Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and welcome to this COP26 side event looking at the role of digital technologies and innovative solutions in driving the net zero efforts in cities.
As many world leaders mentioned in the opening ceremony of COP26, building global solidarity and international collaboration are key to increasing climate ambitions and enhancing climate actions.
And so, ITU is pleased to have this opportunity to collaborate with IEA, UNFCCC, UN-Habitat and UNEP DTU in organizing today’s side event, and increasing the awareness of the significant contribution that digital technologies can bring to climate mitigation and adaptation.
At each COP the warnings and the evidence of the influence of human activities on climate change increases. And cities are where most human activities are concentrated, so this makes cities particularly important in the efforts to reduce emissions, as well as their being especially vulnerable to the growing risks of climate change. Cities must therefore become leaders toward a net zero future, and in building climate resilience and adaptation strategies to minimize the risks.
As the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies, ITU strongly believes that digital technologies are an important part of the answer. Technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, digital twin, can enable cities to leverage connectivity and data insight to monitor the changing climate, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance city planning, design and resilience.
The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated as never before the power of digital technology, and has thankfully increased the application of the technology to overcome these huge challenges.
Meaningful partnership and collaboration are the foundation for tackling these challenges, and in ITU we are fortunate to have a diverse membership of 193 Member States and over 900 private sector companies, universities, and other international and regional organizations. With this diverse membership we have been able to contribute through the development of international standards to reduce carbon emissions, regulations on the protection of the vital radio spectrum and satellite orbits for monitoring the climate, and promotion of enabling policies to attract investment in these technologies.
Automation, real-time monitoring and connectivity are helping cities reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions across sectors.
Take for example traffic congestion and transportation, a major source of carbon emissions in cities, AI is helping cities relieve traffic congestion by providing optimized traffic routing and directing public transportation to where there is most demand.
The building sector accounts for roughly 40% of global CO2 emissions, and IoT applications are being used to measure energy consumption in buildings and optimize energy distribution, automate building operations and improve the overall energy efficiency and environmental performance of buildings.
For almost 15 years now, ITU has been advocating the use of innovative digital technologies for climate actions. One of the core functions of ITU is the development of consensus-based international standards.
International standards are essential to ensure the interoperability of different manufacturers equipment and services, and to reduce costs through economies of scale. As we will hear later, a series of ITU standards provide guidance on energy efficient and sustainable management of city infrastructure.
ITU also recognizes that the increasing reliance on ICTs, and especially the increased use during the pandemic, means the ICT sector footprint is itself increasing, despite all efforts to reduce its energy consumption, and currently represents roughly 1.4 to 2 % of overall global emissions. However, it is estimated that ICT solutions and digital technology can reduce total global emissions by between 15 to 20% - almost 7 times the amount that emissions of the ICT sector are expected to grow by 2030.
To support a sustainable ICT sector, the ITU standard L.1470 recommends emission-reduction targets that are the first targets specific to the ICT industry to be approved by the Science Based Target Initiative. The standard was developed in collaboration with several partners with the aim to reduce the ICT sector’s footprint and get it on a decarbonization pathway towards net zero emissions.
The United for Smart Sustainable Cities initiative, coordinated by ITU, UN-Habitat and UNECE and supported by 14 other UN bodies has developed a set of Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities based on an ITU standard. This set of KPIs provides cities with a practical framework to measure the contribution of digital technologies to sustainable development and assess their progress towards the SDGs and net-zero emissions. Over 150 cities have already partnered with the initiative in implementing these indicators.
This is an excellent example of the meaningful partnership and collaboration that is essential for accelerating progress on climate action.
So I am very pleased that we have such an excellent panel of speakers today from many of our partners from around the world. Many thanks to you all for being with us. We are very happy to work with you and others to bring the power of technology to address this, the most pressing challenge ever faced by humanity.
As the United Nations Secretary General said, “cities and urban centres are on the frontline of the climate crisis… Investment in recovery is a generational opportunity to put climate action, clean energy, and sustainable development at the heart of cities’ strategies and policies”.
The time for action is now. So let’s see what we can do together to accelerate digital transformation and innovation in cities and communities to reach net zero.
I wish you all a fruitful discussion and let’s hope for a successful COP26 leading us to the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius and salvation for the world and humanity.
Thank you.
