ITU activities associated with climate change DOCUMENT #: GSC13-PLEN-11r1 FOR: Presentation SOURCE: ITU AGENDA ITEM: Plenary, 6.9 CONTACT(S): Malcolm Johnson, Kevin Hughes ITU activities associated with climate change ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Submission Date: July 14, 2008

Highlight of Current Activities (Radio) ITU-R studies focus on use of ICTs for: climate monitoring and weather forecasting prediction, detection and mitigation of effects of natural disasters Space-based active and passive sensors track tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, forest fires, etc. monitor atmospheric composition (GHGs) monitor ocean topography, sea temperature, ice distribution, etc. Many radio services involved for remote sensing: Met-sat, EESS, Met-aids for dissemination of remote sensing data, warning of impending natural disasters and subsequent relief operations: FSS, BSS, BS, FS, MS all systems contribute to Global Observing System (GOS) Quality of data (precision and resolution) depends on adequate availability of interference-free spectrum ITU-R Study Groups (particularly SG 7) WRC decisions

Highlight of Current Activities (Standardization) Symposia on ICTs and Climate Change Kyoto April 2008, London June 2008, other regions 2009 Review of Recommendations in light of climate change TSAG in December (liaison statement 30) recommended a systematic review of all ITU-T Recs to understand their possible implications for climate change SG15 WP/1 has developed a checklist to assist standards developers Creation of Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change TSAG in July established a Focus Group on ICT & Climate Change open to all in particular to develop a common methodology for evaluating the direct and indirect impacts of ICTs on GHG emissions To join please email Fixit@itu.int First meeting Geneva, 1-3 September Research reports (ITU-T Technology Watch Briefing Reports) ICTs and Climate Change Remote collaboration tools Telepresence: high-performance video-conferencing NGN and energy efficiency (forthcoming)

Strategic Direction (Radio) WRC-07 extended spectrum allocations and adopted protection criteria for services involved in environmental monitoring in general, some of which are directly relevant to climate monitoring WRC-07 and RA-07 adopted Resolutions on studies and actions by Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) relating to the services involved with Earth observation and with disaster prediction, detection and relief Draft agenda of WRC-11 contains several items concerning the use and further development of radiocommunication systems involved with environmental monitoring Increasing the awareness of Member States to the beneficial use of ICTs in monitoring and reducing the impact of climate change General move from analogue to digital broadcasting will result in a reduction in number of transmitters and their power

Strategic Direction (Standardization) Development of a common methodology Evaluating direct emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from use of ICTs (around 2 per cent of total and growing according to new GeSI report) Evaluating savings in GHG emissions in other sectors through application of ICTs (e.g. teleconferencing, teleworking, smart buildings etc) Active participation of mitigating climate change (e.g. Ubiquitous Sensor Networks for monitor/prompt reaction, ITS etc.) NGN and energy efficiency Building energy efficiency principles into standards development right from the start Achieving savings in implementation, eg through reduction in number of switching centres Developing multiple power modes eg for xDSL equipment Carrying out a gap analysis of standards work Identifying which standards development organisations (SDOs) are carrying out what activities – contributions welcomed Identifying new candidates for standardization

Challenges “There need to be new technical standards. For transport, power grids and buildings to become more efficient, there must be rules on how, for instance, refrigerators should talk to electricity meters, and thermostats to heating systems. But the internet shows that when common standards are agreed on in an industry, great things can happen. The technology industry's contribution to tackling climate change may come from its standards bodies as much as its clever gizmos.” The Economist, June 19 2008

Next Steps/Actions Radiocommunication Studies and actions relating to the services involved with Earth observation and with disaster prediction, detection and relief Use and further development of radiocommunication systems involved with environmental monitoring Telecommunication Standardization October 2008: World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) – likely adoption of new Resolution guiding standardization work on climate change 2009-2012 ITU-wide June 2008: Start of carbon audit with a view to making ITU climate-neutral within three years November 2008: High-level segment during ITU Council on Climate Change December 2008: ITU-led side-event at UNFCCC climate change conference in Poznan, Poland December 2008: ITU-led dynamic coalition workshop on Internet and climate change, IGF meeting, Hyderabad, India

For more information ITU-wide Radiocommunication Standardization www.itu.int/climate Radiocommunication www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?category=information&rlink=climate-change&lang=en Standardization www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange ITU Background paper on ICTs and Climate Change www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/06/0F/T060F0000070001PDFE.pdf

Supplementary Slides

ICTs at work for monitoring climate change WMO World Weather Watch, incorporating: Global Observing system Global Telecom System Global Data Processing system Remote sensing Environmental monitoring Tsunami early-warning system Digital climate forecasting models GPS-enabled telemetry Ubiquitous sensor networks

Mitigating the impact Directly, e.g., through energy-saving Next-Generation Networks (NGN) should reduce GHG emissions by 40% relative to separate, circuit-switched fixed-line and mobile networks 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

Towards a climate neutral ICT sector BT has reduced carbon emissions by 60% compared since 1996 ETNO Members reduced carbon emissions by 7% and carbon intensity by 14%, 2000-03 NTT’s “Total Power Revolution” saved 124m kWh in 2007 Other initiatives: GeSI, Green Grid, WattWatt, FTTH Council Europe, EU codes of conduct, CBI Task Force etc

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 tonnes of CO2 annually compared with distribution of paper copies

Emergency telecoms: 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

Towards a climate-neutral ITU Developing a knowledge base and repository Conducting systematic review of ITU Recommendations Creating a Focus Group on methodologies for estimating the GHG emissions from ICTs Positioning ITU as a strategic leader Developing a Resolution for WTSA-08 Promoting a global understanding through international fora and agreements High-level segment at Council 2008 Achieving a climate-neutral ITU within three years Conducting carbon audit Using remote collaboration tools Developing projects under Clean Development Mechanism

ITU Symposia on ICTs and Climate Change Kyoto, Japan, 15-16 April, co-organized by MIC Japan London, UK, 17-18 June, supported and hosted by BT Outline agenda ICTs to the Rescue? Corporate responsibility: Towards a climate-neutral ICT sector ICTs for monitoring climate change ICTs as a green technology Towards a high-bandwidth, low carbon future Adapting to climate change Webcast using GoToWebinar