Digital Degrowth
From Rebound to Regeneration
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10296Keywords:
Digital rebound, Sustainable digitalisation, Sufficiency, Twin TransitionAbstract
Digitalisation plays a central role in the transition to more sustainable futures. However, it also has negative impacts, such as rebound effects, significantly undermining digitalisation's efficiency gains. Digital degrowth is a relatively new concept in discourses on sustainable digitalisation. Building forth on the concept of degrowth, first proposed in 1972 and gaining strength in the past 20 years, digital degrowth refers to realigning digital technologies to become regenerative; ecological sound and socially just, while simultaneously contributing to resource efficiency in digitalisation efforts. This exploratory paper reflects on digital degrowth and the rebound effects of digitalisation.
References
Aanestad, M. (2023). Digital Degrowth – Beyond Solutionism. In M. R. Jones, A. S. Mukherjee, D. Thapa, & Y. Zheng (Eds.), After Latour: Globalisation, Inequity and Climate Change (Vol. 696, pp. 55–60). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50154-8_6
Bisschop, L., Hendlin, Y., & Jaspers, J. (2022). Designed to break: Planned obsolescence as corporate environmental crime. Crime, Law and Social Change, 78(3), 271–293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-022-10023-4
Bubinek, R., Knaack, U., & Cimpan, C. (2025). Reuse of consumer products: Climate account and rebound effects potential. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 54, 190–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.12.019
Castro, V., Georgiou, M., Jackson, T., Hodgkinson, I. R., Jackson, L., & Lockwood, S. (2024). Digital data demand and renewable energy limits: Forecasting the impacts on global electricity supply and sustainability. Energy Policy, 195, 114404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114404
CoinShares. (2024). CoinShares Mining Report 2024. https://coinshares.com/fr/resources/research/2024-mining-report/
Cologna, V., Creutzburg, L., & Frick, V. (2020). Sufficiency: The missing ingredient for sustainable digitalisation. SocietyByte, 6.
Coroamă, V. C., & Pargman, D. (2020). Skill rebound: On an unintended effect of digitalization. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability, 213–219. https://doi.org/10.1145/3401335.3401362
Coroama, V., & Mattern, F. (2019). Digital Rebound – Why Digitalization Will Not Redeem Us Our Environmental Sins. 10. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2382/ICT4S2019_paper_31.pdf
Couldry, N., & Mejias, U. A. (2019). Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject. Television & New Media, 20(4), 336–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418796632
Dæhlen, M. (2023). The Twin Transition Century: The role of digital research for a successful green transition of society? (No. 5). The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. https://boris.unibe.ch/184458/
Doctorow, C. (2024). The Internet Con: How to seize the means of computation. Verso.
Escobar, A. (2015). Degrowth, postdevelopment, and transitions: A preliminary conversation. Sustainability Science, 10(3), 451–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0297-5
España, S., Hulst, W., Jansen, N., & Pargmam, D. (2023). Untangling the Relationship Between Degrowth and ICT. 2023 International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICT4S58814.2023.00010
Fix, B. (2024). A Tour of the Jevons Paradox: How Energy Efficiency Backfires. https://doi.org/10.59350/155kj-52e89
Franklin, U. (1999). The real world of technology. House of Anansi Press.
Heikkilä, V.-M. (2021). Permacomputing update 2021. Viznut. http://viznut.fi/textsen/permacomputing_update_2021.html
Heikkurinen, P. (2018). Degrowth by means of technology? A treatise for an ethos of releasement. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 1654–1665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.070
Hickel, J. (2021a). Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. Penquin Group.
Hickel, J. (2021b). What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification. Globalizations, 18(7), 1105–1111. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1812222
Hickel, J. (2023, July 1). On Technology and Degrowth. Monthly Review. https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/on-technology-and-degrowth/
Howson, P., Crandall, J., & Balaguer Rasillo, X. (2021). Digital degrowth innovation: Less growth, more play. Political Geography, 88, 102415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102415
Iten, T., Seidl, I., & Pütz, M. (2024). Sufficiency policy: A definition, conceptual framework, and application to municipalities. Sustainability Science, 19(5), 1709–1734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01534-1
Jungell-Michelsson, J., & Heikkurinen, P. (2022). Sufficiency: A systematic literature review. Ecological Economics, 195, 107380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107380
Kallis, G. (2011). In defence of degrowth. Ecological Economics, 70(5), 873–880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.12.007
Kallis, G., Demaria, F., & D’Alisa, G. (2015). Introduction to ‘Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era’ (2015) PDF. Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era, 1–17.
Kerschner, C., Wächter, P., Nierling, L., & Ehlers, M.-H. (2018). Degrowth and Technology: Towards feasible, viable, appropriate and convivial imaginaries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 1619–1636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.147
Kothari, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta, A. (2014). Buen Vivir, Degrowth and Ecological Swaraj: Alternatives to sustainable development and the Green Economy. Development, 57(3), 362–375. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2015.24
Kunkel, S., & Tyfield, D. (2021). Digitalisation, sustainable industrialisation and digital rebound – Asking the right questions for a strategic research agenda. Energy Research & Social Science, 82, 102295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102295
Kwet, M. (2024). Digital Degrowth: Technology in the Age of Survival. Pluto Press. https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745349879/digital-degrowth
Lange, S., & Berner, A. (2022). The growth rebound effect: A theoretical–empirical investigation into the relation between rebound effects and economic growth. Journal of Cleaner Production, 371, 133158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133158
Lange, S., Kern, F., Peuckert, J., & Santarius, T. (2021). The Jevons paradox unravelled: A multi-level typology of rebound effects and mechanisms. Energy Research & Social Science, 74, 101982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.101982
Lange, S., Pohl, J., & Santarius, T. (2020). Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand? Ecological Economics, 176, 106760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106760
Lange, S., & Santarius, T. (2022). Digital Reset. Redirecting Technologies for the Deep Sustainability Transformation. Technische Universität Berlin. https://doi.org/10.14279/DEPOSITONCE-16187
Laurenti, R., Singh, J., Sinha, R., Potting, J., & Frostell, B. (2016). Unintended Environmental Consequences of Improvement Actions: A Qualitative Analysis of Systems’ Structure and Behavior. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 33(3), 381–399. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2330
Lerpold, L., & Sjöberg, Ö. (2023). Decoupling and redistribution in realising the Sustainable Development Goals. In Interlinkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 16–36). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Makov, T., & Font Vivanco, D. (2018). Does the Circular Economy Grow the Pie? The Case of Rebound Effects From Smartphone Reuse. Frontiers in Energy Research, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00039
Mang, P., & Reed, B. (2012). Regenerative Development and Design. In R. A. Meyers (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology (pp. 8855–8879). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_303
Maxwell, D., Owen, D., McAndrew, L., Muehmel, K., & Neubauer, A. (2011). Addressing the rebound effect, a report for the European Commission DG Environment (p. 133). European Commission DG ENV.
Meadows, D., Meadows, D., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. (1972). The Limits to Growth: A report for the Club of Rome’s project on the predicament of mankind. Potomac Associates. https://clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/
O’Brien, I. (2024, September 15). Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/15/data-center-gas-emissions-tech
OECD. (2024). OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024 (Volume 1): Embracing the Technology Frontier. OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/a1689dc5-en
Pansera, M., Ehlers, M.-H., & Kerschner, C. (2019). Unlocking wise digital techno-futures: Contributions from the Degrowth community. Futures, 114, 102474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.102474
Peters, G. P. (2024). Is limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C still possible? Dialogues on Climate Change, 29768659241293218. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768659241293218
Ren, S., Hao, Y., Xu, L., Wu, H., & Ba, N. (2021). Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China’s energy consumption? Energy Economics, 98, 105220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105220
Sachs, W., & Santarius, T. (2013). Rethink rather than rebound: A sufficiency revolution must precede the efficiency revolution.
Salahuddin, M., & Alam, K. (2016). Information and Communication Technology, electricity consumption and economic growth in OECD countries: A panel data analysis. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 76, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2015.11.005
Santarius, T. (2017). Digitalization, Efficiency and the Rebound Effect | degrowth.info. https://www.degrowth.info/en/2017/02/digitalization-efficiency-and-the-rebound-effect/
Santarius, T., Bieser, J. C. T., Frick, V., Höjer, M., Gossen, M., Hilty, L. M., Kern, E., Pohl, J., Rohde, F., & Lange, S. (2023). Digital sufficiency: Conceptual considerations for ICTs on a finite planet. Annals of Telecommunications, 78(5), 277–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-022-00914-x
Santarius, T., Pohl, J., & Lange, S. (2020). Digitalization and the Decoupling Debate: Can ICT Help to Reduce Environmental Impacts While the Economy Keeps Growing? Sustainability, 12(18), Article 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187496
Santarius, T., & Soland, M. (2018). How Technological Efficiency Improvements Change Consumer Preferences: Towards a Psychological Theory of Rebound Effects. Ecological Economics, 146, 414–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.12.009
Santarius, T., Walnum, H. J., & Aall, C. (2018). From Unidisciplinary to Multidisciplinary Rebound Research: Lessons Learned for Comprehensive Climate and Energy Policies. Frontiers in Energy Research, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00104
Schneider, F. (2008). Macroscopic rebound effects as argument for economic degrowth. 1st Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity,. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=7c4d1f92ea5e9d2cfb0a1d6c46dbca58ad4e1f0b
Selwyn, N. (2023). Digital degrowth: Toward radically sustainable education technology. Learning, Media and Technology, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2159978
Sharma, V., Kumar, N., & Nardi, B. (2023). Post-growth Human–Computer Interaction. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact., 31(1), 9:1-9:37. https://doi.org/10.1145/3624981
Sutherland, B. (2022, June 21). Strategies for Degrowth Computing. Eighth Workshop on Computing within Limits 2022. Eighth Workshop on Computing within Limits 2022, Virtual. https://doi.org/10.21428/bf6fb269.04676652
Taffel, S. (2024). Fantasies of dematerialization: (Un)sustainable growth and digital capitalism. In Digital Technologies for Sustainable Futures. Routledge.
UN Trade and Development. (2024). Digital Economy Report 2024: Shaping an Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Future. United Nations. https://doi.org/10.18356/9789213589779
United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Global Resources Outlook 2024: Bend the Trend – Pathways to a liveable planet as resource use spikes (p. 181). International Resource Panel. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/44902
Valero, A., Valero, A., & Calvo, G. (2021). The Material Limits of Energy Transition: Thanatia. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78533-8
Vetter, A. (2018). The Matrix of Convivial Technology – Assessing technologies for degrowth. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 1778–1786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.02.195
Ward, J. D., Sutton, P. C., Werner, A. D., Costanza, R., Mohr, S. H., & Simmons, C. T. (2016). Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible? PLOS ONE, 11(10), e0164733. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164733
Zink, T., & Geyer, R. (2017). Circular Economy Rebound. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12545
Zoellick, J. C., & Bisht, A. (2018). It’s not (all) about efficiency: Powering and organizing technology from a degrowth perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 1787–1799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.234
Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (1 edition). PublicAffairs.