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

with the UNFCCC is particularly important for the assessment of the environmental impacts of ICT projects
and the assessment of the environmental impacts of ICT in countries or groups of countries.
ITU-T SG5 is developing a set of methodologies for the assessment of the environmental impact of:
• ICT goods, networks, and services (approved)
• ICT in organisations (approved)
• ICT projects (under development)
• ICT in cities (under development)
• ICT in countries or groups of countries (under development)
The following environmental impacts will be assessed:
• Energy consumption
• Global warming potential or GHG emissions
• Raw material depletion
• Water depletion
• Ozone depletion
• Air toxic emissions
• Photochemical ozone creation
• Air acidification
• Water eutrophication
• Water toxic emissions
• Hazardous waste generation
In the first phase, the focus of the Recommendations will be on energy consumption. This should be
sufficient to meet the immediate needs of Ghana for improvements in energy efficiency.
The assessment of GHG emissions covers the whole life cycle phases as described in Recommendation ITU-T
L.1410 Methodology for environmental impacts assessment of ICT goods, networks and services:
• Raw material acquisition
• Production
• Use
• End of Life Treatment
Any assessment should identify the embodied carbon in the raw material acquisition and production phases
as well as the emissions arising from the use and end of life treatment phases.
Suggested action: The MoC, EPA (or African Region) should contribute to the ITU-T SG5 work on ICTs and
Climate Change in order to ensure that the methodologies being developed meet the specific
requirements of Ghana (or African Region). In addition, the EPA and MoC could provide leadership for a
case study of a pilot test of the new ITU-T methodologies to assess the carbon footprint of the ICT sector
and the reduction of GHG emissions in other sectors.
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