Page 53 - Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

civil society, academia and NGOs. As part of its direct support to Member States, through joined up
intervention, all UN entities of the Coalition plan to work together in the provision of capacity building Chapter 6
and e-waste policy support at the national or regional levels.
In summary, the three core functions of the Coalition’s work include: joint advocacy and communication
on e-waste; greater knowledge gathering and sharing; and joined-up action at the national level in
support of Member States.

All UN entities as Members includes: ITU; United Nations University; Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam
and Stockholm Conventions; United Nations Industrial Development Organization; United Nations
Environment Programme; International Labour Organization; United Nations Human Settlements
Programme; International Trade Centre; United Nations Institute for Training and Research; and the
World Health Organization.

Figure 13: The three core functions of the UN E-waste Coalition

The Members are currently being coordinated by the Secretariat of the UN Environment Management
Group, which originally established a work stream on e-waste in May 2016, in order to increase
knowledge sharing and awareness of this topic while aiming to analyse possible coordination efforts
at the international level.

In an attempt to engage the diverse array of active stakeholders in the e-waste domain, the Coalition
is bringing in partners from all sectors of society. Through the Coalition, the UN entities are working
with the private sector, with both upstream and downstream industry, including manufacturers,
small and medium-sized enterprises and major recyclers. The Coalition takes a life-cycle approach
to its work on e-waste, encompassing all stages of the product life-cycle of electrical and electronic
equipment, including obsolete ICT equipment.
In January 2019, the Coalition partnered with the World Economic Forum to publish the report: ‘A
New Circular Vision for Electronics: Time for a Global Reboot.’ This report concluded that society
4 5
needs to collectively rethink the rules of the game and create a vision around which government,
consumers and industry can rally.

The Goals of the UN E-waste Coalition are as follows:

• More countries joining global and regional legal instruments and adhering to standards in the
area of e-waste with more effective implementation

4 International Telecommunication Union (ITU). ‘A New Circular Vision for Electronics - Time for a Global Reboot.’ www
.itu .int/ en/ ITU -D/ Climate -Change/ Pages/ ewaste/ A -New -Circular -Vision -for -Electronics -Time -for -a -Global -Reboot .aspx.
5 E-waste Coalition. ‘A New Circular Vision for Electronics: Time for a Global Reboot.’ World Economic Forum (WEF);
E-Waste Coalition; World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); World Health Organization (WHO);
Secretariat of the Environment Management Group (EMG), Jan. 2019, .itu .int/ en/ ITU -D/ Climate -Change/ Documents/
2019/ A -New -Circular -Vision -for -Electronics .pdf.

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