Nokia Siemens Networks

Cleaning house, in and out

When it comes to the environment, ICT can do both.

Two industries that are unlike in many ways have at least one thing in common: according to a report by the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI), the airline and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industries both account for around 2% of total carbon emissions.

For ICT companies, this brings new urgency to the issue of environmental performance. As Gartner’s Simon Mingay has said, “During the next five years, increasing financial, environmental, legislative and risk-related pressures will force ICT organizations to get ‘greener’; that is to say, more environmentally sustainable.”

At the same time, ICT also has what has been called an “enabling effect”. The GeSI report estimated that ICT has the potential to reduce emissions in other industries by 7.8 billion metric tonnes by 2020, or five times its own footprint.

In other words, ICT has some housecleaning to do, but the industry can also claim to make a net positive environmental impact.

Still, this is no excuse to shirk environmental responsibilities.

Mingay continues: “Vendors are being forced to gain a better understanding of the life cycle due to new legislation and directives in countries and regions worldwide, as well as an increasing interest from clients in life cycle assessment.” 

In his view, the key is to understand the impact of the full lifecycle of ICT products and services in order to minimize environmental impact.

Mingay believes that outside-in pressure is one motivation behind the need to change. But what is equally clear is that corporations are also taking a proactive stance on environmental performance. ICT companies just have an extra advantage here.

Mobile communications help other industries become more energy efficient

With this in mind, Nokia Siemens Networks is taking a two-pronged approach – making a difference internally within the company and industry, and also helping other industries clean up their act. When used to full advantage, communications technology can reduce the amount of travel, optimize energy consumption and streamline logistics processes. 

There are many examples of how this is happening already. In India, an innovative SMS-based carpooling system saves hundreds of hours of driving a week for people commuting in and out of Mumbai.

Traffic reports delivered to mobile phones reduce congestion and gas consumption, while video and audio-conferencing are reducing the amount of business travel required.

The trick will be to translate one-off, best-case scenarios into sustained and sustainable improvements in environmental performance. ICT has a unique role to play, as a both a contributor to carbon emissions and an enabler of change.