Transcript The Role of ICTs in Greening the Economy

The Role of ICTs in Greening the Economy:
Policy Perspectives and Missing Links
Don MacLean, IISD Senior Associate
TELECOM 2009 Forum, Geneva, 8 October 2009
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The Policy Challenge
• Global policy frameworks for greening the economy
have been under development for four decades
• In the last 5 years work has begun on the role of
ICTs in greening the economy
• Practical linkages between ICTs and sustainable
development are beginning to emerge
• However, there is little connection between the
sustainable development and ICT policy
communities – nationally, regionally or globally
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International Institute for Sustainable
Development
• Founded in 1990 in response to Brundtland Report
• Focused on issues related to the intersection of the economy
and the natural environment
– Programs on natural resources, energy, climate change, trade and
investment
– Green Economy Initiative (GEI) - major project with UNEP on
enabling conditions and Big Ideas for the green economy
• Recently set up a Global Connectivity program on ICTs and
sustainable development
– Linkages between ICT and SD policy frameworks and mechanisms
– Project on business case for zero-carbon data centres
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Overview of the Presentation
• What are the perspectives of the SD policy
community on the policies needed to green the
economy and on the role of technologies?
• What are the perspectives of the ICT policy
community on these issues?
• Where are there bridges and gaps between the
perspectives of the two communities?
• What issues need to be resolved to help maximize
the role of ICTs in greening the economy?
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SD perspective: Climate change is one of a number of interrelated challenges in greening the economy
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Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2008
SD perspective: A suite of strategies is needed to achieve
long-term sustainability
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Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2008
SD Strategy Suite for Greening the Economy
General strategies:
• Getting prices of all goods and
services right – including those
provided by the environment
• Supporting green technological
innovation
• Incentives and disincentives for
businesses and consumers
• Voluntary and mandatory
standards
• Public procurement and CSR
• Public education and awareness
• Legislation and regulation
• Binding international agreements
Climate change strategies:
• Mitigation of GHG emissions
• Adaptation to consequences of
climate change
• Financial mechanisms to support
mitigation and adaptation in
developing countries
• Technology transfer to
developing countries
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ICT perspective: Initiatives to help green the economy are
currently focused on energy use and climate change
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ICT Lifecycle Direct Effects
Global Warming
Toxicity
Land Use
Ozone Layer Depletion
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Gl oba l Wa rmi ng
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Energy Use
Non-Energy Resource Depletion
Water Use
Biodiversity
Toxi ci ty
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Toxi ci ty
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Ozone La yer Depl etion
La nd Us e
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Global Warming
Toxicity
Land Use
Ozone Layer Depletion
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Ozone La yer Depl etion
La nd Us e
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sp
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a
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Energy Use
Non-Energy Resource Depletion
Water Use
Biodiversity
ICT Lifecycle Enabling Effects
Source: OECD/DSTI/ICCP, Towards Green ICT Strategies: Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Environment
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ICT perspective: Potential ICT contributions to reducing GHG
emissions in industry, energy, transportation and buildings
Source: Smart 2020, a report by The Climate Group on behalf of the Global eSustainability Initiative
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The Role of ICTs in Greening the Economy:
A Conceptual Bridge
Impact
Information available
Direct effects
small
easy to measure
Indirect effects
significant
hard to measure
Systemic effects
very big
mainly theories
Source: ETNO & WWF, 2007, “Saving the Climate @ the Speed of Light”
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Some general questions for SD and ICT policy-makers:
• To what extent should ICT investments be treated as
investments in green technology by tax systems, government
programs, green market mechanisms, and international
agreements - in ways similar, for example, to renewable
energy, CCS, and geo-engineering technologies?
• To what extent would investments in the production,
application and use of green ICTs be made anyway in the
absence of green support policies and mechanisms - for
example to reduce costs, improve productivity, enhance
competitiveness?
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Some specific questions for SD and ICT policy-makers:
• If ICTs are considered green technologies, are different support regimes
needed for different kinds of ICT investments?
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Investments in ICT manufacturing, application and use?
Investments in hardware, software, services, and skills?
Development of smart energy, transportation and building infrastructures?
Greening of supply chains, business processes, and organizational structures?
• In a connected, Web 2.0 + world, where traditional relationships
between producers and consumers are being transformed, what
principles should guide the allocation of green ICT credits under
different support regimes based, for example, on taxation, government
programs or green market mechanisms?
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Some key issues requiring further study
• Measuring the direct, indirect and systemic effects of ICTs in
helping to green the economy
• Frameworks for dealing with the dual nature of ICTs as a
growing part of green economy problems and an increasingly
significant contributor to green economy solutions
• Policies for eliminating barriers to de-materialization of
work, learning, health care, leisure and consumption
• Strategies for anticipating and controlling the rebound effects
and unintended consequences of green ICTs
• Opportunities for applying ICT-enabled networked
governance approaches to sustainable development policymaking and implementation
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Thank you for your kind attention. If you would like further
information about IISD and its Global Connectivity program,
please contact:
Heather Creech, Director Global Connectivity Program
[email protected]
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