Climate change and COP26 : Are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action

Dwivedi, Yogesh K. and Hughes, Laurie and Kar, Arpan Kumar and Baabdullah, Abdullah M. and Grover, Purva and Abbas, Roba and Andreini, Daniela and Abumoghli, Iyad and Barlette, Yves and Bunker, Deborah and Chandra Kruse, Leona and Constantiou, Ioanna and Davison, Robert M. and De, Rahul and Dubey, Rameshwar and Fenby-Taylor, Henry and Gupta, Babita and He, Wu and Kodama, Mitsuru and Mäntymäki, Matti and Metri, Bhimaraya and Michael, Katina and Olaisen, Johan and Panteli, Niki and Pekkola, Samuli and Nishant, Rohit and Raman, Ramakrishnan and Rana, Nripendra P. and Rowe, Frantz and Sarker, Suprateek and Scholtz, Brenda and Sein, Maung and Shah, Jeel Dharmeshkumar and Teo, Thompson S.H. and Tiwari, Manoj Kumar and Vendelø, Morten Thanning and Wade, Michael (2022) Climate change and COP26 : Are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action. International Journal of Information Management, 63: 102456. ISSN 0268-4012

Abstract

The UN COP26 2021 conference on climate change offers the chance for world leaders to take action and make urgent and meaningful commitments to reducing emissions and limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Whilst the political aspects and subsequent ramifications of these fundamental and critical decisions cannot be underestimated, there exists a technical perspective where digital and IS technology has a role to play in the monitoring of potential solutions, but also an integral element of climate change solutions. We explore these aspects in this editorial article, offering a comprehensive opinion based insight to a multitude of diverse viewpoints that look at the many challenges through a technology lens. It is widely recognized that technology in all its forms, is an important and integral element of the solution, but industry and wider society also view technology as being part of the problem. Increasingly, researchers are referencing the importance of responsible digitalization to eliminate the significant levels of e-waste. The reality is that technology is an integral component of the global efforts to get to net zero, however, its adoption requires pragmatic tradeoffs as we transition from current behaviors to a more climate friendly society.