High-level OECD Conference: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change, 27-28 May 2009

Overview of OECD work on Green ICTs: http://www.oecd.org/sti/ict/green-ict

On 27-28 May 2009 the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation hosted a high-level OECD Conference on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can improve environmental performance and mitigate climate change in all sectors of the economy. The theme of “Green ICTs” was discussed in the context of the economic crisis and the role of innovation for green growth.

Programme  |  Video webcasts and presentations

Key messages and conclusions

• Opening speeches by the Danish Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Helge Sander and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría
• Conclusions by Conference rapporteurs: Deborah Estrin (UCLA, United States) and Lorenz Hilty (EMPA, Switzerland)
• Key messages from the parallel sessions
• Conference summary by Graham Vickery (OECD)
• Concluding remarks by Jørgen Abild Andersen (Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, National IT and Telecom Agency)

More detailed proceedings are being drafted and will be posted here soon.

Conference

OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, and Danish Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Helge Sander, opened the conference. Policy makers, representatives from business and civil society, and academic experts advanced the policy agenda on ICTs to improve environmental performance and combat climate change. The programme included:

• Esko Aho, Executive Vice President, Nokia; Former Prime Minister of Finland
• Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist, Microsoft
• Deborah Estrin, Director, Centre for Embedded Networked Sensing, University of California, Los Angeles (United States)
• Zeina Al-Hajj, Head International Toxics and Electronics Campaign, Greenpeace International
• Botaro Hirosaki, Senior Executive Vice President, NEC
• Larry Hirst, Chairman Europe, Middle East & Africa, IBM
• Taegun Hyung, Commissioner, Korea Communications Commission
• Ed Mayo, Chief Executive, Consumer Focus (United Kingdom)
• Jens Moberg, CEO, Better Place Denmark
• Russell Pullan, Director New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures, Nomura International
• Jeannette M. Wing, Assistant Director, National Science Foundation (United States)

The detailed programme gives a complete list of speakers.

Outcomes will contribute to work towards the OECD Council at Ministerial Level  in June 2009. They will be particularly relevant in the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark (COP15).

Press and online coverage

• Blog by Rachel Muston, Natural Resources Canada.
• GreenIT.fr (France), "Synthèse de la conférence de l’OCDE: TIC, environnement et changement climatique", 2 June 2009
• Green Electronics Daily, “Carbon Footprint Measurement methods needed to set valid environmental targets, evaluate results, official says.”, 1 June 2009
• Green Electronics Daily, “Green Focus In Recovery Packages is building 'competitive advantage' that will outlast crisis, OECD economist says.”, 29 May 2009
• Comon (Denmark), “Køleskabets hemmelighed kan afværge klima-katastrofen”, 29 May 2009
• Computerworld (Denmark), “OECD: It skal redde verden”, 29 May 2009
• Business Standard (India), “ICT slow in showing climate leadership: Greenpeace”, 28 May 2009
• Børsen (Denmark), "OECD: Vækstpakker skal være grønne", 28 May 2009 (print only)
• ET News (Korea), “형태근 방통위 상임위원, ICT 콘퍼런스 기조연설”, 28 May 2009
• Business.dk (Denmark), “Internationalt fokus på grøn IT”, 27 May 2009
• Heise Online (Germany), “OECD-Generalsekretär fordert Regierungen zur Förderung von Green IT auf“, 27 May 2009
• Greenpeace International, “Cool IT leaders needed to tackle global warming“, 27 May 2009
• Business.dk (Denmark), “Kløgtig teknologi skal aflyse klimakrisen”, 27 May 2009
• Business.dk (Denmark), “Teknologisamarbejde er afgørende i klimakamp”, 27 May 2009
• Business.dk (Denmark), “Microsoft: Klare krav - og fart på!”, 27 May 2009
• Digi.no (Norway), “OECD-konferanse om IKT, miljø og klima”, 26 May 2009
• Business.dk (Denmark), “Store navne hertil for at tale grøn IT”, 4 May 2009 

Contacts

Mr Graham Vickery
OECD, Head of Information Economy Group
Graham.Vickery [at] oecd.org

Mr Henrik Kjaer
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation,
National IT and Telecom Agency
hkj [at] itst.dk  

Further information

Press release: OECD and the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to hold a high-level conference on “ICTs, the environment and climate change” on 27-28 May 2009.

The Conference develops themes from the OECD Workshop on ICTs and Environmental Challenges in Copenhagen in May 2008 and the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy in Seoul in June 2008.  Presentations and webcasts are available online for both events.