Nature Positive: The Critical Role of the Technology Sector – World Economic Forum Report
Published on December 4, 2025, the World Economic Forum has released a comprehensive report titled Nature Positive: Role of the Technology Sector, which explores the profound environmental footprint of the global technology industry and outlines actionable strategies for fostering a nature-positive future.
Technology’s Ubiquity and Environmental Impact
Technology is deeply embedded in everyday life worldwide. Annually, the global market sells over one trillion semiconductors, crucial components powering everything from consumer electronics to industrial systems. Additionally, more than 11,000 data centres globally manage an incredible volume of digital activity, including over two billion prompts sent daily to artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Despite its indispensable role, the technology sector remains heavily reliant on finite natural resources and faces mounting risks from increasing extreme weather events intensified by climate change and biodiversity loss. These twin challenges threaten both the operational resilience and sustainability of technology enterprises in the long term.
Environmental Footprint of Tech Operations
The report highlights several critical environmental concerns associated with technology production and operation:
- Water consumption: Semiconductor manufacturing alone consumes more than one trillion litres of freshwater every year, straining water resources in already vulnerable regions.
- Energy demands: Data centres worldwide draw in excess of 60 gigawatts of energy, an amount comparable to powering the entire state of California at peak usage.
- Materials and waste: Manufacturing semiconductors and electronic devices requires vast quantities of metals and critical minerals. Discarded electronic hardware generates roughly 60 billion kilograms of e-waste annually, yet less than 25% of such waste is currently recycled, posing serious environmental and health hazards.
Pathways to a Nature-Positive Tech Industry
To mitigate these impacts and secure sustainable growth, the report—developed in partnership with consulting firm Oliver Wyman—proposes seven priority actions for technology sector leaders. These recommendations encourage companies to embed nature-positive principles into core business practices, spanning sustainable water use, renewable energy adoption, responsible supply chain management, and innovative policy engagement.
Importantly, the report underscores that advancing nature-positive strategies is not only environmentally imperative but also economically advantageous. For example, recovering valuable metals from recycled electronics can reduce dependency on mined resources and lower production costs. Similarly, cutting power and water consumption yields significant operational savings.
Unlocking Financial Opportunity Through Sustainability
The broader potential of the tech sector embraces an estimated $800 billion opportunity by leading the transition toward sustainable practices related to water, energy, supply chains, and policy innovation. By addressing both the dependencies and impacts on natural systems, technology companies can achieve a more resilient business model aligned with global ecological goals.
Related Insights and Future Directions
The World Economic Forum continues to explore the intersection of technology and environmental stewardship through multiple initiatives and reports:
- 7 ways the tech sector can lead the nature-positive transition outlines actionable approaches and their financial benefits.
- How science, technology and governance can drive prosperity within planetary boundaries examines humanity’s urgent need to balance development with ecological limits.
- AI is helping these organizations to protect and restore nature discusses responsible AI deployment to support biodiversity and community well-being.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is an international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. The Forum’s ongoing work on sustainability emphasizes the critical role of innovation and collaboration to address planetary challenges.
For further details and to download the full Nature Positive: Role of the Technology Sector report, visit the World Economic Forum’s official website. The report is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, ensuring broad accessibility for research and policy development.
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