Committed to Connecting the World
ICTs and Climate Change
Tim Kelly, Head, Standardization
Policy Division
International Telecommunication
Union (ITU)
C7 eEnvironment, WSIS action line facilitation meeting,
Geneva, 21 May 2008
C7 E-environment, Geneva, 21 May 2008
world summit on the information society
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Committed to Connecting the World
Agenda
ƒ The evidence for climate change
ƒ ICTs …
¾
¾
¾
¾
as a cause of global warming
in monitoring climate change
for mitigating climate change
for adaptation
ƒ ITU Symposia:
¾ Kyoto, Japan, 15-16 April, co-organised by MIC Japan
¾ London, UK, 17-18 June, supported and hosted by BT
ƒ E-environment scoping study
ƒ ITU and Climate Change
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Evidence for climate change
Source: IPCC 4th assessment report, 2007
Committed to Connecting the World
ICTs as a cause of global warming
Percentage contribution to total
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C7 E-environment, Geneva, 21 May 2008
Source: Gartner Group (2007)
ICTs (excluding
broadcasting)
contribute an
estimated 2-2.5% of
global Greenhouse Gas
emissions
Around 0.9 tonnes
GtCO2e in 2007
Telecoms contributed
around one quarter of
this total
But Telecoms also
have greatest
potential for
mitigation
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ICTs at work for monitoring
climate change
ƒ WMO World Weather
Watch, incorporating:
¾ Global Observing
system
¾ Global Telecom System
¾ Global Data Processing
system
ƒ Remote sensing
ƒ Environmental monitoring
¾ Tsunami early-warning system
ƒ Digital climate forecasting models
ƒ GPS-enabled telemetry
ƒ Ubiquitous sensor networks
Committed to Connecting the World
Mitigating the impact
ƒ Directly, e.g., through energy-saving
¾ Next-Generation Networks (NGN) should reduce GHG emissions by
40% compared with separate fixed and mobile networks
¾ Modern radio technologies reduce energy consumption by
transmitters ~ 10 times
ƒ Indirectly, e.g. ICTs for carbon abatement
¾ Video-conferencing to reduce business travel in Europe by 1%
would save 1m CO2 tonnes
ƒ Systemically, e.g., by “dematerialisation”
¾ Intelligent Transport Systems could reduce vehicle carbon
emissions below 130g per km
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Committed to Connecting the World
Towards a climate neutral ICT sector
ƒ BT has reduced carbon emissions by 60% compared since
1996
ƒ ETNO Members reduced carbon emissions by 7% and carbon
intensity by 14%, 2000-03
ƒ NTT’s “Total Power Revolution” saved 124m kWh in 2007
ƒ Other initiatives:
¾ GeSI, Green Grid, WattWatt, FTTH Council Europe, EU codes of
conduct, CBI Task Force etc
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Committed to Connecting the World
Using ICTs for carbon abatement /
displacement
ƒ Reducing / substituting for travel
¾ In 2007, Telstra held 7’500 video conferences saving 4’200 tonnes of CO2
ƒ Flexible work arrangements
¾ Each one million EU workers could save one million tonnes of CO2 annually
by telecommuting
ƒ Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
¾ In-car systems to assist in “eco-driving” can reduce CO2 emissions by up to
20 per cent
ƒ Dematerialization (replacing atoms with bits)
¾ ITU-T Recommendations Online save 105 tonnes of CO2 annually compared
with distribution of paper copies
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world summit on the information society
Sources: Climate Risk report for Telstra, ETNO/WWF report, Toyota, ITU
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Committed to Connecting the World
ICTs for adaptation: ITU Role
ƒ Telecommunications/ICTs for disaster preparedness
¾ Tampere Convention
¾ PP-06 Resolutions 36 and 136 on use ICTs for humanitarian
assistance
¾ WRC Resolutions 646, 647, 673 on use of radiocommunications for
environmental monitoring, public protection and disaster relief
¾ WTDC-06 Resolution 34 on the role of ICTs in mitigation of effects
of disasters and humanitarian assistance
¾ Partnership Coordination Panel on Telecoms for Disaster Relief
(PCP-TDR)
¾ E.164 country code (888) for UN OCHA
¾ Recommendations E.106 on call priority and X.1303 on common
alerting protocol
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Committed to Connecting the World
Symposia on ICTs and Climate Change
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Kyoto, Japan, 15-16 April, co-organized by MIC Japan
London, UK, 17-18 June, supported and hosted by BT
Outline agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
ICTs to the Rescue?
Corporate responsibility: Towards a climate-neutral ICT sector
ICTs for monitoring climate change
ICTs as a green technology
Towards a high-bandwidth, low carbon future
Adapting to climate change
¾ Webcast using GoToWebinar
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Committed to Connecting the World
ITU-D e-Environment Scoping Study:
Rationale
ƒ ITU mandate in e-Environment relates to
telecomm/ICT applications (Resolution 35, Kyoto 1994)
ƒ At 2006 World Telecommunication Development
Conference, ITU was mandated to:
¾ Assist developing countries in the implementation of relevant ICT
applications for environment and sustainable development
¾ To develop guidelines on the technology and policy aspects of ICT
applications, including e-Environment
ƒ ITU is co-facilitator on issues related to WSIS Action Line C7:
e-Environment
Study available at: www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-env.html
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Committed to Connecting the World
Implications for developing countries
ƒ All countries can respond to climate change by a process of
adaptation to its impacts and by reducing GHG emissions
(mitigation) thereby reducing rate and magnitude of climate
change
ƒ The capacity to adapt and mitigate is dependent on socio-economic
and environmental circumstances and availability of ICTs
ƒ Many countries have limited capacity to make beneficial use of ICTs
for environmental action:
¾ Limited access to Internet
¾ Limited human capacity to analyze and interpret climate change data
¾ Limited capacity to integrate scientific data into decision and policy
making
¾ Limited capacity to undertake adaptation and mitigation
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Committed to Connecting the World
Towards a climate-neutral ITU
ƒ Developing a knowledge base and repository
¾ Conducting systematic review of ITU Recommendations
¾ Creating a Focus Group on methodologies for estimating the GHG
emissions from ICTs
ƒ Positioning ITU as a strategic leader
¾ Developing a Resolution for WTSA-08
ƒ Promoting a global understanding through international fora and
agreements
¾ High-level segment at Council 2008
ƒ Achieving a climate-neutral ITU within three years
¾ Conducting carbon audit
¾ Using remote collaboration tools
¾ Developing projects under Carbon Development Mechanism
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Committed to Connecting the World
Website: www.itu.int/climate
Tech Watch reports: http://www.itu.int/ITUT/techwatch/reports.html
e-Environment scoping study: http://www.itu.int/ITUD/cyb/app/e-env.html
email: tim.kelly (at) itu.int
Thank you
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world summit on the information society
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