Opening Remarks by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-GeneralHigh-Level Political Forum 2019 - Side Event on "Harnessing Frontier Technologies for Accelerating Climate Actions and the SDGs"
9 July 2019 - New York, USA
Good evening. My name is Malcolm Johnson and I am the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs). Thank you for joining us tonight to discuss how frontier technologies can help accelerate climate actions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a side event co-sponsored by ITU and GeSI, the Global e-Sustainability Initiative.
Today, we are facing not one but two deep transformations. The first one, driven by the emergence of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, the Internet of Things, 5G and others, is transforming our economies and our lives at warp speed and scale. As for the second transformation, climate change, it is affecting our ecosystems and the future of life on our planet.
The question before us is: how can we turn this digital transformation into climate action? In other words, what can these frontier technologies and ICTs in general do to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy?
This is a topic very close to my heart. When I first joined ITU almost 13 years ago climate change did not really figure in ITU’s work. I led the publication of ITU’s first report on ICTs and climate change for the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in Bali.
The overwhelming reaction then was: what have ICTs got to do with climate change, and why is ITU getting involved in the issue?
We have come a long way. I am pleased that that question is no longer raised and the importance of ICTs for adapting and mitigating against climate change is now well recognized.
This September, ITU will submit another report to the 2019 Climate Action Summit called by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. What both reports show is that although ICTs are a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and since 2007 of course the ICT sector has experienced very high growth so this contribution has increased, its impact is much more in terms of its mitigating effect on the highly polluting sectors such energy generation, transportation and buildings, and in helping efforts to adapt to climate change.
Nevertheless ITU has been working with the industry to minimize the digital ecosystem’s growing carbon footprint – be it by working on e-waste or in reducing energy consumption. For example, we have just established a new Focus Group to study environmental efficiency in the age of Artificial Intelligence. This group will provide a global platform to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of AI and other frontier technologies. It will also address these technologies’ ability to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and the protection of biodiversity.
I take this opportunity to invite all of you to ITU’s 9th Green Standards Week, which will take place in Valencia, Spain from 1 to 4 October 2019 and which will look at these efforts in detail.
New technologies are driving innovative solutions that are transforming the way goods and services are being produced and delivered. Already, robotics and automation and predictive analytics are supporting businesses and industries in optimizing resource efficiency, cutting down emissions in the manufacturing process, or replacing energy intensive parts in products.
The window of opportunity and action is closing fast.
The past four years were the warmest on record. There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been for 800,000 years. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0 °C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.
This comes at a heavy human and economic cost. And too often, it is the poorest who are hit the hardest.
We are fortunate to have four expert panelists with us to explore how ICTs are boosting climate actions in different sectors, discuss the approaches and strategies taken by industry leaders and key stakeholders to foster innovative solutions and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, and look at the role of frontier technologies in helping us move to a circular economy.
I would like to thank them for joining us and wish you all a very interesting and informative session.