This report suggests a conceptual framework for the new statistical field “ICT and the environment” based on an existing OECD framework for information society statistics. Sources of official data to populate the framework are investigated and some relevant work has been identified. Given the serious environmental problems facing the world, and the potential for ICT to both lessen and worsen those problems, it is suggested that this field should be of more interest to official statisticians. A number of actions are recommended and they include: conducting new or expanded household and business surveys, expanding statistical classifications to better reflect ICT and the environment, ensuring that sample sizes are sufficient to enable better identification of ICT and environment data, and producing time series data on the topic. This summary was prepared by Eldis.
Mitigation and adaptation climate change policy cuts across all sectors of the economy and broader national priorities, such as poverty alleviation, sustainable development and economic growth. This paper outlines the evolution of the low-emission development strategies (LEDS) concept in the climate policy discourse and explores the existing strategies, action plans and documents. It defines LEDS as forward-looking national development strategies that encompass climate-resilient economic growth and looks at how they can ensure that they are effective and efficient in delivering intended goals. The aim of the paper is to:
Why were participant countries in the Rio+20 conferences (2012) not able to find any common ground on the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) as they sought to identify a path for achieving “green economy” in the decades ahead? The current policy brief seeks to answer this question by examining the evolution of the global debate on IPRs and green technologies from the Earth Summit in 1992 to Rio+20.
The document indicates that:
Smart ICT and Internet applications have the potential to improve the environment and tackle climate change. Top application areas include manufacturing, energy, transport and buildings. Information and communication also foster sustainable consumption and greener lifestyles. At the same time, direct and systemic impacts related to the production, use and end of life of ICTs require careful study in order to comprehensively assess “net” environmental impacts. A better understanding of smart ICTs provides policy makers with options for encouraging clean innovation for greener economic growth. This summary was prepared by Eldis.