ITU’s call to Cancun: ICTs must be part of the solution
ITU Membership urges COP16 delegates
to look to the enormous potential of
ICT
solutions to cut emissions across all
sectors
Guadalajara, 13 October
2010 — The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in accordance
with Article 7.2 (l) of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), welcomes the opportunity to send a
message concerning the important role that
Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) can play to tackle climate change in
the framework of the AWG-LCA and the Bali
Plan of Action to the next Conference of
Parties (COP) of UNFCCC which will be held
in Cancun, Mexico, from 29 November to 10
December 2010.
ITU is the UN specialized agency for
information and communication technologies
(ICTs) including telecommunication issues
and its membership includes 192 Member
States and more than 700 Sector Members and
Associates.
ITU Plenipotentiary Conference adopted, by
unanimous decision, Resolution WGPL/10
“Information and communication technologies
(ICTs), climate change and the protection of
the environment (Annex 1).” In this
Resolution, ITU Member States would like to
raise public and policymaker awareness of
the critical role of ICTs in addressing
climate change in the run-up to COP-16.
Although ICTs are a small part of the
problem they are also an important part of
the solution. Studies clearly show that more
effective use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) can
deliver tremendous CO2e1
savings.
ICTs provide means for virtual meetings (to
replace/reduce travelling), smart grids,
e-governance, e-health, intelligent
transport systems, dematerialization (for
example electronic publications rather than
paper, downloading videos instead of buying
DVDs etc).
ICTs, in general, and radio-based remote
sensors, in particular, are already the main
tools for environment observation and
climate monitoring on global basis. The
modern disaster prediction, detection and
early warning systems based on the use of
ICTs are essential for saving lives and
should be proliferated in developing
countries.
Specific mention of ICTs in the negotiating
text, along with the adoption of an agreed
methodology for measuring the carbon
footprint of ICT equipment and its inclusion
in National Adaptation/Mitigation Plans,
would provide an incentive to the ICT
industry to invest in developing countries,
help reduce the digital divide, and at the
same time help fight climate change – a
win-win scenario.
ITU Membership, therefore, urges COP16
delegates to look to the ICT sector, and
take maximum advantage of the power of ICTs
to reduce emissions worldwide.
1CO2e – carbon dioxide equivalent – is a
standardized measure of GHG emissions
designed to account for the different global
warming potentials of GHGs.
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