem like much at first, but if we add up the number of hours and participants with whom we sit in a conference, then the maximum sustainability has not yet been reached. Until all cloud providers have a sustainable infrastructure, you can apply other tips on sustainability. If you turn off your video camera, for example, let yourself be save up to 96 percent of emissions.

Via Cornell