GSC13-PLEN-48
July 2008
RESOLUTION GSC-13/XX: ICT and the Environment (proposal from TTC)
The 13th Global Standards Collaboration meeting (Boston, 2008)
Recognizing：
a) that in Kyoto, in December 1997, the world took concrete steps to mitigate global warming
with an international agreement to limit and reduce greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions;
b) that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated GHG
emission had risen by more than 70% since 1970; and this is having a global effect in
warming the planet, causing changing weather patterns, rising sea-levels, desertification,
shrinking ice cover and other worrying long-term effects. It also foresees a further rise in
average global temperatures of between 1.4 and 5.8° centigrade by 2030; and
c) that ITU and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC) of the government of
Japan co-organized the Kyoto Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change, April 15-16, in
Kyoto. The second ITU symposium was held in London, on 17-18 June, hosted by BT. The
symposia brought together key specialists in the field, from top decision-makers to engineers,
designers, planners, government officials, regulators, standards experts and others.
Considering：
a) that climate change is a concern for all of humanity and requires efforts on the part of all
sectors of society, including the information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector;
b) that although ICTs contribute only an estimated 2.5 per cent of total GHG, this share is set to
grow as usage of ICTs expands globally, growing at a faster rate than the general economy;
c) that ICTs are thus part of the cause of global warming, but they can also be part of the
solution, for instance through the promotion of carbon displacement technologies in other
sectors like energy, transport, building, .etc. ICTs are also vital in monitoring the spread of
global warming;
d) that SDOs are requested to develop Standards/Recommendations which enable energysaving systems and applications, since the energy-saving measures are imperative in the
development of ICTs especially in NGN for both network infrastructure and end terminals;
e) that standardization of the methodologies for the analysis, evaluation and quantification of
the CHG reductions that may be achieved through the use of ICTs are important;
f) that ICTs plays a vital role in monitoring and addressing climate change by exploiting the
experiences of basic science which has helped bring the issue of global warming into the
public domain and to raise awareness of future challenges;
g) that TSAG of ITU-T, in July 2008, will discuss on the appropriate structure in ITU-T to deal
with ICT and Climate Change; and
h) that TSAG will also approve the draft Resolution on ICTs and Climate Change which is to be
resolved at the WTSA2008 in October 2008.
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GSC13-PLEN-48
July 2008
Resolves：
1) to encourage ongoing national, regional and international level activities that relate to ICT
and Climate Change;
2) to encourage PSOs to contribute to the ITU-T initiatives on ICT and Climate Change, for the
standardization of both energy-saving ICT system and the methodologies for the analysis,
evaluation and quantification of GHG reductions that may be achieved through the use of
ICTs. and
3) to support the establishment and early implementation of WTSA2008 resolution on the ICT
and Climate Change.
Note: The sentences underlined should be reviewed based on TSAG discussion results, 2-9 July
2008.
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