The
World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) believes that IT could be the key to slashing harmful
CO2 emissions and stemming climate change.
Two reports independently authored by the WWF and various academic experts,
and funded with the help of
HP and
Microsoft,
claim that relatively simple IT measures implemented on a global scale could
help to cut emissions by at least half of the current US total for annual
emissions by 2050.
The first report, entitled
Virtual
Meetings and Climate Innovation in the 21st Century (PDF), concludes that
employee travel accounts for at least 50 per cent of non-manufacturing firms'
total carbon footprint, which could be dramatically reduced through virtual
meetings.
"Creating a global network of more than 4,000 high-quality videoconferencing
studios in cities around the world would help build a new infrastructure for the
21st century, and would cost less than one and a half aeroplanes," said Dennis
Pamlin, a WWF policy advisor and co-author of the report.
The second report, entitled
From
Workplace to Anyplace (PDF), also highlights the potential of IT to allow
people to work or collaborate remotely, likewise cutting carbon emissions
incurred by commuting or air travel.
The WWF believes that about one billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions
could be avoided by 2030 if more people turned to teleworking. The amount is the
same as the current combined annual carbon emission rate of the UK and Italy.
But Pamlin noted that, although IT could do much to reduce greenhouse gases,
the world still needs a "strong global climate policy to ensure these solutions
are implemented at the speed and scale necessary to make a difference".
"We must start to walk in the right direction now, before it's too late," he
added.
The WWF also pointed out that, although developed countries have the most
potential to cut emissions via teleworking in the short term, developing nations
would deliver the bulk of the reductions in the long term.
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