ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy policy - CSR in Europe, Middle East and Africa -
CSR in Europe, Middle East and Africa » ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy policy
ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy policy
During the EU Sustainable Energy Week in the last week of January, HP together with Intel and Sun Microsystems, organised the GeSI EU ICT Sustainability Forum event in Brussels. James Murray of IT Week wrote an excellent summary of the event on the Green Business News Blog. A report about the event will be published shortly. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the report, please let me know by posting a comment or sending an email to corporateaffairs@hp.com.

The event was held in light of the 2006 EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan and the more recent communication on Energy Policy by the Commission. The urgency of addressing the three main aims of the communication – combating climate change, security of energy supply and European competitiveness – is clear and at HP, as the largest IT company in the world, we realize that there is a contribution that we can make in addressing those issues. Just as important, policy makers look to HP and others for vision and guidance on how to formulate the best policy for Europe.

What struck me most about the event was the recognition and willingness to collaborate – ‘partnership’ was the key word. With NGOs, governments and business in one room, you would be forgiven for thinking there were a number of different agendas in the room and that pulling in the same direction was a distant hope. But there is recognition now that the energy situation is so serious, both in terms of reducing the demand for supply in order to cut carbon emissions but also in terms of not being so reliant on foreign imports for supply, that the atmosphere is one of: we have to work together…we will work together.

That is not to say there is not something in this activity for all parties. The EU has to improve its environmental performance – and if they are to achieve their goals of at least 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, they need the business community on side. For businesses like HP there is most certainly a competitive drive in making products more environmentally sustainable as the environmental awareness of Governments and other customers is heightened. And for NGOs? They want to push us all even further!

It is by having these different actors in the room that the forum gains its credibility and its strength. It is not Governments justifying their policies. It is not businesses navel-gazing and marketing. It is not NGOs shouting and screaming. It is about mature dialogue, mutual respect and a willingness to understand and help each other.

All we need to do now is deliver. Bernard Meric, during his keynote speech at the event, said that ICT has been responsible for 50% of productivity gains in the European economy over the past ten years. He predicted that 50% of energy efficiency savings over the next few years would also be as a result of ICT. Bernard – I hope you are right – and what a great story that would be for our industry and HP.

Edward Lewin, HP Government Affairs Manager

For your background information: The GeSI EU ICT Sustainability Forum is the successor organisation to the ICT Sustainability Forum which we launched in January 2006 together with Intel Corporation and Sun Microsystems. After considerable interest in the forum from other industry players, we decided that the activities would be most effective under the already established Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)
umbrella. This move allowed us address a critical mass across ICT sector and helps us to achieve a louder, stronger voice for our activities.
Posted 03-22-2007 7:37 PM by BlogArchive
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Comments

Naveenindian wrote Re: ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy
on 03-30-2007 12:20 PM
I think ICT has been playing a very critical role in todays world.Please let me know if there could be any opportunity for employees in India to be a part of this programme
Rita Sully wrote Re: ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy
on 04-03-2007 9:17 AM
Naveenindian, thanks for your comment. We have a number of projects in India relating to ICT & development. Please feel free to contact me for further information or read our APJ CSR blog for more information. Rita Sully, Corporate Affairs Manager, APJ. http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/apcommunity/”
sanaee_ICT wrote Re: ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy
on 08-30-2007 7:37 AM
I would be very interested in receiving a copy of the report. Thanks in advance, Sanaee
jeannette.weisschuh wrote Re: ICT as a driver for a sustainable energy
on 10-12-2007 9:30 AM
Hallo, thank you for your interest. I expect that a report will be available during spring 2008. So you still have to wait till then unfortunately. However, you can have a look at a related WWF report about how ICT can help combat climate change called "Saving the climate at the speed of light" (http://assets.panda.org/downloads/road_map_speed_of_light_wwf_etno.pdf). I will keep you updated as soon as the report is available next year. Best regards, Jeannette
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