Measurement method launched for a sustainable ICT future

* ICT industry launches methodology for assessing the carbon-reducing impacts of transitioning to ICT solutions
* New report from GeSI provides a practical tool to confirm the 15 percent reduction in global emissions through the use of ICT is possible – and encourages governments and industry to take action
* An important step in raising awareness of ICT’s potential prior to the climate negotiations resuming at the Conference of the Parties (COP16) in December of this year in Cancun, Mexico

A consensus between many of the world’s leading information and communications technology (ICT) companies just marked a new landmark for a more sustainable future. The ICT sector has long been hailed for its ability to provide virtual solutions such as e-billing, video conferencing, digital health and e-learning. Until now, there has been no systematic tool to measure this potential. By providing a practical tool for identifying and actually measuring the benefits of implementing new ICT solutions, the world is one step closer to a 15 percent reduction in global emissions – or more.

The commonly agreed upon tool was prepared by the Boston Consulting Group on behalf of the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, GeSI, which is an international strategic partnership in the area of sustainability of ICT companies, industry associations and other stakeholders. The new report is entitled Evaluating Carbon-reducing impacts of ICT. The report was launched on Sept 1, and builds in part on Ericsson’s proposed methodology and White Paper Measuring Emissions Right, published in December 2009.

Elaine Weidman Grunewald, Ericsson's Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, and GeSI Board Member, refers to what was revealed in GeSI’s SMART 2020 report published in 2008 and says: “Smart 2020 set the vision and established the potential. This new tool makes it possible to measure the potential benefits. The next steps are to encourage the industry to undertake real implementation efforts, but perhaps most importantly, encourage governments to adopt ICT and develop supporting policies that can change consumer behavior. “

Traditional and standardized approaches to life-cycle assessment have been around for many years, and Ericsson has been a leader in applying these for ICT for more than a decade. However, until now there has been no agreed method for assessing these positive climate impacts, that is, calculating the avoidance of emissions that would have occurred if traditional physical means of delivering the service had been used,” says Christer Törnevik, Head of EMF safety and sustainability research, Ericsson

Today there are many climate-positive ICT solutions available, but outside of the ICT sector, these are not well known or understood. Dematerialization is one example; it means substituting high-carbon products and activities with low-carbon alternatives – for example, replacing face-to-face meetings with video conferencing or replacing printed bills with e-billing. Other ICT solutions are smart buildings, where energy management plays a central role, technology-enhanced learning, so called e-learning, and e-health, which provides healthcare informatics over the internet.

The Ericsson case study profiled in the report demonstrated how an e-health system in Croatia, which connected 2400 primary healthcare teams and providing e-referrals and e-prescriptions, had a potential CO2 reduction factor of 50. That means by doing things digitally and avoiding unnecessary trips, 50 times more CO2e was saved than it took to provide the service.

Another case study by Ericsson Research illustrated the potential reduction in environmental impact through money transactions using the mobile phone in developing countries. The Ericsson mobile money solution has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by a factor of 90.

Ericsson has been developing a holistic methodology for effectively measuring carbon emissions for the past decade, while simultaneously driving the development and integration of new ICT solutions in society. We are also working proactively to raise awareness about the potential of ICT to be a major solution to climate change. This is especially important as the climate negotiations will resume in December of this year at the Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Cancun, Mexico.