Online video consumption produces 300 million tons of CO2 emissions annually, making the growth of online streaming unsustainable, according to a report by French carbon transition think tank The Shift Project.

Video-on-demand services like Netflix and Amazon Prime contributed about a third of all online video traffic in 2018, while pornographic videos made up 27%.

Digital technologies now emit 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, with energy consumption in this area increasing by 9% annually. The Shift Project warns that this growth is unsustainable and calls for more careful consideration of the energy consumed by digital technologies.

The think tank also suggests giving priority to certain uses of digital technologies that are most important to society. However, this decision may raise arguments about net neutrality.