28 September 2009: At the first ever Virtual International Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Climate Change, held on 23 September 2009, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said it would press for recognition in Copenhagen of the importance of ICTs as a cross-sectoral tool to combat climate change.

Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, said that by using ICTs, virtual events such as this one, which included over 500 people from approximately 50 countries, could have a huge impact on emissions. Symposium participants agreed to the importance of bridging the digital divide and bringing the benefits of ICTs to all citizens, including those in developing countries.
ITU launched a major initiative in 2008 to better understand the relationship between ICTs and climate change. ITU has been active in negotiations to promote the role that ICTs can play in mitigating and adapting to climate change and to have the importance of ICTs recognized in the final text. [ITU press release]