Adaptation to climate change and low cost and sustainable resilient information and communication technologies (ICTs)

(Discontinued on 20 August 2017, see TSB Circular 42)
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Motivation

The historic agreement to combat climate change and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future was agreed by 195 countries in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Paris Agreement for the first time brings all nations together for a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities. The universal agreement’s main aim is to keep a global temperature rise this century less than 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability to deal with the impacts of climate change.

ICTs can play a transformative role in implementing the Paris Agreement, accelerating action on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17 and specifically helping countries and the ICT sector to strengthen resilience, and adaptive capacity to climate related hazards and natural disasters as well as improving education, awareness raising on climate change and early warnings (SDG13).

Reference is also made to SDG 9 on building resilient infrastructure and promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, as the search for low cost infrastructure is a need that captures the attention of the world in the different areas of the SDGs especially in emerging economies where the needs of adaptation and low cost infrastructure become a necessity.

The purpose of this Question is to produce new or revised Recommendations or Supplements regarding solutions to help bridge the access to communications gap so as to “connect the unconnected”. This new Question aims at examining and standardizing solutions that can be effective in reducing the cost of deploying communication networks. This could be achieved through sharing infrastructures among different service providers (electricity, water, gas, TV, public safety, weather monitoring, etc.).

Concomitantly, the new Question recognizes that there are critical technologies needed to improve the adaptation strategies of countries and ICT sector to the adverse impacts of climate change. Technologies to maintain electricity supply and telecommunications are most relevant. Furthermore, there are possible synergies between different verticals such as the electricity grid and the energy systems of the ICT sites so, when extreme events occur and electricity supply is lost, ICT sites could be helpful in guaranteeing some basic electrical service [e.g. isolated micro smart grids] to support emergency relief and adaptation actions. The technology needs to withstand climate related shocks, such as: high winds, floods and extremes of heat. Electricity and telecommunications services can be made more resilient if two sources of energy or telecommunications are available so that one may be substituted for the other in the event of failure. Examples include backup generator to maintain electricity supply and route diversity in the case of telecommunications.

Technologies like information and communication technologies (ICTs) through internet­ based applications, mobile phones, tele centres, community radio, etc. also provide an exceptional opportunity to improve the creation, management, exchange and application of relevant climate change information and knowledge on ICT-based climate change adaptation measures. This Question should identify technologies which both help mitigation and adaptation such as power supplies for remote base stations running on renewable power such as solar, wind, micro-hydro and biofuels.

Low cost and resilient ICTs have also displayed monitoring and transformative capabilities by strengthening the capacity to collect data about the climate related to temperature, humidity, precipitation and sea level changes, for example, sensor networks and weather monitoring stations technologies connected to wireless (e.g. Long Term Evolution (LTE)) or fixed access technologies. ICTs can also improve reliability and continuity of climate monitoring, in particular when severe climatic events occur. Availability of information and of communications services are then of paramount importance. Additionally, ICTs also provide for defined techniques and methods, utilizing supercomputers to develop climate models and highlighting emission trends which help predict any climate related calamities and disasters in the future. The new Question acknowledges that middle and low income countries would differ in the implementation of these technologies, hence the need to search for low cost adaptation infrastructure/ technologies and/ or solutions.

The following Recommendations and Supplements, in force at the time of approval of this Question, falls under its responsibility:

• ITU-T L.1500, L.1501, L.1502, L.1700, L-series Supplements 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24 and 25.

Question

This Question aims at studying the requirements of adaptability, resilience and low cost ICTs in light of the SDGs, exploring the synergies that already exist between the two themes and the potential synergies to be established to better serve the population with the emergence of new trends and technologies in an era where resilience and low cost are both equally in need especially in rural areas (but not confined to them).

In addition, the Question aims to look at the most appropriate and cost effective ICTs in the adaptation of other verticals.

Study items to be considered include, but are not limited to:

• The use of ICTs in the adaptation of the different verticals to the effects of climate change (e.g. energy, agriculture, housing, fisheries, health, etc.);
• Identify best practices in different areas of work such as smart agriculture in developed and developing countries including for example knowledge sharing and dissemination, data collection, crowd sourcing, customization of information;
• Use of ICTs for better coastal planning and zoning in the field of coastal zone and marine ecosystems; mapping, visualisation and generation of real ­time data to monitor short and long ­term trends affecting coastal ecosystems;
• Use of ICTs in improving disease/vector surveillance and monitoring, and changes in urban settlements and housing design;
• Use of ICTs in monitoring the displacement and settlement of populations due to sea level rise, drought, desertification, etc.;
• ICTs enable rapid data gathering during emergency response, prioritised decision-making, and facilitate logistics as well as of disaster early warnings;
• Decision support and geo informatics systems underpin the planning of post disaster reconstruction; ICTs can also help to mobilize and monitor reconstruction efforts;
• The use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) used for navigation and location finding, information exchange and emergencies, radio programming with fishing communities and Web-based information and networking resources;
• Study the requirements and frameworks for low cost sustainable infrastructure for rural communities in developing countries using, inter alia, capacity transfer via repeaters, fiber optic cables, hybrid terrestrial satellite systems, microwave and millimetre radio links and cellular radio technology;
• How can the impacts of using ICTs be assessed as a form of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or methodologies in smart water management?
• Can SG5 Recommendations be used in the different countries’ adaptation plans and strategies in accordance with the Paris Agreement?

Tasks

Tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on climate change adaptation of the ICT Sector;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on the use of ICTs in adapting other sectors to the effects of climate change and improve resilience;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on technical requirements and solutions to low cost infrastructure development, with a special focus on connecting the unconnected and resilience;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on the use of ICTs in managing human displacements due to climate change effects;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements to support (and also to install) meteorological/atmospheric composition instrumentation especially in the areas where weather monitoring networks have critical gaps;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements to identify best practices in setting up low cost climate change adaptive infrastructure in rural areas. Mainstreaming adaptation to climate change by ICTs at the point of manufacture;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on hybrid technologies used for mitigation and adaptation;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on KPIs or methodologies to assess the impacts achieved through the use of ICTs in smart water management;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements to provide guidance for recovery of telecommunication services in response to both natural and man-made disasters;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements to provide guidance on telecommunications solutions to assist population after an extreme event hit;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements for enhancing infrastructure/facilities resilience to climate related hazards;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on infrastructure/facilities requirements and best practices for low cost sustainable telecommunication for rural communications in developing countries;
• Develop Recommendations and/or Supplements on energy requirements and technology best practices for low cost sustainable telecommunication for rural communications in developing countries;
• Maintenance and revision of existing Recommendations and Supplements.

An up-to-date status of work under this Question is contained in the ITU-T SG5 work programme
(http://itu.int/ITU-T/workprog/wp_search.aspx?sg=5).

Relationships

Recommendations:

• ITU-T L-series

Questions:

•  Q5/5, Q6/5, Q7/5

Study Groups:

• ITU-T SGs
• ITU-D SGs
• ITU-R SGs

Standardization bodies:

• IEC
• ISO
• ETSI
• UNFCCC
• UNEP
• UNECE
• FAO
• UN-REDD
• WMO
• UNESCO-IOC
• UN-Water and UN-Habitat