A report by France’s High Council on Climate has warned that 5G deployment could lead to a major spike in CO2 emissions.
Carriers around the world are racing to deploy the next generation of wireless networks. 5G is seen as a revolutionary upgrade, not only for consumers, but also for the enterprise. The speeds 5G provides will help lead to advances in edge computing, AI, autonomous vehicles and private networks.
Unfortunately, the advances 5G brings may come at a cost to the environment. According to the High Council on Climate’s report, 5G deployment could lead to as much as 3 to 7 billion extra tons of CO2 in the atmosphere, according to France 24.
“We request a moratorium and our request is even more relevant today, now that the high council has said that we need to assess the technology’s environmental impact before deploying it,” said Éric Piolle a lawmaker with Europe Écologie-Les Verts, the French Green party.
It remains to be seen if France will put a hold on 5G deployment, although it seems unlikely at this point.