ICT and Sustainability

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ICT and Sustainability
Odeh Al-Jayyousi IUCN Regional Director Nov. 18,
2009 Amman- Jordan
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Table of Content

• Status of our natural capital
• Pressure on our natural capital
• How does ICT contribute to sustainability?
• Response and collective action

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Whydo we need to harness ICT to make a
transition?
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Key message

• The current global economy is failing people,
  nature, and economic development

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Natural Capital
Our Global Impact
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The Great Acceleration
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ENERGY
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World CO² Emissions From Fossil Fuels 1750-1997
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Rongbuk Glacier
Rongbuk glacier 1968 and 2007. The largest
glacier on Mount Everests northern slopes feeds
major S. Asian rivers Indus, Ganges
Himalayas deliver water to more than 2 billion
people
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Water

• Global water consumption growing twice as fast as
  population
• By 2025 67 of people will face serious water
  shortages
• 33 will face absolute water scarcity
• By 2025 waste water volumes generated by industry
  will double
  Source UNEP

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5000 litres
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The 1 billion in the bottom
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Global Economic Trends

• Increasing gap between rich and poor
• The 200 richest individuals worth more than the
  poorest 2.5 billion
• human population X 4 in last 100 years
• projected stabilisation 10 billion in 2050
• 90 will be born in have-not countries
• The 2080 problem - people vs. resources

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What About the Ethics?
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Failing people poverty within richness
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Failing nature
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75 of world fisheries face commercial extinction
Biomass of table fish in 1999
(map V. Christensen, SAUP)
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Failing economic stability
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How can ICT make a difference?
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ICT positive role in sustainable development

• RD from DNA analysis to neural networking
• MIS, DDS, EMIS and remote sensing
• Hydro-informatics and modeling
• Energy and water conservation
• Disaster management and protection of nature
• Measuring our ecological footprints
• Digital democracy and social networking
• Civic activism and access to information, Open
  Source.
• Learning and communication- Google Earth and GPS
• Achieving MDG7- environmental sustainability
• World Database on Protected Areas
• New ways of living and lifestyles
• Assess impact of climate change

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ICT negative role on sustainability

• Acceleration of resource harvesting and
  consumption
• 2 of human produced carbon dioxide
• High energy demands
• Production of waste
• IN SUM The positive impacts of ICT outweighs its
  negative impacts

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Global Green New Deal

• G20 stimulus packages 2.5 trillion. How
  sustainable?
• Green investment beats a Shopping Spree
• Win-Win-Win solutions exist Decent Jobs, Lower
  Risks, Higher Returns

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Greening the Economy

• Create new and decent jobs and protect the
  vulnerable
• Reduce carbon emissions, ecosystem degradation,
  and water scarcity
• Eliminate persistent poverty by 2025 help
  achieve the MDGs

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Renewable Energy Jobs
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Renewable Energy Povery Reduction
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Biodiversity Businesses
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Ecosystem Services and the Poor
India Example 480 Million people earn their
livelihood mainly in small farming, animal
husbandry, informal forestry, fisheries
Ecosystem services / classical GDP
7.3
Ecosystem services/ GDP of the Poor
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GDP of the Poor is most seriously impacted by
ecosystem losses
Source GISTs Green Accounting for Indian
States Project, 2002-03 data
01.01.2010
UNEP ETB
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Green Jobs (Sukhdev 2009)
2 million Jobs
148,000 Jobs
171,000 Jobs
350,000 Jobs
1 to 2 million Jobs
160,000 Jobs
182,000 Jobs
170,000 Jobs
01.01.2010
UNEP ETB
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Global Challenges must be addressed for reaching
a sustainable future
Governance
People Values
Economy
Resources, Energy Environment
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WBCSD Vision 2050
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 Remember the internet? Green tech is bigger.
This could be the biggest economic opportunity of
the 21C 

• John Doerr 2009
• most influential venture capitalist of his
  generation

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(No Transcript)
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A Wake up call
 The bell tolling at the end of the industrial
age    (Peter Senge)
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• We need transformative change to create a
• A Green Economy

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Building Blocks for a Green Economy

• New rules and institutions that protect our
  climate and natural capital

Global Deal

• Economic development within planetary limits

Sound Economic Development

• Quality of life change lifestyles and
  consumption

Well-being Society
Ecological Restoration

• Doing less bad is not good enough. Leading
  Companies will help restore the planet

Source WWF One Planet Business Report
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Source Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle
Design
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By 2035 we will need a second planet !
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Thank you