23 April 2008: The first International Telecommunication Union (ITU) symposium on information and communications technologies (ICTs) and climate change closed on 16 April 2008, with an agreement that the ITU should play a significant role in the global effort to combat climate change. The symposium, co-organized and hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, convened in Kyoto, Japan, from 15-16 April 2008. Participants concluded that the ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) would be tasked with development of an internationally agreed standard methodology to measure the impact of ICTs on climate change.

Participants also agreed to a proposal by Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, that a draft Resolution be presented at this year’s World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, which would outline the ITU-T’s responsibility in identifying the role that ICTs should play in the mitigation and monitoring of climate change and target reductions for the industry. The second ITU symposium, supported and hosted by British Telecommunications plc, will be held in London, UK, from 17-18 June 2008.
Links:
UN-backed initiative combats climate change with technology – Experts on ICTs and climate change to meet in Kyoto and London:
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/08.html
ITU tasked with climate change challenge:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/newslog/ITU+Tasked+With+Climate+Change+Challenge.aspx
Second ITU symposium on ICTs and climate change:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/climatechange/programme-london.html
ITU’s work on climate change:
http://www.itu.int/themes/climate/engagement/clean-technology.html