UN talks IT and climate change

The UN heard yesterday that information and communication technologies are largely contributing to climate change but also hold the key to tackling it. Alexander Karsner, United States Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, spoke at the outset of a two-day meeting on the impact of ICT on climate change, and called for “very proactive problem-solving through the deployment of technology,” and commented that “markets alone do not make global strategies.”

Xerox Corporation Environment Vice-President Patricia Calkins also spoke. She told the nference that the paper industry was the fourth largest user of fossil fuels, and nearly half of all office paper became waste within a day.

Office solutions? Recycle paper into scrap notebooks or use a scrap printer. Sent printer defaults to double-sided. Are you buying your paper recycled? Do you use online rather than hard copy newspapers? Defniitely a couple of things to think about.