“Your 6G or Your Life”
Résumé
The telecoms industry in general, and designers of new generations of cellular networks in particular, are strongly committed to achieving the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) objectives to limit climate change and contribute to the well-being of future generations. In order to do so, innovation to bolster sustainability has so far mainly been oriented toward resource efficiency. Unfortunately, this has not proven to be sufficient, in part due to the so-called rebound effect (where increasing energy efficiency ends up driving up energy consumption). If energy efficiency is not sufficient to curb CO 2 emissions, the solution may lie in reducing traffic, which means limiting consumption and uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services on the end user side. This chapter questions the role of the cellular communication industry and its ability to create value with 6G while keeping consumption and uses under control, e.g. by empowering consumers to communicate responsibly. By addressing practical problems, we hope it can stimulate innovation and help to identify new courses of action for a sustainable 6G.