The average annual carbon footprint of digital technologies is around 6%¹, propelled by high electricity use, e-waste accumulation, resource depletion and water-cooling demands in data centers. These carbon challenges are driving innovation with advancements in energy-efficient systems, renewable-powered infrastructures, enhanced recycling methods and eco-design practices. All are helping to reduce the overall environmental impact to create a more sustainable future.
The electricity consumption of Europe's data centers is growing at 7% a year and now accounts for 2.5% of total electricity consumption in the region. Consumption could triple by 2035 due to expanding AI adoption, high-density computing in the form of graphics processing units (GPUs), and a rise in cloud and 5G usage.²
When it comes to water for cooling, the hyperscale data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons a day, enough for a town with a 30,000-40,000 residents.³
Partnering to get to carbon neutrality
The year-long Digital Low-Carbon Progress Plan jointly devised with EDF will implement and monitor actions to reduce the carbon footprint of Orange Business’ main services supplied to EDF.
Orange Business, alongside EDF, is looking to enhance energy efficiencies and reduce Scope 3 emissions, generated indirectly via the entire value chain, through structured partnership programs like this one. Orange Business actively collaborates with its ecosystem to address this. Scope 3 emissions, which occur in the upstream and downstream activities of enterprises, are challenging due to their complexity and measurement difficulties.
Identifying and prioritizing the routes to decarbonization
Together with EDF, Orange Business has pinpointed several themes for the plan. Primarily, it will measure the carbon footprint of the services it provides to EDF. It is looking at rationalizing the number of PCs used by employees. Employees using multiple PCs increase the embodied carbon as a result of manufacturing and operational carbon, as well as energy consumption associated with IT use.
Orange Business is planning to reduce the consumption of managed services in data centers and cut the carbon emissions of the mobile fleet it supplies to EDF, including using refurbished devices. Both companies are working together to raise awareness of the issue so they can integrate it into their responsibilities and eco-design programs.
KPIs are being created with EDF for each area, alongside a governance strategy. For IT services, Orange Business is already monitoring and calculating the global impact, including any travel by employees. For hardware, it will look at the systems’ life span and the use of reconditioned equipment in certain scenarios. When it comes to awareness training, the companies will monitor how many employees complete the course in a set period.
Accelerating climate progress
We are at a critical point in climate action, and Orange Business is working closely with its entire ecosystem to achieve progress. By teaming up with EDF through this common low-carbon initiative, Orange Business is taking action to help build more resilient business and make our planet healthier for future generations.
¹ Al, data, and computing: shaping infrastructures for a decarbonised world Report, The Shift Project, 2025-11-19, https://theshiftproject.org/en/publications/al-data-and-computing-shaping-infrastructures-for-a-decarbonised-orld/#:~:text=Today%2C%20contrary%20to%20many%20forecasts,consumption%20threshold%20of%201%2C000%20TWh
² Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel, Data Centers and Water Consumption, 2025-06-25, https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
³ Barrowwclough, Nicholas, Data Centre Magazine, 2023-11-16, https://datacentremagazine.com/articles/transforming-data-centre-cooling-for-a-sustainable-future
Echene Maxime
Maxime Echene is Head of CSR (Zone France) at Orange Business. Within the Stratégic Deal/Boost ESG team, dedicated to structuring and supporting sales forces regarding customer CSR demands, he is particularly interested in supporting sales forces and their skills development. He also contributes to the animation of a community of 30 CSR ambassadors to disseminate ESG criteria within the professions. He contributes through active insights monitoring, participation in trade shows and pre-sales to bring the voice of customers to the strategic CSR teams at Orange Business. He organized the realization and signing of the first progress plan with our client EDF and will organize its follow-up and implementation. He also actively contributes to the group’s reflections on CSR foresight. After 10 years of consulting in organization and 15 years of program management in IT, marketing, and business development, Maxime recently completed a Master of Science about planetary boundaries and now contributes internally and externally to raising awareness about ecological redirection and its ecosystem.
To go further
Strategic action for decarbonizing the future
The race to combat climate change is on. Decarbonization is now a critical imperative for businesses across all sectors if we are to stop the destruction of our planet’s fragile ecosystem and secure its future while mitigating the impact of climate change.