ITU organized an Information and Training Session on ITU Methodologies for Assessing the Environmental Impact of ICT, which was held on 12 April 2012 from 14.00 to 17.30 hours (CET) in Geneva, Switzerland in parallel with the next meeting of ITU-T Study Group 5* (11-19 April 2012).
Within ITU-T Study Group 5 (SG5), Question 18 is developing a set of common methodologies to assess the life cycle impact of the ICT Sector, both in terms of its own emissions and the savings created through ICT applications in other industry sectors.
A set of standardized methodologies to assess the environmental impacts of ICTs will enable ITU and its Membership to voice its message clearly, accurately and consistently; increasing the credibility of claims regarding how ICTs might aid in mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The new standard methodologies will reinforce the role of ICTs by providing an accurate, reliable tool for assessing their environmental impact. It will generate figures upon which businesses can model future revenues, costs and efficiency gains provided by green ICTs; and figures enabling governments and regulators to identify the gains in social and economic welfare that green ICTs can achieve.
Participation in the Information and Training Session on ITU Methodologies was open to ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia and to any individual or company from a Member State of ITU who wished to contribute to the work.
Training Overview
The main purpose of this Information and Training Session was to provide an overview of:
- Recommendation ITU-T L.1400 (“Overview and general principles of methodologies for assessing the environmental impact of ICT”) presents the general principles on how to assess the environmental impact of ICT and outlines the different methodologies that are being developed to assess the environmental impact of (a) ICT goods, networks, and services; (b) ICT projects; (c) ICT in organizations; (d) ICT in cities; and (e) ICT in countries or group of countries;
- Recommendation ITU-T L.1410 (“Methodology for environmental impacts of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) goods, networks and services”) provides a standardized way to assess the direct environmental impact of ICT goods, networks and services, as well as their indirect impact on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of non-ICT industry sectors. It is based upon the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology standardized in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044;
- Recommendation ITU-T L. 1420 (“Methodology for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions impact assessment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in organizations”) standardizes the requirements that an organization should comply with when assessing energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
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