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ITU in the UN Environmental Agenda

As a UN specialized agency, ITU collaborates closely with other organizations in the fight against climate change and in the promotion of sustainable development. By supporting processes, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the follow-up to Rio+20, ITU is working with the UN to "deliver as one" in the area of climate change and to emphasize the close relationship between ICTs and sustainability.

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

ITU continues to co-facilitate the implementation of WSIS action line C7, e-environment, together with WMO and UNEP. Every year in May, the facilitators organize a facilitation Meeting on Action Line C7, e-environment, on areas such as emergency telecommunications, climate change, e-waste, energy efficiency and sustainability. Recently, a 10-Year WSIS Action Line Facilitators' Report on the Implementation of WSIS Outcomes has been submitted by the Action Line Facilitators in response to the request by the participants of the Third WSIS+10 MPP meeting.

Read more on the Facilitators' Report

United Nations Climate Change Negotiations

ITU continues to actively participate in the negotiations held within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach a new global agreement on climate change. ITU follows the Technology Mechanism in particular, which was created to facilitate the implementation of enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action on climate change mitigation and adaptation. ITU has participated in several previous UN Climate Change Conferences, including COP-18, which was held in 2012 in Doha, Qatar, and COP-19, which was held in 2013 in Warsaw, Poland.

The next COP (COP-20) will take place in Lima, Peru from 1 to 12 December 2014.

Collaboration with other UN Agencies

ITU continues to strengthen its cooperation with other UN Agencies to tackle environmental challenges. ITU is collaborating with WMO, UNFCCC, UNU, UNIDO, UNESCO, WHO, UNEP, UN Habitat and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on issues related to climate monitoring, mitigation and adaptation, e-waste management and smart sustainable cities, among others.

Click here to find out more about other collaborations and joint initiatives

Greening the Blue

In 2007, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, called on all UN agencies, funds and programmes to reduce their carbon footprint and become climate neutral. Since then, ITU has answered to that call and is taking practical steps to improve energy efficiency and to reduce heat-loss from the premises.

For example: (1) assessments are made on all new facilities projects for their potential reductions in the use of electricity and heating fuel, (2) paper usage has been reduced in offices, publications and meetings and (3) all potential business travel options are evaluated for their environmental impact. ITU also continues to virtualize its ICT Servers to save power and cooling load.

Click here to find out more about "Greening the Blue"

ITU Input to UN Processes

2012 Rio+20 Conference
UN 2013 Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Poland
UN 2012 Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar