1. ICTs, ITU-T and Climate Change
Arthur Levin, Head, Standardization Policy Division (ITU-T)
Virtual Symposium
23 September 2009
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. 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)

4. 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: August in Bonn (informal meeting); 28 September-9 October in Bangkok and 2-6 November in Barcelona.
Copenhagen (7-18 December)
2009 is a crucial year in the international effort to address climate change, culminating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 7-18 December. In 2007, Parties agreed to shape an ambitious and effective international response to climate change, to be agreed at Copenhagen. The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) will operate in full negotiating mode in 2009 to advance work towards meeting their respective mandates. Important ongoing work under the Convention will also be taken forward in 2009 by SBI and SBSTA.
The first round of negotiations this year took place in Bonn, 29 March-8 April. The second meeting took place in Bonn, 1-12 June. Three further sessions will be held prior to Copenhagen: August in Bonn (informal meeting); 28 September-9 October in Bangkok and 2-6 November in Barcelona.
Bonn:
The big achievement of the meeting, he said, is that "it has made clear what governments want to see in a Copenhagen agreement, which shows their commitment to reaching an agreement."  With regard to mid-term emission cuts by industrialized countries, he emphasized the need for these countries to show greater ambition.
Important progress has been made on technology transfer. Parties welcomed three reports by the Expert Group on Technology Transfer that provide interesting ideas on what  can be written into a Copenhagen deal on technology cooperation. Major advances on methodologies have also made it possible to measure and monitor emissions from deforestation, thus laying the groundwork for  the inclusion of REDD into a Copenhagen agreed outcome.

5. 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

6. WTPF – Opinion 3
World Telecommunication and Policy Forum was held on 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.

7. 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

8. 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
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)

9. The Challenge in the Americas
Deforestation
17-20 percent of GHG emissions
Financing
Who will pay the bill for using ICTS for adaptation and mitigation
Region includes 5 of 10 most biodiverse countries
At risk for large losses
Impact of CC is costly and exceeds even though not a major source of emissions
Hurricane damage will increase by 10-26% for each 1 degree warming of sea

10. 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

11. 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

12. Networks and Systems: optical access
Although ICT networks and systems emit CO2, they can also reduce direct CO2 output and have the additional capability of enabling other sectors of society to reduce their carbon footprint.
With the introduction of fiber technology fixed networks gained additional speed and increased range while at the same time reducing power consumption.
The energy efficiency improvement of fiber networks compared to copper networks is tremendous.

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. Case-study: Comparison of GHG emissions of postal mail and e-mail services

15. What trends do ICTs have at the device level?
Market doubles every 5 years[1]
E.g. Broadband expanding to more users
Until market saturates
Then upgrades replace ‘obsolete’ devices
New devices become a ‘must have’
E.g. HDTV
Annual growth rate of internet traffic is 85%[2]
Increasing the energy conversion depending on the relative efficiency of devices in J/bit
Unsustainable growth at the micro level (see previous slide)
All three trends increase demand for energy mostly sourced from fossil fuel
the GeSI Smart 2020 report predicts growth in ICTs of 70% over the period
[1] Source Lynn Hutcheson Ovum.
[2] cfp.mit.edu/events/jan08/presentations/ODLYZKO-traffic-growth.ppt
[3]

16. How do ITU standards contribute?
Ensuring public safety
E.g. Allocation of radio spectrum without interference (e.g. aviation frequencies, navigation systems)
Ensuring interoperability
E.g. devices from different vendors
Focus market to ensure competitive supply
High volumes, low prices
Adopt ‘best practice’ and ‘de-risk’ supply
Higher volumes
In standards we have always worked towards higher efficiency solutions
This will lead to lower emissions (when deployed within a GHG emission limited environment)
We need now to consider GHG emissions reduction as a clear driver for standards
Is there more we can do?

17. ITU-T 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
Disposal of ICTs
Adopt green working methods

18. 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

19. 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
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

20. Related Study Groups Lead SG: SG5 SG13 SG15 SG16
Monitoring related Question: Principles and functional architecture for NGN (including ubiquitous networking) (Q5/13)
Future network related Question: Future Networks (Q21/13)
SG15
Transport network related Questions: Access networks (Q.1/15), Optical access (Q.2/15), Core networks (Q.3/15), Metal access (Q.4/15), Protection/restoration (Q.9/15)
SG16
RFID related Questions: Q.21/16 (multimedia applications and services) and Q.22/16 (multimedia architecture)

21. Use of ITU-T Standards to mitigate climate change: ITS
SG16 started related work
Examples of advantages:
Dynamic Navigation (Collection of traffic, environment, and floating car data, Dynamic route guidance)
ADAS (Adaptive Cruise Control(ACC), Intelligent Speed Adaption(ISA), etc.)
Telemetric Services (Real-time remote diagnostics, Alteration of driver behavior, etc.)
Delivery of congestion and danger spots information by using Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications.

22. Some Background Materials
ITU Climate Change site
Climate Change symposia website
Technology Watch Briefing Reports