Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ... - ITU

• In the case of Ghana’s cocoa sector, the integration of ICTs should target the adaptive needs that have
been identified among producers, linking a diverse set of tools (e.g., mobile phones, radio, Internetbased
applications) with the need to rehabilitate and restore to sustainable production, adopt efficient
farming practices, foster drought management policy through information systems that integrate
changing climate conditions and patterns, and use ICTs to promote the establishment of irrigation
systems in farms, including education and training.
Towards this end, key stakeholders in Ghana should work closely with the Cocoa Research Institute of
Ghana and the Ghana Cocoa Board to ensure that small farmers are able to use the relevant ICT
infrastructures to access the type of services described above.
• In the case of Ghana’s forestry sector, a report prepared by Internet Research suggests that ICTs can
help to strengthen forest governance and improve information management by increasing public
participation, reducing corruption and increasing incomes for the poor. Research suggests that the use
of ICTs is helping to overcome traditional barriers of information generation and consumption 65 .
Towards this end, key stakeholders should foster the use of ICTs in environment advocacy campaigns
and consumer awareness, to track or trace products/raw materials from point of origin to consumption
to meet fair trade, legal and/or sustainable harvest criteria of consumer countries, to map the forests
for better management plans and boundary monitoring, among others.
4.2. ICT sector adaptation
While the analysis conducted thus far has identified key components and suggested actions for developing
countries to integrate ICTs and climate change adaptation strategies, the ICT sector also needs to adapt to
the changing climate.
More intense and frequent climatic manifestations pose an obvious threat to any industry that relies on a
physical infrastructure. Climate change means an increased risk of service disruption to all network
infrastructures, including energy, transportation and telecommunications (and these effects are also interrelated,
given, for example, the dependence of the telecommunications sector on electrical power). Climate
change will likely impact the design of the networks, raising the need for more robust infrastructures,
greater technical knowledge, and enhanced engineering capabilities 66 .
The need for the ICT sector to adapt to climate change can be analysed from two complementary angles:
a) Direct consequences of ICTs for climate change
Many ICTs are network-based, meaning that, like other network-based sectors, they are vulnerable to the
impact of climate change in general and extreme weather events in particular. This is because networks rely
on physical equipment, some of which is likely to be situated in locations that are subject to climate-change
induced extremes of weather. Telecommunications service providers (TSPs), as other network-based
industries, may find that climate change-related weather events could result in an inability to provide
services to a significant number of customers.
Telecommunication companies are significantly exposed to physical risks since extreme weather conditions
could result in network damage and rising insurance costs. Network-based ICTs may have to consider
protecting or relocating elements of their network that could become exposed to damage from severe
weather conditions. This is particularly true in the case of remote sites, especially in developing countries,
where road access to the sites is needed for access and maintenance and often for providing energy
supplies.
Operators have already begun taking into consideration climate change when planning the location of new
nodes for next generation networks. Wireless technologies may be seen as more resilient, and could fare
better than fixed networks when climate-related events strike. As ITU has noted, “In many cases, when
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