Climate change and ICT
November 2, 2011
Participants at the Broadband Leadership Summit in Geneve in October 2011encouraged the ITU to continue promoting the key role of ICTs in efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and urged ITU to push this agenda at the upcoming United Nations climate change negotiations (COP17) in Durban, South Africa. They praised ITU’s current work in the field, referencing in particular the work of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector on methodologies to assess the environmental impact of ICT.
Regarding climate change adaption, and informed by recent events in Japan, CTOs identified two crucial areas for further work: a disaster relief system allowing individuals to notify a victim’s friends, family or employer; and a disaster relief guidance mechanism to help victims reach safety. ITU is already actively engaged in work in this field, including emergency communication systems to provide early warning of impending disasters.
