Launch of the Digital Solutions for Climate Change Report

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I am very pleased to add my welcome to this launch of the Digital Solutions’ for Climate change report.

ITU has had a long and very fruitful collaboration with GeSI and I myself have been pleased to serve on the GeSI Board for over 10 years. As the UN specialized agency for ICTs we have worked with GeSI on a number of studies and activities especially in advocating the case for ICTs for mitigation and adaption to climate change in the climate change conferences, to get the message across on the importance of ICTs to reduce global emission especially in the highly polluting sectors such energy generation, transportation and buildings, and in helping efforts to adapt to climate change. I believe together with the industry members of GeSI we were very successful in getting the importance of ICTs recognized in that conference.

This report comes at a time when the world’s attention is focused on COVID-19 but it is important not to lose sight of the far more long-term and existential threat of climate change and how the emergence of frontier technologies can contribute.

Although we know ICTs are a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions given their rapid growth since 2007, their overall impact is much more positive in terms of mitigating and adapting to climate change. Latest forecasts show that growth in the sector will be balanced out by energy efficiencies and greater use of renewable power.

The question before us then is how can we leverage this digital transformation into effective climate action, one that contributes effectively to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and deliver on the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular for low- and middle-income countries most exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The use-cases and digital technologies analysis and insights in this report give clear illustration of the potential carbon abatement opportunities afforded by digital solutions, which can serve as good practice recommendations to be considered to support countries in meeting the nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

ITU with its diverse membership of 193 governments and over 900 sector members – private sector companies in the telecom and Internet sector as well as a diverse range of other industries increasingly dependent on ICTs, as well as our academia members, works on harmonizing the radio spectrum and developing technical standards to ensure interoperability and reduced costs through economies of scale and minimize the digital ecosystem’s carbon footprint.

ITU has also collaborated with GeSI to set out the first ICT sector-specific science-based pathway to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°c above pre-industrial levels.

Let me conclude by thanking GeSI and the sponsors of the report for this important contribution on how digital technologies can assist in accelerating climate action. I believe now is the time that we seize the opportunity ICTs are offering and turn today’s digital revolution into an environmental development revolution.

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