15 November 2022 - Sharm-Al-Sheikh, Egypt
On behalf of ITU I am pleased to add my welcome to this COP27 side event on leveraging private sector development to drive the green transition. It is fitting that this is one of my last events as ITU Deputy Secretary-General, as climate change has been at the top of my priorities since my first days in ITU. I can still remember the skepticism with which the first ITU report on information and communication technologies (ICTs) and climate change which I published in 2007 was received. I was always being asked what has ITU got to do with climate change, what have ICTs got to do with climate change. I am pleased that no one asks that question any more!
Today, it is well recognized that the digital transformation that is sweeping the world will be essential to combat climate change, as well as the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The problem of course is that not everyone can benefit from the technology, with still almost half the world’s population offline, especially in developing countries and in remote and rural areas.
Many studies have shown how important the technology is to reducing energy consumption and cutting global greenhouse gas emissions. International standards have a significant role to play in this endeavour, and this is a core function of ITU as the UN’s specialized agency for ICTs. Unusually for a UN agency, ITU benefits from a large private sector membership, as well as academia, which makes a significant contribution to our standards making. Together with our membership of 193 Member States we have over 900 private sector companies, universities, and other international and regional organizations, working in ITU to develop international standards to improve energy efficiency, reduce e-waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure interoperability. One of the earliest successes was the series of universal chargers, which eliminated over 50,000 tons of redundant charges and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by close to 14 million tons.
ITU is also helping governments in their digital transformation pathways, identifying the challenges associated with the implementation of digital technologies, and finding concrete technological solutions in line with global best practices.
Governments need to harmonize their regulatory frameworks to encourage and simplify private sector investment. ITU’s international treaty on the use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits, the Radio Regulations, last undated in Sharm Al Sheikh three years ago, is a vital contribution to an enabling environment which brings down costs through economies of scale and ensures the efficient use of these limited natural resources.
The private sector is an important driver of the green economy transformation and ITU has partnered with GeSI and its many private sector companies to organize events at previous COPs. One of the major challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in addressing climate change is that many lack the financial resources needed to “green” their businesses.
Before turning to our panelists, I would like to thank the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) for organizing today’s COP27 side event with ITU. We are all seeing the devasting impacts of climate change on food and water security, population displacement and others across the globe. And nowhere is this more evident than in Africa, where people suffer disproportionately from climate change while accounting for just a tiny fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
I look forward to hearing the panelists on how we can collectively help strengthen the private sector’s efforts in the adoption of scalable new technologies that will enable us all to leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient world, while supporting the paradigm shift towards the implementation of a circular economy model, predicated on sustainability and overall green growth.
I wish you a very fruitful exchange and look forward to continued collaboration.
Thank you.
