Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 2...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 26 to 34.

        Under the Paris Agreement’s shadow, digital sobriety reframes “more compute” as a liability unless its externalities shrink. The burgeoning adoption of AI intensifies energy demand and upstream emissions, while many leaders still underestimate the scale of change required. According to SBTi trajectories, the sector must cut emissions by 45–62% from 2020–2030, even as digitalization already accounts for 2–4% of global emissions and grows 2–7% annually. [I] Without credible baselines and time-bound targets, declarations risk becoming glossy façades rather than operational discipline.

        Sobriety is ecological as much as climatic: metals and water are under strain from device manufacturing and data-center cooling. Extending device lifespans amortizes embodied carbon and curbs extractive pressures; postponing replacement cycles often beats headline efficiency gains from new models. [II] In practice, this means designing for repairability, banning gratuitous upgrades, and privileging sufficiency – lower bitrates, leaner code, right-sizing storage – so the cleanest watt remains the watt never used.

        Five converging pressures accelerate action: regulation (CSRD, EU Climate Law, EU Taxonomy, EED), procurement decarbonization, cost efficiency, consumer expectations, and talent markets. CSRD elevates Scope-3 transparency, while buyers can normalize low-carbon tenders. If procurement fails to reward low-carbon suppliers today, tomorrow’s decarbonization targets will become performative rather than transformative. This consumer sentiment creates a chain effect inside firms, cascading from brand to budgets to IT standards; younger talent likewise treats climate credibility as table stakes. [III]

A pragmatic roadmap starts with measurement, hotspots, and governance, then sequences interventions across use, software, and infrastructure. Budgets remain tight – CIO outlays rise ~2.4–5.2% while inflation hovers ~2.4–7.4% – so savings must finance further abatement. [IV] Early “defaults” matter: moderate resolutions, curb autoplay, archive cold data, schedule jobs to greener grids, and design frugal UX. Over time, literacy and incentives embed sobriety as culture, not campaign, clarifying the IT function’s dual role: enabling the business while decarbonizing itself.

(Adapted from Wavestone, “Digital Sobriety: how to reduce the environmental impact of digital usage?”)

Question 26. According to paragraph 1, the SBTi requires emissions cuts of ______.

A. between 45% and 62% from 2020 to 2030

B. around 25% by 2035 across all digital operations consistently worldwide

C. at least 70% before 2030 with annual linear reductions globally enforced

D. exactly 10% every year regardless of sectoral baselines or targets