“Children must give up mobile phones,” urges a Facebook meme headed “climate emergency” and which shows a group of young people standing behind Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old global climate change activist. To support this call, it focuses on the carbon footprint of communication technology.
The text below the photo reads: “‘Carbon pollution’ from the Information & Communications Industry is set [to] exceed 14% of total GHGE by 2040 – equivalent to those from coal fired power stations.
“And by 2020 the carbon footprint of smartphones alone is set [to] surpass the individual contribution of desktops, laptops and displays.”
GHGE stands for greenhouse gas emissions.
Are the claims in the meme correct? No source for the claim was given but we went looking.
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