Page 56 - Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Chapter 7. Conclusion

As climate change is taking its toll and scientific research suggests that it is time to talk about climate
crisis, rather than climate change, it is also ‘time to start talking less about the technology for
preventing global warming and more about the technology we will need to live with it’.
1
Climate change is the single most defining challenge of this century. If not actively addressed at this point
in time, its impacts will be irreversible, leading to an uninhabitable planet in the foreseeable future.

ICTs such as satellites, mobile phones and the Internet, in particular, already play a role in addressing
some challenges related to climate change. While ICTs are partly responsible for contributing to
climate change, they have also shown some potential in monitoring climate change and mitigating
and adapting to its impacts. As demonstrated in this report, ICTs can reduce energy consumptions of
buildings and are being used to develop future data centres. They are also relieving traffic congestion
in urban areas, significantly reducing emissions in cities. ICTs and their ability to collect and analyse
in real-time have proven to be key to building responsive early warning systems that would enhance
disaster preparedness such as has been the case in Peru and the Philippines. Mobile phones are also
making weather information accessible to farmers, allowing them to take adaptive actions to minimise
the impacts of climate change.

However, mindfulness is required around the growing challenges regarding disposal of devices and
other e-waste (i.e. other electrical and electronic equipment), the environmental impact assessment
of ICTs, and other challenges (and opportunities) in the transition to a green and resource-efficient
economy. Strategic approaches are needed to successfully deploy ICTs in mitigating climate change
through the application of intelligent ICT systems, to enhance the transformational role of ICTs in
climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and to recognize the value of ICTs in monitoring
deforestation, crop patterns and other environmental phenomena.

Similar mindfulness is required to reduce the downsides of ICT energy consumption through their
manufacturing and production, as well as usage (e.g. growth in the number of consumer devices,
energy use and energy efficiency across networks, increasing data flows, and the explosion in the
number of data centres).

1 Lichfield, Gideon. ‘Welcome to Climate Change.’ MIT Technology Review, 24 Apr. 2019, .technologyreview .com/ s/
613350/ welcome -to -climate -change/ .

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