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ICTs, THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE |
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Welcome and Opening addresses
The Conference will be opened by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General and Helge Sander, Danish Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation.
Defining the challenges
This session will lay out environmental challenges, the importance of innovation and new technologies in tackling these challenges and the particular role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The session will outline the stakes related to global warming and other environmental challenges, set the context to explore development and use of innovative technologies for sustainable development, and highlight policy areas to further the innovation potential of ICTs in tackling these challenges.
Building a green future. Clean innovation, investment and jobs
This session will focus on how to promote long-term innovation and investments in clean technologies in the worsening economic climate. Questions will include: Green economic recovery and future employment: What are high-impact areas for ICT applications? Green technology investments: Where is the money coming from? Beyond CO2 and climate change: How will technological innovation help tackle further challenges to a green future?
Reducing environmental impacts during the ICT life cycle
The session will discuss approaches to identify, measure and limit direct environmental impacts during the life cycle of ICTs. Main questions include: What are direct environmental impacts caused by the production, use and end-of-life treatment of ICT goods? How can impacts be measured, compared, assessed and reduced?
Clean technologies for greener urban growth
The session will discuss the role of ICT applications for making future urban environments more economically and environmentally efficient. Main questions include: What are achievable goals for ICT-enabled energy efficiency in urban environments? What are trends in high-impact areas, e.g. buildings, transport, energy supply? What are existing barriers to wider application?
ICTs in pollution reduction and resource management
The session will discuss ICT applications to monitor and improve environmental performance in all sectors of the economy. Main questions include: How can sensor-based networks be used to monitor the environment and mitigate pollution impacts? What are main application areas to improve environmental performance across the economy? How can we measure and assess environmental effects of ICTs, including going beyond energy use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Innovation and behavioural change
The session will discuss how ICTs can facilitate long-term structural changes towards sustainable behaviour of individuals and organisations. Main questions include: How will ICTs alter environmental behaviour in the long run? How can ICTs contribute to systemic change for more equitable and sustainable global development? What are barriers to such behavioural change? What technologies are being developed and how will they enable widespread sustainable behaviour?
The ICT sector in focus
The session will discuss innovative approaches to improve the environmental impacts of products, services and business operations in the ICT sector. Main questions include: What are key areas to improve environmental performance of the ICT sector? What are policy approaches to green the ICT sector? How can ICT companies be encouraged to spread positive experience to other sectors and activities?
Fostering sustainable consumption and use
The session will discuss the role of ICT goods and services for sustainable consumption. The main questions include: How to promote sustainable consumption of ICT goods and services? How can individuals minimise their environmental footprints through information technologies, e.g. “smart” applications? What are promising approaches of using ICTs and the Internet to inform and educate consumers for sustainable development?
Cleaner technologies and smarter ICT applications
The session will discuss how ICT innovation can improve environmental performance across all sectors of the economy. Main questions include: What are high-impact areas for the application of ICTs to improve environmental performance? What are successful strategies in reducing environmental impacts of key ICT infrastructures? How can “Green ICTs” contribute to job creation?
Governments paving the way
The session will discuss the role of the public sector in promoting ICT innovation for clean technologies and technology transfer. Main questions include: How can governments effectively promote R&D, investments and uptake of ICT applications for sustainability, especially during the economic crisis? How can governments reduce the environmental impacts of their ICT infrastructures and at the same time provide best practices and model use? What are strategies to improve accountability and effective measurement of “Green ICT” policies? How can co-ordination within governments on “Green ICT” policies be improved?
New policy directions
This session will examine and suggest innovative policies to achieve improved environmental performance and sustainability. The session will take stock of existing policies and suggest directions for effective national and international “Green ICT” policy instruments.
Meeting policy goals
This session will summarise Conference findings and identify how policies can address current and future sustainability issues, including the role of the OECD international policy co-ordination. Rapporteurs will report key findings from the Conference.
Conclusions
The Conference will be concluded by Andrew Wyckoff, Acting Director, Science Technology and Industry, OECD, and Jørgen Abild Andersen, Director-General, Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, National IT and Telecom Agency.
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