2.4. The role of ICTs in meeting the climate change challenge

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Key linkages about ICTs and climate change

1) ICTs for mitigation

  • Production and use of more energy- and CO2-efficient ICTs (see: www.climatesaverscomputing.org, and the promotion of less energy-consuming technology transfer to developing countries, thereby contributing to the decarbonisation of the economy. Role for development cooperation, regulators and private sector.
  • New technologies such as video conferencing and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technologies which have the potential to reduce travel and subsequent emissions.

2) ICTs for adaptation

a) ICTs for natural disaster, prevention, preparedness and risk management :ICTs offer tools relevant for data analysis, satellite imaging and vulnerability assessment (see: instedd.org), coordination of emergency efforts, and dissemination of locally specific and relevant information (e.g., early-warning systems, meteorological information for preparedness disseminated through telecentres or mobile phones).

b) ICTs as information communication and empowerment tools (including community radio, knowledge centres, mobile phones, internet, internet-based media) can be used for both mitigation and adaptation efforts in order to:

  • Inform and raise awareness (e.g., media campaigns) at all levels of society – including the poor – about the effects of climate change.
  • Raise the voices of grassroots communities and those most affected by climate change – again, mostly the poor in developing countries – at the local, national and international level, and carry them to the decision makers to demand actions from their leaders and political accountability (advocacy function/vertical linkages).
  • Facilitate networking and building of coalitions and help define positions (including for mitigation and adaptation strategies).
  • Capacity building through e-learning as vertical learning and knowledge sharing as horizontal, peer-to-peer learning.9

ICTs are interlinked with climate change in a number of ways. They are most obviously used for a range of technical interventions, from high-level satellite weather mapping to scientific research, data analysis and projections and vulnerability assessments10 . For instance, the Google Foundation is supporting a programme called Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD).11 However, ICTs also contribute to climate change. According to a study by Gardner Consulting, the use of ICTs makes up 2% of global emissions, the same amount as the airline industry. At the same time, ICTs are used as knowledge tools to provide access to and sharing of information about climate change in projects and communities, at the global and local levels.

The UN categorises the response to climate change into mitigation and adaptation responses. Climate change mitigation means reducing global emissions while climate change adaptation means preparing while reducing the vulnerabilities and risk.

ICTs and mitigation - Mitigate the vulnerability

There are three main areas of mitigation that are relevant to ICTs:

  • The production and use of more energy- and CO2-efficient ICTs,12including the transfer of this technology to developing countries. This will contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy. There is a role here for development cooperation between countries and regions.
  • The effective use of new technologies such as video conferencing and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) which have the potential to reduce the emissions from travel.
  • Better waste management and recycling.13

ICTs and adaptation - from exclusion to inclusion

When it comes to adaptation, the emphasis is mainly on reducing risk and vulnerability while increasing coping strategies at the local level. One specific application is the link to disaster prevention, with concrete applicability within the “disaster and risk reduction (DRR)” concept. For instance, risk and vulnerability at the local level can be significantly reduced by providing people with innovative early-warning and alert systems that are enhanced through ICTs to reach more people and therefore save lives.14 In addition, public awareness is a critical factor. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Article 6 explicitly highlights education and public awareness on climate change as a key objective, namely to “promote and facilitate public access to information on climate change and its effects.” ICTs, with a focus on information and communication (including the media), are tools that can facilitate systematic awareness raising and knowledge sharing about the effects of climate change and possible coping strategies at all levels of society, but in particular in the world’s most vulnerable groups.

ICTs, with a focus on information and communication (including the media), are tools that can facilitate systematic awareness raising and knowledge sharing about the effects of climate change and possible coping strategies at all levels of society, but in particular in the world’s most vulnerable groups.

Awareness raising is used here to refer to a more traditional, one-way and often “top-down” information exchange, whereas knowledge sharing represents a two-way peer-to-peer horizontal exchange. The potential of ICTs to facilitate these two kinds of information and knowledge flows include:

  • Informing and raising awareness on the effects of climate change.
  • Reaching remote villages through dissemination, hence enhancing the effectiveness of early-warning systems for disaster prevention and risk reduction.
  • Identifying, building, documenting and sharing locally rooted and contextualised adaptation strategies and solutions among communities.
  • Facilitating local risk assessments and making communities part of the process to mobilise local knowledge and develop local coping mechanisms.
  • Creating a repository of information on disaster management and risk mitigation.

9 I would like to acknowledge my former colleagues in the SDC ICT4D Division, Steven Geiger and Alexander Widmer, who have been involved in compiling the SDC ICT and Climate Change Fact Sheet.

10 See also http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/

11 http://instedd.org

12 www.climatesaverscomputing.org

13 http://ewasteguide.info

14 For an overview of the specific application of ICTs in disaster management see Chanuka Wattegama ICT for Disaster Management (New York: UNDP, 2007) or the SDC Disaster and Risk Reduction (DRR) newsletter focusing on ICT (forthcoming August 2009).

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