There's a big fight going on, right now. You may not see it,
because it's largely being fought behind closed doors. And, you may
not feel you're part of it, because it's being fought by men in
suits and in the corridors of power. But it's a fight we all have a
massive stake in, and yet the IT sector still hasn't chosen which
side it will be on,writes Tom Dowdall, co-ordinator of
Greenpeace'sGreener Electronics campaign
While governments are attempting to tackle climate change,
polluting industries - such as coal, power and steel - are lobbying
hard to make sure they can keep on polluting. But the IT industry -
who could be huge winners in the strong global climate change deal
that needs to be agreed when
governments meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this year, are
strangely silent.
IT products and services have already transformed the way many
of us live, work and play in the last 20 years. IT is bold and
innovative, and has already swept away inefficient practices and
industries.
Now, we are facing the massive challenge of preventing
catastrophic climate change. To achieve this, we also need to sweep
away the inefficient and polluting ways of generating, distributing
and using energy that were developed in the last century, and make
way for cleaner, efficient solutions. Technology-based solutions
will be vital to this fight.
The May 2008 SMART 2020
report outlined in detail just how IT solutions can help reduce
global greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020. In November 2008,
Gartner and
WWF showed that many leading IT companies have been slow to
realise this opportunity, however. If the IT sector is to deliver
these emissions reductions - and it has just eleven years in which
to do so - then companies need to be showing how their solutions
can achieve this. They need to be showing the bold leadership that
will ensure that government regulations deliver a high-carbon price
that will drive demand for solutions. And, to ensure their
solutions and influence are credible, IT companies must show how
they are cutting their own emissions. This is why Greenpeace
launched the
Cool IT Challenge to the industry.
Sadly, the first assessments of the claims of the biggest tech
firms are, in a word, disappointing. While IBM and Fujitsu offer a
wide range of solutions and are able to provide some evidence of
accounting for the overall impact of their solutions on emissions
(although they both still have much work to do in these respects),
other leading names such as
HP and Cisco does not yet have any large public case studies
showing how its solutions reduce absolute emissions.
Only
Sun Microsystems shows clear support and active advocacy for
the level of global emissions reductions the science says we
need.
Companies like IBM are hiding behind the excuse that climate
targets and policy are the responsibility of governments. While
this is ultimately true, big names such as IBM, Microsoft,
Intel and
Nokia can, and do, exert a massive amount of influence over
government policy, both in their own home countries and abroad.
No time to hide
Many companies hide behind membership of corporate carbon clubs
that support only vague statements about regulation of carbon
emissions. Even many of the most-polluting companies are backing
these vague statements.
Any company not taking a bold stance on the levels of cuts that
climate science says we need now is allowing these polluting
companies to put their own short-term profits above our future.
Facing up to tackling the climate crisis requires bold
leadership from all sectors of society, including business.
Considering IT leaders stand to gain handsomely from a low-carbon
economy it's scandalous that not one is yet prepared to show real
climate leadership.
Fortune favours the bold
Taking a bold stance in the high stakes battle over our global
climate isn't easy. It requires IT companies to confront some of
their biggest customers in high-carbon industries. Any reservations
companies may have about lobbying being perceived as only in their
own interest must be cast aside. Politicians are under huge and
open pressure from coal, car and power companies not to limit
carbon emissions. Politicians need to hear clearly from IT leaders
that the solutions exist and emissions can be reduced while
generating jobs and profits.
Clearly, IT leaders need some serious pressure to get off the
sidelines and join in a battle where the stakes couldn't be higher.
And that's where every single one of us comes in: if we work in IT,
if we use IT products or services, then we all have the power
needed to exert this pressure for change.
So
Michael Dell,
Steve Ballmer,
John Chambers,
Howard Stringer and
Sam Palmisano, we are looking to you and your fellow CEOs to
show real climate leadership, and to show it now. In this case,
what is good for a healthy planet is also good for future IT jobs
and healthy IT profits.
CEOs must join the climate change battle and stop the global
climate debate being an utterly one-sided heavyweight fight where
it's the planet that ends up getting pummelled.
I know which side I'm cheering for. The question is, do you?
Greenpeace's Greener Electronics campaign >>