ICTs, ITU and Climate Change

1. ICTs, ITU and Climate Change Arthur Levin, Head, Standardization Policy Division (ITU-T) Session 3: Hotter Topics The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its Membership.

2. Evidence for climate change Source: IPCC 4th assessment report, 2007

3. The Challenge in the Pacific • Financing • Who will pay the bill for using ICTS for adaptation and mitigation • Impact of CC is costly even though Pacific Islands are not a major source of emissions • Total GHG emissions of Pacific Island countries is around 0.03% of global total • Typhoon/hurricane damage will increase by 10-26% for each 1 degree warming of sea • Half the population of island countries live with less than a mile of their coastlines; coral atolls no more than 3 meters above sea level • Impact of CC on marine environment, particularly on coral reefs, fisheries ad food security • Global Humanitarian Forum estimates CC already killing 300,000 people annually (0.8C degree warming)

4. Pacific Islands Forum: Call to Action • Statement of 6 August 2009 • Calls for post-2012 outcome to limit increase in temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius or less • calls on developed economies to take the lead and to slow and reduce emissions • States to reduce global emissions by at least 50% below 1990 level by 2050 • Global emission peak no later than 2020

5. Pacific Island Commitments • Fiji: electric authority to generate 90% of its needs from renewables by 2011 • Tonga: expects to have 50% of electricity from renewables by 2011 • Tuvalu: target of 100% renewable energy • Nauru: 50% renewable energy by 2015 • Samoa: use wind and hydro to increase renewable by 20% by 2030

6. TOWARD A NEW GLOBAL FRAMEWORK • COP-13 in Bali launched process for negotiation of new Agreement • established AWGLCA (Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action) to develop work program • AWGLCA meetings • Bangkok (31 March–4 April) • Bonn (2-13 June) • Accra (21-27 August) • Meeting of COP-14 • Poznan, Poland (1-12 December) • COP-15 meets and expected to conclude Agreement • Bonn (29 March-8 April) • Bonn (1-12 June) • Three further sessions will be held prior to Copenhagen: 10-14 August in Bonn (informal meeting); 28 September-9 October in Bangkok and 2-6 November in Barcelona. • Copenhagen (7-18 December)

7. 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

8. WTPF – Opinion 3 • World Telecommunication and Policy Forum was held on 22-24 April 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal • Lisbon Consensus - Opinion 3 “ICT and the Environment” • Invited: • the ITU Secretary-General a) to bring the content of Resolution 73 (WTSA-08) on Information and communication technologies and climate change to the attention of the ITU Council and take appropriate actions, taking into consideration the United Nations commitment to lead by example, to achieve climate-neutral status within three years; b) to continue, within the mandate of the ITU, to cooperate and collaborate with other entities within the UN in formulating future international efforts for the effective addressing of climate change, and to report the results of these efforts to the Council; • The Deputy Secretary-General and the Directors of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, the Radiocommunication Bureau and the Telecommunication Development Bureau a) to continue to work together, and with relevant study groups, to raise the awareness of these issues, especially in developing countries, as work progresses in their respective Sectors; b) to promote liaison with other relevant organizations in order to avoid duplication of work and to optimize the use of resources.

9. ICTs as a cause of global warming • ICTs (excluding broadcasting) contribute an estimated 2-2.5% of global Greenhouse Gas emissions • Around 0.9 tonnes GtCO2e in 2007 • Telecoms contributed around one quarter of this total Source: Gartner Group (2007)

10. ICTs at work for monitoring climate change • WMO World WeatherWatch, incorporating: • Global Observingsystem • Global Telecom System • Global Data Processingsystem • Remote sensing • Environmental monitoring • Tsunami early-warning system • Digital climate forecasting models • GPS-enabled telemetry • Ubiquitous sensor networks

11. Mitigating the impact • Directly, e.g., through energy-saving • Next-Generation Networks (NGN) should reduce GHG emissions by 40% • 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

12. Towards a climate neutral ICT sector • NTT’s “Total Power Revolution” saved 124m kWh in 2007 • BT has reduced carbon emissions by 60% compared since 1996 • Telefonica created a Climate Change Office and is committed to reducing its consumption of network electricity by 30 per cent by 2015. • Other initiatives: • GeSI, Green Grid, WattWatt, FTTH Council Europe, EU codes of conduct, CBI Task Force etc

13. Using ICTs for carbon abatement / displacement • Reducing / substituting for travel • In 2007, Telstra held 7’500 video conferences saving 4’200 tonnes of CO2 • Flexible work arrangements • Each one million EU workers could save one million tonnes of CO2 annually by telecommuting • Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) • In-car systems to assist in “eco-driving” can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 20 per cent • Dematerialization (replacing atoms with bits) • ITU-T Recommendations Online save 105 million tonnes of CO2 annually compared with distribution of paper copies Sources: Climate Risk report for Telstra, ETNO/WWF report, Toyota, ITU

14. ICTs for adaptation: ITU Role • Telecommunications/ICTs for disaster preparedness • Tampere Convention • PP-06 Resolutions 36 and 136 on use ICTs for humanitarian assistance • WRC Resolutions 646, 647, 673 on use of radiocommunications for environmental monitoring, public protection and disaster relief • WTDC-06 Resolution 34 on the role of ICTs in mitigation of effects of disasters and humanitarian assistance • Partnership Coordination Panel on Telecoms for Disaster Relief (PCP-TDR) • E.164 country code (888) for UN OCHA • Recommendations E.106 on call priority and X.1303 on common alerting protocol

15. 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 annual carbon audits consistent with accepted International Standards • Reducing ITU’s own GHG emissions, e.g. through using remote collaboration tools • Compensating for residual emissions: e.g. supporting projects under Clean Development Mechanism

16. ITU-T: Building Knowledge on Climate Change • ITU-T issued TECHWATCH Reports on CC and positive impact of new technologies • Next Generation Networks, Intelligent Transport Systems, etc. • Organizing Major Symposia on ICT and CC • 2008: Kyoto and London • 2009: Quito and Seoul (virtual event) • ITU-T pioneering energy efficient work methods • Paperless meetings, on-line work tools, etc. • ITU-T leading Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change as part of IGF

17. ITU Challenges • Develop a methodology to measure impact of ICTs as part of national GHG reduction programs • Identify priority sectors where ICTs can reduce emissions (e.g. smart buildings • Grow the ICT industry in an environmentally friendly manner • Disposal of ICTs

18. ITU-T and Climate Change: Setting the Standard • FG on ICT&CC concluded with 4 Deliverables in March 2009. • Inputs from non-ITU members (e.g., academia) were also taken into considerations • Mandate of SG5 was expanded at the last TSAG (28-30 April 2009) • New SG5 title: Environment and climate change • SG5 created a new WP 3/5 • All SGs examining impact of recommendations on climate change • SGs developing standards for new energy efficient technologies • E.g. SG-13 on Next Generation Networks • NGN estimated to be 40% more energy efficient

19. Deliverables: FG on ICT&CC • Deliverable 1: Definition • Defines the terms needed to analyze the major relationships between ICTs and Climate Change • Deliverable 2: Gap analysis and standards roadmap • Shows ongoing work (done by ITU, other standard bodies, universities, etc.) and future study issues • Deliverable 3: Methodologies • Covers the assessment of ICT sector’s emission over the entire life cycle of ICT devices • Also covers reducing other sector’s emission by the use of ICT • Deliverable 4: Direct and Indirect Impact of ITU Standards • Provides tools and guidelines to evaluate the reduction of emission of ICT sector and of other sector by the use of ICT

20. WP3/5 structure • Chairman: Keith Dickerson(UK) • Vice Chairmen: Eunsook Kim (Korea) and Takeshi Origuchi (Japan)

21. New and revised Questions • Q14/5(revised): Guides and terminology on environment and climate change • Q17/5(new): Coordination and Planning of ICT&CC related standardization • Q18/5(new): Methodology of environmental impact assessment of ICT • Q19/5(new): Power feeding systems • Q20/5(new): Data collection for Energy Efficiency for ICTs over the lifecycle • Q21/5(continuation of Q.19/15): Environmental protection and recycling of ICT equipments/facilities

22. Joint Coordination Activity (JCA) • Established at the last TSAG meeting (28-30 April 2009) • Objectives: • To co-ordinate across ITU-T SGs (in particular SGs 5, 9, 13, 15 and 16), and with ITU-R and ITU-D. • To seek co-operation from external bodies including non-ITU member organizations • Convener • Mr. Ahmed Zeddam (France) • Co-convener • Mr. Dave Faulkner (UK) • Invitations for the first meeting during the next SG5 meeting (Oct. 2009) to various bodies to be sent shortly

23. “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

24. SomeBackgroundMaterials • ITU Climate Change site • www.itu.int/climate • Climate Change symposia website • www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange • Technology Watch Briefing Reports • www.itu.int/ITU-T/techwatch/reports.html