Climate – Technology Won’t Save Us All

The concept of green growth is based on the idea that economic development can be persued in a sustainable manner. The aim is to move from the “dirty” growth regime initiated by the Industrial Revolution, based on the extraction of natural resources and the combustion of fossil fuels, to a new “clean” regime that is resource-efficient and decarbonized. Innovation plays a central role in this regime change. While technological progress has already led to major advances, notably in energy efficiency and the emergence of affordable low-carbon energies, it is also generating new challenges. Each technical solution brings its own environmental consequences. For example, renewable energies are replacing fossil fuels, at the cost of extracting large quantities of critical metals; digitization is reducing the use of paper, at the cost of exploding energy consumption in data centers. Is relying on technology to address the environmental crisis a rational bet or a headlong rush? Technology is an undoubtedly ally, but an environmental policy remains essential to guide innovation and prevent it from creating as many problems as it solves.