June 5, 2026
Reading time: 3 minutes
Every June 5, World Environment Day calls attention to the state of the natural world and the human systems shaping it. Digital technologies now sit at the centre of those systems, and their relationship with environmental sustainability poses challenges in need of solutions. A new perspective piece in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, authored by Nilushi Kumarasinghe, Erin Gleeson, and Andréa Ventimiglia examines this complex relationship, mapping the opportunities digital technologies offer for advancing sustainability goals, the environmental and social costs they carry, and the actors best positioned to drive sustainable change.
The double edge of digitalization
The article, “Striving for a sustainable planet in the digital age: Recommendations and priority actions” focuses on sustainable digitalization: using digital technologies to advance planetary goals, while developing those technologies with explicit consideration for environmental and social sustainability.
The opportunities are real. Satellites and remote sensors can now monitor ecosystem health in real time. Artificial intelligence applications improve efficiencies in agriculture and transport, cutting carbon and water footprints in the process. Blockchain technologies offer pathways to decentralize access to energy and finance. Online platforms extend access to education, healthcare, and employment in regions where these services have historically been scarce.
The risks are equally real. Data centres powering complex AI systems consume vast quantities of energy and water. Demand for rare earth metals, which drive the manufacture of digital devices, carries well-documented social and environmental costs. E-waste reached 62 billion kilograms globally in 2022. And the efficiency gains digital technologies deliver can be partially or fully offset by what economists call the rebound effect, where lower costs stimulate higher consumption, erasing the savings.
The article pays equal attention to the social dimension. The digital divide, the gap between those with access to digital infrastructure and those without, continues to exclude marginalized communities from the opportunities digitalization creates. Algorithmic bias and misinformation compound these inequities further. Together, these dynamics make the full spectrum of digitalization’s impacts genuinely difficult to measure.
Three groups, three sets of responsibilities
Rather than treating sustainable digitalization as a single undifferentiated challenge, the authors direct recommendations at three distinct groups, each holding a specific sphere of influence.
Sustainability science practitioners, including researchers, educators, and community organizations, need to embed digital literacy more deeply within environmental studies curricula. Future sustainability practitioners require the skills to critically analyze digital technologies, assess their risks, and deploy them effectively. The authors call for communities of practice drawing together actors from industry, research, Indigenous knowledge systems, and policy. These communities co-design solutions and build the trust necessary for meaningful action. The paper further advocates for a formal scientific panel to systematically map the pathways through which digital technologies affect the environment. Such a panel could identify data gaps, set standards for digital sustainability, and generate the evidence base for science-grounded policy.
Digital innovators, including technology developers, manufacturers, and suppliers, must lead on transparency and accountability across the full lifecycle of digital products. Hardware manufacturers should report emissions and resource extraction associated with equipment assembly and transport. Computer scientists deploying AI systems should disclose the energy and water their models consume in training and operation. Alongside this transparency, the authors urge adoption of green digital infrastructure standards: minimum thresholds for recycled materials, requirements for renewable energy in data centres, and robust e-waste recycling programs.
Policy makers hold the regulatory and funding tools to redirect investment and establish accountability at scale. Funders should channel resources toward digital solutions demonstrating measurable benefit to both people and the planet. Regulators should mandate transparency on the environmental footprints of energy-intensive technologies such as large language models. Governments at every level should also invest in public awareness campaigns, because constituents cannot make informed choices about technologies whose costs remain invisible to them.
What World Environment Day asks of us
World Environment Day returns each year to the same underlying question: what must change for the planet to remain livable? The digital dimension question grows more urgent as digital technologies spread across every sector of human activity. The transformative potential of sustainable digitalization is genuine. So is the work required to realize it. On a day dedicated to the planet, we highlight this work.
References
Kumarasinghe, N., Gleeson, E., & Ventimiglia, A. (2026). Striving for a sustainable planet in the digital age: Recommendations and priority actions. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 5(5), e0000249. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000249