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

include mobile TSPs Vodafone, Scancom, Airtel, Millicom, and Expresso, and fixed TSPs Vodafone and
Airtel.
• The Ghana Internet Services Providers Association (GISPA) 80 is a professional, non-profit trade
association, representing the interests of local ISPs and other Internet providers. It currently has
23 members. It runs the facility of routers and switches known as the Ghana Internet eXchange (GIX),
which allows local ISPs and TSPs to easily exchange Internet traffic within Ghana, while improving
connectivity and services for their customers.
The following key international stakeholders should have a consultative status on the proposed Green ICT
Council:
• The International Telecommunication Union (ITU). ITU has a key role in global telecommunication
regulation and standardization. ITU is the UN specialized agency responsible for telecommunications
and information and communication technologies (ICTs). Its membership, comprising 193 governments,
over 700 private companies, and 40 academic institutions, has called for ITU to take the lead in
engaging the global community (including countries, the UN system, and the ICT industry, as well as
academia and NGOs) to address climate change through the use of ICTs.
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). UNFCCC is the UN secretariat
responsible for supporting the operation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, an
international environmental treaty produced at the UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and updated by the Kyoto Protocol.
• Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) 81 . The ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS
Bank for Investment and Development, more often called ‘The Fund’, are its two main institutions
designed to implement policies, pursue a number of programmes and carry out development projects
in Member States. Such projects include intra-community road construction and telecommunications;
and agricultural, energy and water resources development. ECOWAS may be able to assist in getting
fibre into urban and rural areas (some rural areas also have a need for power lines).
2. The sources of ICT GHG emissions in Ghana
It would be useful to identify the total GHG emissions from Ghana, including those arising from ICTs. The
total GHG emissions reported by Ghana were 24 Mt CO2e in 2006, which is equivalent to approximately
1 tonne per capita 82 .
In addition to CO2, there are a number of other GHGs emitted by the ICT industry. These include sulphur
hexafluoride (SF 6 ) which has approximately 40 thousand times the impact of CO2 per gramme emitted 83 . SF 6
plasma is used in the semiconductor industry as an etchant 84 . SF 6 is also used to pressurize waveguides in
radar systems. The gas insulates the waveguide preventing internal arcing 85 and is also applied in
transmission waveguides for medical X-ray equipment. The impact of SF 6 in Ghana is considered to be small.
However, the relatively high radiative forcing 86 of SF 6 indicates that it needs to be monitored; for example, it
might arrive unexpectedly in Ghana as part of e-waste.
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