ITU and climate change

International
Telecommunication
Union
www.itu.int/climate
Cristina Bueti
Side Event on
“ ICT and Climate Change:
Finding Solutions”
10 December 2008, Poznań, Poland

December 2008
Committed to Connecting the World
2
ICTs as a part of the solution
It is estimated that ICTs contribute around 2-2.5 per cent of global
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These percentages are likely to
grow as ICTs become more widely available.
At the same time, ICTs can significantly help reduce
climate change by:
 promoting the development of more
energy efficient devices, applications
and networks;
 encouraging environmentally friendly
design; and
 reducing the carbon footprint in its own
industry and in other sectors, ICTs promise to drastically reduce
GHG emissions.

December 2008
3
3
ITU & Climate Change
 ITU is the leading United Nations
Agency for ICTs
Committed to Connecting the World-
Committed to Connecting it responsibly
 ITU mandate on Climate Change
dates back in 1994 (Res. 35, Kyoto)
New Resolution on CC just approved
at the WTSA (Johannesburg, Oct. 2008)
 ITU is co-facilitator in issues related
to WSIS Action Line C7: e-environment
 ITU’s activities on climate change can be found at: www.itu.int/climate

December 2008
4
WTSA-08
 Resolution 73 on Climate Change
 Notes conclusion of GSS that ICT industry
can set an example by committing to
specific programs with objectives to
reduce overall GHG emissions
 Recognizes that ICTs can make a substantial
contribution and be a major factor to mitigate
the effects of climate change, for example
through energy-efficient devices, applications and
networks
 Resolves that CC is a high priority in ITU as part
of our contribution to UN processes and global efforts
to moderate climate change
 Resolves to promote adoption of recommendations
to ensure greater energy efficient of ICT
devices and reduce GHG emissions in all sectors

December 2008
5
High-Level Segment (HLS) of the ITU
Council 2008
 HLS brought together Presidents of Burkina Faso and
Rwanda along with Ministers, regulators and heads of
UN agencies and focused on climate change &
cybersecurity. (12-13 November 2008)
 Declaration of the ITU Secretary General on climate change:
 “ITU is mainstreaming this major issue into its regular work programme. ITU is
undertaking important work on how ICTs can help prevent and avert climate
change. There is a strong role for ITU in standards for energy
efficiency of the ICT equipment on which our digital economy
depends. ITU has always taken the lead in setting high
standards for telecommunications and ICTs, and this is
another key area in which ITU can make a real difference.”

December 2008
6
 ICTs can help mitigate the impact of climate
change
 Directly, e.g., through energy-saving
 Next-Generation Networks (NGN)
should reduce GHG emissions by
40% (Tech Watch Report)
 Modern radio technologies reduce
energy consumption by transmitters
~ 10 times
 Indirectly, e.g. ICTs for carbon abatement
 Video-conferencing to reduce business travel in Europe
by 1% would save 1m CO2 tonnes
 Systemically, e.g., by “dematerialisation”
 Intelligent Transport Systems could reduce vehicle
carbon emissions below 130g per km
Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change

December 2008
7
 Established by TSAG in July 2008
 Faulkner (BT) appointed as Chairman
 Four deliverables expected by April
2009
 First meeting held 1-3 September 2008
in Geneva and 2nd meeting on 25-28 November 2008
 Working mainly through conference calls
Focus Group on ICTs & Climate Change

December 2008
8
What is the scope of the work?
 “The FG should
 analyze and identify gaps in the areas of definitions, general principles,
methodology
 (develop) appropriate tools to characterize the impact of ICTs on Climate
Change
 support the development of appropriate international standards”*
 The Focus Group will be identifying
 the impact of ICTs on Climate Change over their entire lifecycle
 mitigation measures to be recommended when using ICTs in a relevant
sectors
 possible enhancements to monitoring of relevant climate parameters” *
 The FG will be reducing fossil fuel dependence (incidentally)
 saving cost and freeing up funds for better use
 The FG will study adaptation to continuing changes in climate
 The use of ICTs to monitor climate parameters can be extended to include
Ubiquitous Sensor Networking (USNs), as input to short and long range
weather forecasting and as a means of informing communities of imminent
storms or farmers of long term trends (for crop selection).
 USNs can also be used to monitor pollution (GHG) levels and so help to bring
them under control
*TSAG, TD 673 , Geneva, 2-9 July 2008

December 2008
9
What are the Deliverables?
 1. Report on “terms and definitions”, December 2008
 E.g. which energy unit to use in the FG?
 2. Report on the “gap analysis” and proposed roadmap,
December 2008
 What is already happening in standards?
 What more can the FG or SGs do in standards?
 3. Report on “methodology”: Interim report, December
2008; Final report March 2009
 Estimate present and future per-user energy consumption
of ICTs over their entire life-cycle
 4. Proposed Tools and Guidelines, December 2008
 Work with SGs in producing Checklists?
 How can technologies be improved?

December 2008
10
Work of ICT CC Focus Group
(timeline for deliverables)
D1
Definitions
D2 Standards
Gap Analysis
and
Roadmap
D3
Methodology
D4 Proposed
Tools and
Guidelines
December 31
D1,2,and 4 published on website
Quality Assurance
Review
March
24-27
April 27
Develop
Methodology/LCA
Edit
D3 and
Merged
D1-4
Report
To
TSAG
March
4 Merge
Final
Deliv’
Quality Assurance
Review
Quality Assurance
Review
Hiroshima
Cont’b on D3
QA
Review

December 2008
11
Who Contributed
to the first meeting?

December 2008
12
Monitoring Climate Change
 As the steward of the global framework for
spectrum, ITU
 Provides radio-frequency spectrum
and orbits for satellites for climate
monitoring
 Develops international treaty level
standards for non-interference operation
of radiocommunication systems involved
in climate monitoring and mitigating negative
effect of climate change
 Carries out studies (through ITU-R Study
Groups)
 Develops World-wide standards (ITU-R
Recommendations), and
 Facilitates the introduction and operation of modern radio
technologies and systems with low-energy consumption

December 2008
13
Radio and Climate Monitoring
 Radio-based remote
sensors are the main tools
for obtaining environmental
data for climate monitoring
 Systems belonging to
Earth exploration-satellite,
meteorological-satellite and
meteorological aids
radiocommunication
services form the backbone
of the WMO Global Climate
Observing System
Measuring sea level by
radio remote sensor
from satellite with
precision of 2-3 cm

December 2008
14
Radiocommunications for Adaptation
and Mitigation
 Earth observation-satellite systems
provide data for damage assessment
and planning relief operation
 Radiocommunications, in many
cases, the only communication means
in relief operations because the "wired"
infrastructure is destroyed
Satellite communication at disaster site
 Environmental data obtained by radio-based remote sensors
are used for climate change prediction and taking preventive
measures to minimize its negative effects

December 2008
15
15
Assisting Developing Countries
 Develop guidelines, training materials and
toolkits on technology & policy aspects of
e-Environment applications
 Assist developing countries in implementing
relevant ICT applications for environment
and sustainable development
 Challenges and opportunities
 Awareness promotion
 Work with international partners for
capacity building and coordinated
initiatives
 Support developing countries for pilot
project implementation
 Monitor and evaluate results; share best
practices with other countries
I
NEED
ITU’s
HELP!

December 2008
16
16
ICTs for e-Environment Report
 Objective: Provide guidelines for developing
countries on the use of ICTs for better
management and protection of the
environment as a key part of their
development process, with particular focus on
climate change
 Examines six areas of ICT use: Environmental
Observation, Analysis, Planning, Management
& Protection, ICT Mitigation and Capacity
Building
 Recommendations for developing
countries:
 Strengthen national analysis, planning
and implementation
 Use existing and new financial mechanisms
 Foster technology transfer
 Promote best practices
 Promote Public-Private partnerships

December 2008
17
17
17
 Building on these recommendations, ITU has
initiated a series of activities to assist decision-
makers in ITU Members States:
 e-Environment Readiness Index: Methodology and
indicators for assessing a country’s level of e-
environment readiness
 E-Environment toolkit: Practical guidelines for
assessing needs and establishing strategies for the
implementation of national e-environment master plans
 Direct assistance to countries in need: Using the
developed tools to facilitate the deployment of
infrastructure and related ICT services
 Capacity building: Workshops and training material to
assist Member States in the development of master
plans and the deployment of diverse ICT applications
ICTs for e-Environment Report (cont.)

December 2008
18
Towards a climate-neutral ITU
 Developing a knowledge base and repository
 Positioning ITU as a strategic leader
 Promoting a global understanding through
international fora and agreements
 Achieving a climate-neutral ITU within three
years
 Conducting carbon audit
 Using remote collaboration tools
 Developing projects under Clean
Development Mechanism

December 2008
19
“Climate Change is a global challenge that the
world cannot lose.”
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
ITU Secretary-General, 13 November 2008
“Climate change is the defining challenge of our
era.
ITU’s work to cut greenhouse gas emissions,
develop standards and use ‘e-environment’
systems can speed up the global shift to a low-
carbon economy.
Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General, 12 November
2008

December 2008
20
More information
 ITU Activities on Climate Change
http://www.itu.int/climate
 or by contacting us at:
climate@itu.int

International
Telecommunication
Union
Thank you for your attention!
International Telecommunication Union
cristina.bueti@itu.int

ITU and climate change

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