ICT, tool to face climate change

Switzerland: In the lead up to the Barcelona Climate Change talks starting next Monday, which will produce the draft text to be considered at the UN’s COP 15 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) stressed the critical importance of including information and communication technologies (ICTs) as part of the solution.

Specific mention of the critical role of ICTs in the Copenhagen draft Agreement will help commit policy makers around the world to seek technical solutions to reducing GHG emissions, said an ITU press release.

A recent study estimated that more effective use of ICTs could help reduce total global emissions by 15 percent by 2020, representing carbon savings five times higher than the estimated emissions for the whole ICT sector in 2020.

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), of which ITU is a party, estimates that these reductions could deliver energy efficiency savings to global businesses of over EUR 500 billion.

Geneva, Prensa Latina