The ITU had the great idea to invite all ICT leaders for a week to discuss the contribution of the TIC’s towards an economy low in carbon.
This meeting, called ITU Green Standards Week (5-9 September), is the most important event of the year since it will define the position of the sector before the Durban Climate Change Summit at the end of 2011 and it will answer the recommendations of the European Commission to be the leaders of the economy to show the capacity of technology to favor economic growth low in carbon.
CE Expectations and answers of the ICT sector – Days 5, 6 and 7 September
We all know the potential of the ICT sector, but its true value cannot be weighted without the methodologies to measure the impact of energy and emissions.
During the first day, the Commission will evaluate the status of the recommendation to make the TIC sector more efficient in the year 2015 and will propose a new project to develop pilot projects for the use of methodologies developed by the ITU. In the same way, the first day we will analyze the status of these methodologies, which development is led by Group No. 5 of ITU standardization group. This day, a “call to action” to the ICT sector has been set to comply with the expectations of the Commission as son as possible. At the end of this month, two methodologies will be approved in Seoul, to lead the processes to quantify the internal carbon footprint of the sector. We can stand out important contributions such as those from GESI and GSMA.
ITU Expectations before Durban 2011 – mitigation, joint reduction of GEI and adaptation to climate change. Days 7, 8 and 9 September
In Durban, at the end of 2011, the COP17 will take place, it is the climate change world summit. The sector will have to be there already with messages and clear examples of how the ICT may contribute to the global objectives in climate change.
MITIGATION: the ICTs must be recognized clearly as technologies that allow the reduction of CO2. With this in mind, it is necessary to define what are the solutions based on the right methodology. Likewise, during the ITU, we will get to know the new technologies to manage energy and emissions of ICT users in cities under the smart cities model and the intensive use of green applications in devices everyday more and more energy efficient.
JOINT REDUCTION OF GEI (Greenhouse Effect Gases). The sector cannot escape the fact that all sectors of the economy must reduce their internal carbon footprint. During this week, the methodologies of the ITU have been ratified, to measure the carbon footprint of the ICT sector, which will be approved shortly and all the companies will have to account for their emissions in a similar way and work to reduce their own emissions.
ADAPTATION. For the first time, the sector gathers for two days together with the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) and with the Ocean Inter-Government Commission of UNESCO to speak about the potential of submarine cables to generate early alert systems in the oceans. Also, the companies will share success stories of the technologies, specially everything related to the meteorological management through ICTs.Finally, with these experiences and the work done by the ICT sector, we have been able to build a catalogue of methodologies ready to be approved and an ever larger portfolio of ICT services for energy efficiency and climate change.
