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ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change |
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Quito, Ecuador |
8-10 July 2009 |
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Ingeniero Jorge Glas, Representante del Presidente de la Republica del
Ecuador, Economista Rafael Correa
Dra. Zoila Ramos, Directora de CITIC
Ingeniero Jaime Guerrero, Presidente de Conatel
Ingeniero Juan Cordova, Superintendente de Telecomunicaciones
Dr. Mauro Florez
Excelentísimas Autoridades
Distinguidos invitados, señoras y señores,
Es para mí un gran honor estar hoy aquí en Quito con motivo de la
celebración de este Simposio sobre las TIC y el cambio climático.
Me complace enormemente que el Sr. Embajador Montalvo esté con nosotros. Fue
para mí un un gran placer moderar la reunión del Grupo Especial de Alto
Nivel durante el WSIS Foro en Ginebra en mayo, donde el Embajador dio un
discurso sobre la contribución de Ecuador a la lucha contra el cambio
climático en el marco del proyecto Yasuni.
Ecuador debe su famoso nombre a la línea del Ecuador que atraviesa el país.
La línea simbólica que divide al planeta en el Norte y el Sur.
Para luchar contra el cambio climático, el mundo debe estar unido. América
Latina NO es una de las regiones que más contribuyen a las emisiones de
gases de efecto invernadero, pero sufre los efectos de las emisiones de
otros países. El cambio climático es un problema mundial que exige
soluciones también mundiales.
Durante su visita a la UIT, el Sr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretario General de las
Naciones Unidas, declaró que "el cambio climático es el desafío moral de
nuestra generación" y que la UIT es "uno de los interesados más importantes
en la lucha contra el cambio climático".
El efecto de las TIC sobre el medio ambiente es un tema que preocupa a la
UIT hace mucho tiempo, pero en estos dos últimos años la UIT se ha ocupado
más activamente del cambio climático.
Al principio me preguntaban a menudo "qué tiene que ver la UIT con el cambio
climático". Me complace afirmar que ahora no se nos pregunta eso tanto.
Estoy convencido que la importancia de las TIC para el cambio climático es
clara.
Ladies and gentlemen
We are making every effort therefore to convey the message to global leaders
of the importance of recognizing the role of ICTs in any future agreements,
such as the one expected to be agreed in December in Copenhagen.
Meeting agreed commitments includes the need for common reporting formats
and methodologies to calculate national GHG emissions. In turn, agreed
methodologies for calculations in the ICT sector can now be based on an ITU
global standard. While it was not formally part of the Kyoto process, now we
have a common approach to calculating the impact of ICTs on climate change,
ICTs can be taken into account in future agreements.
Last year’s World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly adopted the
first ever ITU Resolution on ICTs and Climate Change (Resolution 73) which
emphasizes the importance of this work and calls on the ITU membership to
work towards the reduction in emissions of GHGs arising from the use of ICTs
that are necessary to meet the goals of the UNFCCC
The recent World Telecommunication Policy Forum also adopted an Opinion
which calls for the study by ITU of environmentally safe disposal and
recycling of discarded ICT equipment and facilities. I am pleased to say
this has been included in the terms of reference of a new study group on
Environment and Climate Change.
In order to achieve our own commitment to climate neutrality, ITU has
introduced a number of initiatives:
o Many of our meetings are now totally paperless and we make extensive use
of remote participation tools
o For example our Focus Group on Climate Change had 28 teleconference
meetings and only three physical meetings
o Our Recommendations are now freely available on-line
o We have conducted an energy audit and are actively seeking to reduce our
carbon footprint
o We webcast most of our workshops and seminars including this one
o And we are organizing the first virtual Symposium on Climate Change in
September with the Korean government
This event In Quito will be a Symposium of firsts. It is the first ITU
Symposium on Climate Change in Latin America and the first to be held in a
developing country.
We know that tackling climate change is a critical issue in the region and
this Symposium will consider key issues for Latin America that were not
discussed in our previous Symposia in London and Kyoto.
At the recent UN negotiations in Bonn on a new global agreement, countries
from Latin America were at the forefront of the debate. Mexico proposed a
new funding mechanism to pay for climate change mitigation and adaption
programs. Ecuador, Bolivia and other countries in the region emphasized the
importance of protecting indigenous peoples. Costa Rica has made a public
commitment to make the entire country climate neutral and already has
increased its forest cover from 21% in 1986 to 51% in 2006.
Latin America contains 5 of the 10 most biodiverse nations in the world,
including Ecuador. Deforestation is a critical issue, as it contributes some
17-20% of total GHG emissions. When forests disappear the earth loses a
carbon sponge. According to one calculation, during the next 24 hours the
effect of losing forests in Brazil and Indonesia will be the same as if 8
million people boarded airplanes at Los Angeles and flew to Quito.
To make the best use of ICTs to combat climate change, developing countries
must make every effort to expand their infrastructure to provide affordable
access to communications for all citizens and to increase broadband levels.
Financing the cost of combating climate changes is also a key issue for the
region, as well as projects under the clean development mechanism.
To address these issues, the program for the Symposium has been
significantly changed and our background report was revised to address these
important topics. The Report also describes the activities of our 3 sectors
on climate change, and you will be hearing more about that during the
Symposium.
Damas y caballeros
Para terminar, les ruego me permitan dar las gracias al CITIC por acoger
este Simposio. La UIT trata de fomentar la participación de la académia en
sus trabajos, y nos complace contar con la ayuda de este instituto de
investigación en este evento. Deseo agradecer a todos los estudiantes que
presentaron documentos de investigación y a los seleccionados para hablar.
También quisiera agradecer al Gobierno de Ecuador el habernos invitado a
Quito. En particular al apoyo recibido de CONATEL, Senacyt y CNT. El sector
privado tiene una función esencial en la labor de la UIT y me complace que
empresas tales como Telefónica y Deutsche Telecom estén en este evento.
Tenemos un programa extenso y contamos con magníficos oradores, así que
todos estamos ansiosos por empezar estos dos días y medio de debates.
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