Specifically designed to reduce e-waste and increase usability, ITU-T L.1002 is an international standard for a universal power adapter (UPA) for portable devices, including notebooks, which complements the recently announced IEC/Technical Specification 62700/Ed1 by adding a number of environmentally friendly requirements.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICT). Its mission is to connect the world in a sustainable way. The ITU’s delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) had a simple message: Technologies such as smart grids, intelligent transport systems and the “Internet of things” all have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across many energy intensive industries, and must be included in any meaningful discussion of climate change policies. The ITU believes it is essential that governments, the private sector and even individuals harness the power of information and communication technology (ICT) to promote mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
As public and private organisations around the world seek to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts as part of "the sustainability agenda," information technology (IT) stands to make a significant contribution. Addressing the direct environmental by-products of IT use is one way that green IT solutions can help organisations reduce these emissions and address sustainability concerns. But an even bigger opportunity lies in helping other industries in their response to climate change. IT solutions can eliminate or otherwise redirect business activities that generate emissions, according to a new report by Booz & Company.
First, I will admit, I am among the group of IT advocates who claim that IT is overall green; I say this based on widely quoted numbers, primarily from the US in the growth of such things as telecommuting. For example, 15 years ago there were an estimated 5 million telecommuters in the US, and they really were just that; staying at home one or more days a week, using the plain old telephone to conduct their business, rather than in an office. That figure is now 25 million – and growing and they are no longer just on the phone, but connected via high speed broadband to their company data centres, often for 3 or more days a week.
Sustainability is a term borrowed from the development economists and ecologists and whose common usage stems from the early 1980s. In a much touted United Nations report prepared by the Brundtland Commission – named after former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland – a new direction was postulated for bringing a level of prosperity to the poorer nations of the earth in a way that was both effective in addressing their economic needs while being respectful of the environment. The call went out for sustainable development or “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The concept has now spread to many other contexts and has resonated significantly in the wake of the climate change debate.
Read more: Sustainability in the Federal Government: The State of Green IT