ITU activities associated with climate change

ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)

ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)

DOCUMENT #: GSC13-XXXX-nn

FOR: Presentation

SOURCE: ITU

AGENDA ITEM: Plenary, 6.9

CONTACT(S): Malcolm Johnson, Kevin Hughes

Submission Date:July 1, 2008

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• 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 (Radio)

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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For more information

• ITU-wide– www.itu.int/climate

• Radiocommunication– www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?category=information&rlink=climate-cha

nge&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

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Supplementary Slides

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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