New Report Calculates that Mobile Enabled 2,135 Million Tonnes CO2e Reductions in 2018
Madrid: The use of mobile technology enabled a global reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of around 2,135 million tonnes CO2e last year, according to a new study commissioned by the GSMA - a quantity approximate to the total emissions emitted yearly by Russia[1]. The emissions savings were almost ten times greater than the global carbon footprint of the mobile industry itself[2].
The new GSMA report, produced in collaboration with the Carbon Trust, an independent sustainability specialist, is being presented at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) held in Madrid this month. It found that the majority of avoided emissions made possible by mobile technologies were the result of significant reductions in energy and fuel consumption. In 2018, mobile technologies such as Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and the Internet of Things (IoT) enabled a 1.44 billion MWh reduction in energy and saved 521 billion litres of fuel, globally.
The mobile ecosystem enabled savings of enough electricity and gas last year to power more than 70 million houses for an entire year in the US. Additionally, fuel for all 32.5 million registered cars in the UK to drive for 19 years was saved, said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. Today's study underlines how mobile and smart technologies are powering sustainable economic growth while enabling the avoidance of emissions across multiple industry sectors. These technologies will be crucial to the world reaching its Net Zero targets.
Climate change requires a collective effort across governments, businesses and civil society if we are going to succeed in limiting global temperature increases to within 1.5 degrees, said Tom Delay, CEO of the Carbon Trust. This analysis shows the positive role that mobile technology is playing in the evolution of other sectors and is a great example of what is possible.
The Carbon Trust examined 14 markets around the world[3] to form a representative sample of the enablement effect' of the mobile sector's ability to reduce emissions. The results indicate an even split between the enablement effect of M2M/IoT technologies, and those enabled through behaviour changes from the personal use of smartphones.
The majority of avoided emissions from M2M technologies are primarily in buildings, transport, manufacturing and the energy sector - sectors that make up a large portion of global GHG emissions. For example, savings in buildings are a result of technologies that improve energy efficiency such as building management systems and smart meters. In the transport sector, the use of telematics can improve route optimisation and vehicle fuel efficiency.
Meanwhile, personal smartphone usage is enabling emissions reductions due to encouraging behaviours such as reduced travel, increased use of public transport, remote home heating control and online shopping.
The report provides a high-level analysis of six categories of enabling mechanisms, along with case studies. The biggest category of avoided emissions is Smart living, working and health' (39 per cent of total avoided emissions in 2018), followed by Smart transport and cities' (30 per cent), Smart manufacturing' (11 per cent), Smart buildings' (10 per cent), Smart energy' (7 per cent), and Smart agriculture' (3 per cent).
The Enablement Effect: The impact of mobile communications technologies on carbon emission reductions' is produced by the GSMA and the Carbon Trust. The report provides a breakdown of the results and the assumptions used in the calculations, including a full methodology.
Click here to download
Mobilising the industry on climate action
Many of the world's largest mobile operator groups have agreed to start disclosing their climate impacts as part of a major new GSMA-led initiative to develop a mobile industry climate action roadmap in line with the Paris Agreement[4]. The disclosures form the first phase of an industry-wide, climate action roadmap.
The GSMA is working with participating operators and partnering with the international community, climate experts and third-party organisations to advance industry progress, establish best practices, and support disclosure and target setting. The work forms part of the industry's journey to support the delivery of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG #13 on Climate Action. Please visit www.gsma.com/climate to find out more.
-ENDS-
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
Media Contacts:
For the GSMA:
GSMA Press Office
pressoffice@gsma.com
[1] OECD, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=AIR_GHG#
[2] Global annual emissions by the mobile sector is calculated at approximately 220 million tonnes CO2e
[3] Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, UK and US
[4] https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/worlds-leading-mobile-operators-to-disclose-climate-impacts-as-part-of-new-gsma-led-climate-action-roadmap/
Like what you read? Share.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
14/03/2026
Combines mic, USB interface & wireless IEMs
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, HISONG have announced that their innovative AirStudio S1 device is ...
13/03/2026
Spotify has always been built around your taste. More than 80% of listeners say personalization is what they love most about us. Now we're taking that even ...
13/03/2026
The new Spotify Legends Club has opened its doors. Its members: select German-sp...
13/03/2026
Pushing drum sampler technology into new territories
The latest version of Klevgrand's software drum sampler has just arrived, boasting a newly designe...
13/03/2026
Expanded headphone support & engine improvements
IK Multimedia's recently introduced ARC On-Ear system brings the power of their monitoring-correction s...
13/03/2026
Extra sound collections, more presets & new Keys category
UVI's rhythm and pattern instrument has just received a major update that introduces four new ...
13/03/2026
13 Mar 2026
VEON Delivers Record Digital Growth: 4Q25 Digital Revenues Grow 84%...
13/03/2026
Friday 13 March 2026
Sky Adds Blood on Snow to Original Film Slate in Acquisiti...
13/03/2026
RT has announced today that Rick O'Shea is the new presenter of Arena RT Radio 1's flagship weeknight arts and culture programme. Rick has been pres...
13/03/2026
Lights! Camera! Action! The 98th Oscars set to air live as RT backs the Irish n...
12/03/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 11th March, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dyna...
12/03/2026
In Latin America, women are shaping music and defining its future. To kick off t...
12/03/2026
En Am rica Latina, las mujeres est n moldeando la m sica y definiendo su futuro....
12/03/2026
Let's turn back the clock 20 years: The music landscape was a world away fro...
12/03/2026
Bad Bunny is no stranger to Spotify's Billions Club. In fact, he has a whopp...
12/03/2026
Spotify was at the London Book Fair this week, joining conversations across the publishing industry about how people can make reading part of their daily lives....
12/03/2026
Mastering tool improves mono compatibility
Tokyo Dawn Labs' Ohlhorst Digital range is a series of mastering-focused plug-ins developed by Jan Ohlhorst, ...
12/03/2026
Wave FX processor integrated into four products
Lewitt have teamed up with Elgato to create a new processor for the company's Wave Next product range, i...
12/03/2026
Free tool for annotating audio files
Mix Notes is a new, free iOS App that provides users with a simple way to annotate their audio files. It's been cre...
12/03/2026
Side-chain ducking tool gets an upgrade
Devious Machines' popular side-chaining and envelope-shaping tool has just been kitted out with an improved enve...
12/03/2026
Ceremony to take place on 16 April 2026
The MPG (Music Producers Guild) have revealed the full shortlist for this year's MPG Awards, which will be takin...
12/03/2026
Emulates three classic dbx 160 variants
The latest arrival to Overloud's Gem Series plug-in range faithfully recreates not one, but three versions of th...
12/03/2026
New granular soft synth announced
Said to be their most advanced software synthesizer to date, Baby Audio's latest release has been built on a new granu...
12/03/2026
Latest version now live!
Edit 11 March 2026 - Bitwig Studio 6 is now live, and available for all to download!
The latest version of Bitwig's DAW softwa...
12/03/2026
Latest free eBook now available!
Designed for recording engineers, audio-technology students and technically minded musicians, our latest free eBook deliver...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity expands SITLine network encryptor portfolio - more...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to showcase future-proof EMC testing solutions at EMV 2026 Rohde & Schwarz will participate in EMV 2026, Europe's premier trade fair and c...
12/03/2026
Modern media operations demand a platform that unites automation, orchestration, and human oversight without compromise. In this post, we explore the six key te...
12/03/2026
A deep dive into the platform
Architecture The Blue Lucy platform follows a distributed microservices architecture, meaning the overall operational capability...
12/03/2026
Orchestration platform enables broadcasters to deploy multiple AI models safely with full auditability, rights protection, and regulatory oversight.
LONDON, En...
12/03/2026
Wuppertal March 12, 2026
Riedel Expands Managed Technology Division in the Ame...
12/03/2026
Advanced Media Server Delivers Double the Channel Density at Half the Cost per C...
12/03/2026
The Late Late Show Show St Patrick's Day special
Dancing with the Stars f...
11/03/2026
First Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) deployment of the emergency.lu platform for refugees and their host communities' use provides dependable broadband for humani...
11/03/2026
Following a successful first series, UKTV today announces the commission of two ...
11/03/2026
Wednesday 11 March 2026
Sky and CANAL launch new partnership to develop English-language drama
Sky and CANAL are today announcing a strategic co commissioni...
11/03/2026
NTCA, Cartesian Release New Report on the Business Case for USF
March 11, 2026
Network Economics
News
NTCA - March 11, 2026 - As the FCC and Congr...
11/03/2026
TELL US YOUR (SHORT) STORIES
The 2026 RT Short Story Competition is now open for entries
Recognising and rewarding the best new Irish fiction writing for...
11/03/2026
RT 's The Traitors Ireland is among the nominees for the 2026 Celtic Media Festival Torc Awards for Excellence, announced today....
10/03/2026
10 Mar 2026
VEON's Largest Market Pakistan Almost Triples Mobile Spectrum i...
09/03/2026
Contains all six dual-ensemble libraries
VSL's Duality Strings series offers an intriguing alternative to your average string library, capturing two str...
09/03/2026
Outstanding Contribution To UK Music
Photo: Samuel Bradley
Ahead of their upcoming MPG Awards, the Music Producers Guild (MPG) have revealed the latest win...
09/03/2026
Two new high-quality DI boxes announced
Boasting some impressive technical specifications and versatile routing options, Strymon's latest active DI boxe...
09/03/2026
Latest MPE-capable Soundbox library released
The follow-up release for Sonora Cinematic's Pure Nylon has arrived, and becomes the latest addition to the...
New Report Calculates that Mobile Enabled 2,135 Million Tonnes CO2e Reductions in 2018 
