Ericsson calls on delegates to raise ICT to top of agenda at UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) said that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is crucial to creating a low-carbon 21st century infrastructure. Using today's communications infrastructure in a smart way can maintain economic development while dramatically reducing emissions.
Giving a keynote address at the Broadband World Forum in Paris today, Ericsson CFO and incoming CEO Hans Vestberg said: "For too long the need for CO2 reductions has been seen as a trade off between economic development and care for the planet. This does not have to be the case. Because the ICT sector can reduce CO2emissions substantially, government representatives have an opportunity to bring ICT onto the agenda for the upcoming United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen (COP15) in December."
Vestberg continued: "Studies show that ICT can reduce global CO2emissions by 15% by 2020. Ericsson believes that with an innovation-driven climate agenda, reductions could be even greater. Modern ICT solutions, ranging from education and information services, health as well as transport, can give access to vital services all over the world, without sacrificing our environment."
What is needed in order to the deliver some 50-80% emission cuts by 2050 - the level and range of targets generally recognized as needed to halt climate change -- is to move away from incremental emission reductions to more transformative ones which can deliver measurable savings and "smarter" ways of doing things. This can increase quality of life while dramatically reducing emissions.
Vestberg said: "As representatives of the ICT sector, Ericsson and our industry peers also have the task to bring this message home to our governments and politicians. Change will require the commitment and actions of all levels of society; governments, industry, civil society and individuals. A committed global effort at COP15 is essential to secure both environmental sustainability and economic development, and ICT should be at the heart of this."
A well-functioning broadband infrastructure constitutes the backbone of a low-carbon 21st century information infrastructure. This is the most energy efficient infrastructure ever created as it provides connectivity and moves information at the speed of light around the planet. Investments in this infrastructure can reinforce several different low-carbon solutions such as virtual meetings, smart grids, m-governance, m-health, e-learning, e-paper, and so on. Even though these services might look very different from a user perspective, they all rely on the same underlying infrastructure.
Today, broadband is at the turning point and is already widely available in most parts of the world. However, the 21st century information infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in realizing the full potential of broadband and enabling many basic services and will over the next 15 to 30 years enable a new digital economy to stimulate innovation across society and will lead to the deployment of completely new solutions.
Ericsson is strongly committed to reduce its own life-cycle carbon footprint and has quantified targets in place to do so. Even more importantly, Ericsson is advocating an innovation-driven climate agenda that utilizes technology and will include the deployment of transformative low-carbon solutions that broadband technology can deliver.
Giving a keynote address at the Broadband World Forum in Paris today, Ericsson CFO and incoming CEO Hans Vestberg said: "For too long the need for CO2 reductions has been seen as a trade off between economic development and care for the planet. This does not have to be the case. Because the ICT sector can reduce CO2emissions substantially, government representatives have an opportunity to bring ICT onto the agenda for the upcoming United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen (COP15) in December."
Vestberg continued: "Studies show that ICT can reduce global CO2emissions by 15% by 2020. Ericsson believes that with an innovation-driven climate agenda, reductions could be even greater. Modern ICT solutions, ranging from education and information services, health as well as transport, can give access to vital services all over the world, without sacrificing our environment."
What is needed in order to the deliver some 50-80% emission cuts by 2050 - the level and range of targets generally recognized as needed to halt climate change -- is to move away from incremental emission reductions to more transformative ones which can deliver measurable savings and "smarter" ways of doing things. This can increase quality of life while dramatically reducing emissions.
Vestberg said: "As representatives of the ICT sector, Ericsson and our industry peers also have the task to bring this message home to our governments and politicians. Change will require the commitment and actions of all levels of society; governments, industry, civil society and individuals. A committed global effort at COP15 is essential to secure both environmental sustainability and economic development, and ICT should be at the heart of this."
A well-functioning broadband infrastructure constitutes the backbone of a low-carbon 21st century information infrastructure. This is the most energy efficient infrastructure ever created as it provides connectivity and moves information at the speed of light around the planet. Investments in this infrastructure can reinforce several different low-carbon solutions such as virtual meetings, smart grids, m-governance, m-health, e-learning, e-paper, and so on. Even though these services might look very different from a user perspective, they all rely on the same underlying infrastructure.
Today, broadband is at the turning point and is already widely available in most parts of the world. However, the 21st century information infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in realizing the full potential of broadband and enabling many basic services and will over the next 15 to 30 years enable a new digital economy to stimulate innovation across society and will lead to the deployment of completely new solutions.
Ericsson is strongly committed to reduce its own life-cycle carbon footprint and has quantified targets in place to do so. Even more importantly, Ericsson is advocating an innovation-driven climate agenda that utilizes technology and will include the deployment of transformative low-carbon solutions that broadband technology can deliver.
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