The Alarm Bells Are Ringing: Our Carbon Budget is Nearly Exhausted
The latest Global Carbon Budget 2025 report has delivered a sobering message that demands our immediate attention. For the first time, global fossil fuel CO₂ emissions are projected to hit an all-time high of 38.1 billion tonnes in 2025 – a staggering 1.1% increase from the previous year. This isn’t just a number; it’s a flashing red light indicating that our current efforts to decarbonise are being outpaced by the relentless growth in global energy demand.
The report’s most alarming finding? The remaining carbon budget to limit global warming to a critical 1.5°C is “virtually exhausted.” At this rate, we will have blown past this budget well before 2030, leaving little to no room for error or delay. The window for gradual change is closing rapidly; we are now in an era that demands urgent, systemic, and innovative action.
The Invisible Giant: ICT's Growing Footprint
While industries worldwide grapple with their carbon emissions, one sector, in particular, is experiencing exponential growth and, consequently, an escalating energy demand: Information and Communications Technology (ICT). From the data centers powering our cloud services to the smartphones in our pockets and the emerging 6G networks and vast Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems, the digital world is a colossal consumer of energy.
This is where the direct link to the Global Carbon Budget’s grim prognosis becomes undeniable. If we are to have any hope of bending the emissions curve downwards, we cannot ignore the energy appetite of our increasingly digital lives.
EXIGENCE: A Coordinated Strike Against ICT's Carbon Footprint
In response to this global imperative – projects like EXIGENCE are not just important; they are absolutely critical. The EXIGENCE project is a powerful European initiative designed to directly tackle the energy consumption and carbon footprint (CO₂e) of ICT service delivery.
The project operates under three core pillars – Measure, Optimise, and Incentivise – which directly address the systemic failure to curb energy demand growth highlighted by the Global Carbon Budget.
Early Successes and Actionable Steps by EXIGENCE
The EXIGENCE consortium is already delivering foundational work that transforms abstract goals into measurable, actionable steps for a greener digital future:
Building the Future of Sustainable Cloud and Network Orchestration
Conventional digital infrastructure orchestration focuses on speed and cost. EXIGENCE is adding a critical fourth dimension: sustainability.
- Carbon-Aware Intelligence: The project is pioneering orchestration mechanisms that integrate carbon awareness, energy efficiency, and intelligent automation into the core of cloud, edge, and network domains.
- Dynamic Workload Shifting: The system uses algorithms to shift or resize workloads according to real-time sustainability indicators like energy price, carbon intensity, and renewable availability. Early testbed experiments confirm this approach can reduce overall energy usage while maintaining service performance.
(Read more on this achievement: Building the Future of Sustainable Cloud and Network Orchestration)
Redesigning the Telco Value Chain for User-Driven Climate Action
To move beyond backend efficiency, EXIGENCE is developing solutions that include the end-user in the optimisation loop. This is a philosophical shift that recognises users as “co-optimisers” whose choices directly influence the system’s ecological footprint (e.g., choosing to stream at a lower resolution).
This work enables:
- Eco-data Transparency: Users gain visibility into the ecological cost of their actions, enabling informed, sustainable choices.
- Cross-Domain Coordination: A service-level ecodata architecture is being established to allow the exchange of energy metrics across networks, devices, and services, enabling holistic optimisation and Carbon Reattribution to reduce the burden on service providers.
(Read more on this achievement: From Video Stream to Climate Action)
Developing Granular Energy Consumption Metering Methods
Accurate measurement is the first step toward optimization. EXIGENCE has made significant progress in developing its methods for energy consumption metering, focusing on precision over broad estimations. This foundational work is crucial for enabling the project’s per-service and per-user energy consumption assessment.
Key developments include:
- Prioritising Direct Measurement: EXIGENCE favors direct energy consumption measurements for hardware devices and internal components over estimations, providing superior accuracy in complex, virtualised environments.
- Granularity: The methods allow for the precise calculation of energy consumption for individual software components, software processes, and entire services, bridging the gap between current industry standards and the deep visibility required for carbon-aware orchestration.
(Read more on this achievement: Development of EXIGENCE Methods for Energy Consumption Metering)
The Path Forward
The Global Carbon Budget 2025 report serves as a stark reminder of the monumental challenge ahead. Yet, it also underscores the vital importance of focused, innovative projects like EXIGENCE. By zeroing in on one of the fastest-growing energy consumers – the digital realm – and delivering tangible solutions for measurement and optimisation, EXIGENCE is providing a necessary, technologically driven pathway to reduce emissions and help us reclaim control over our dwindling carbon budget.
The future of our planet depends on our collective ability to not only acknowledge the urgency but also to implement the solutions. Projects like EXIGENCE are not just about technological advancement; they are about securing a sustainable future for us all.
References
Global Carbon Budget – “Fossil fuel CO2 emissions hit record high in 2025″
Author
F6S Innovation
Melissa Tang Communication Manager at F6S Innovation, plays a pivotal role in various EU-funded initiative. Her expertise, built on a foundation of a BA in Design and Advertising and a Master’s in Communication and Media Studies, is further strengthened by hands-on experience leading communication, dissemination and exploitation efforts in over 15 research and business projects.