Cybersecurity
is one of the most important challenges of our time. The rapid growth of
ICT networks has enabled opportunists to exploit online vulnerabilities
and attack countries’ critical infrastructure. Spam is a constant and
growing problem that threatens to stretch the capacity of the Internet
to transport data to the fullest, while phishing and malware affect
computer systems around the globe. The costs associated with
cyberthreats and cyber-attacks are real and significant – not only in
terms of lost revenue, breaches of sensitive data, cyber-attacks and
network outages but also in terms of lives ruined by identity theft,
debts run up on plundered credit cards or the online exploitation of
children. Our very trust in the online world is at stake — jeopardizing
the future of the information society, which is in danger from these
growing cyberthreats.
ITU has taken a leading role in promoting cybersecurity and trying to
combat the growing tidal wave of cyberthreats. On the occasion of the
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2007, ITU launched
the Global Cybersecurity Agenda. A High-Level Experts Group (HLEG) has
spent the last year reviewing the issues and developing proposals for
long-term strategies to promote cybersecurity, an achievement honoured
with the award of the ITU Silver Medal to the Chair of the HLEG, Chief
Judge Stein Schjolberg.
The GCA is now moving into its operational phase and ITU is
undertaking a vital partnership in conjunction with IMPACT — the
International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats — hosted by
the Government of Malaysia, which will put a global early warning system
at the disposal of all Member States. The Child Online Protection (COP)
initiative is a vitally important project that will protect one of the
most vulnerable groups online by providing valuable guidance on safe
online behaviour, in conjunction with other UN agencies and partners. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday welcomed ITU’s COP initiative
and urged all States to support it. ITU Member States stand united in
their determination to combat the growing menace of cybercrime and the
risks posed by new and emerging cyberthreats.
Climate change is another profound challenge that is at work,
transforming the face of the world. Whatever the underlying cause, at
current rates of extinction, scientists predict that two-thirds of all
bird, mammal, butterfly, and plant species will be extinct by the end of
this century. Not only the species, but the very survival of the world
we live in and the planet itself, is now in jeopardy. Climate change is
a global challenge that the world simply cannot afford to lose — not
just for our sake, but for the sake of our children.
ITU is mainstreaming this major issue into its regular work
programme. ITU is undertaking important work on how ICTs can help
prevent and avert climate change. There is a strong role for ITU in
standards for energy efficiency of the ICT equipment on which our
digital economy depends. ITU has always taken the lead in setting high
standards for telecommunications and ICTs, and this is another key area
in which ITU can make a real difference.
The Resolution passed recently at the World Telecommunication
Standardization Assembly (WTSA) in Johannesburg encourages ITU Member
States to work towards reductions in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
arising from the use of ICTs, in line with the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change. ITU aims to achieve climate neutrality for its
operations within three years, and ITU is at the forefront of this
progress compared with many other international organizations.
In the global effort to combat climate change, ITU is continuing to
help developing countries to mitigate the effects of climate change,
including the use of emergency telecommunications and alerting systems
for disaster relief. ITU, in collaboration with its membership, is
identifying the necessary radio-frequency spectrum for climate
monitoring and disaster prediction, detection and relief, including a
promising cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
in the field of remote-sensing applications.
ITU will continue to join efforts in the context of the UN system, in
order to "deliver as one" with a principal focus on ICTs and climate
change. In 2000, UN Members adopted the Millennium Declaration as a
renewed commitment to human development, including the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). However, climate change impacts will tend to
offset progress being made to meet the MDGs by 2015, so it is crucial to
empower developing countries by facilitating their access to the ICTs
needed for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
It is widely acknowledged that the issue of climate change is rapidly
emerging as a global concern, which needs a global response. The
High-Level Segment underlined that Member States are committed to
combating climate change: ITU remains committed to combating climate
change. ITU’s work is in line with the needs and priorities of our
Member States in the vital importance of taking action to combat climate
change.
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
ITU Secretary-General
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