Taskforce formed to prepare climate strategy for ICT

Minister of Transport and Communications Sanna Marin has appointed a working group to prepare a climate and environmental strategy for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

The term of the working group is from November 1, 2019 to November 30, 2020, said an official press release.

Chaired by Director of Climate and Environment Unit at the Ministry of Transport and Communications Päivi Antikainen, the group has representatives from companies, research institutes, NGOs, and public administration, including Aalto University, ABB Oy, CSC - IT Centre for Science Ltd, Digita Oy, DNA Oyj, Elisa, Finnish Energy, Energy Authority, Finnish Federation for Communications and Teleinformatics (FiCom), Finnet As-sociation, Oy IBM Finland Ab, Consumers’ Union of Finland, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Transport and Communications Agency (TrafiCom), Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Neogames Finland, Finnish Software and E-business Association, Nokia Oyj, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Helsinki Metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation, Technology Industries of Finland, Telia, Tieto Corporation, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Finance, TVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) and Ministry of the Environment. If necessary, other members may be invited to the working group during its term of office. Representatives from WWF and Google were also invited to participate in the work.

The aim is to form a common view on the climate and environmental impacts of the sector in Finland and recommend measures to control them.

“Energy efficiency and clean solutions are essential in reducing the carbon footprint of the ICT sector. Digitalisation provides opportunities for achieving emissions reductions in other sectors as well, such as transport. This new working group will increase the understanding of the environmental and climate impacts of the ICT sector and will propose necessary measures to reduce the emissions,” said Sanna Marin.

Even though the ICT sector has seen a strong growth, its greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of materials have not received as much attention as some other sectors.

The task of the working group is to assess the trend of the greenhouse gas emissions in the ICT sector and their environmental impacts on Finland.

The group will examine the measures used in other countries to reduce harmful climate and environmental impacts. It will assess the role of the ICT sector in the efforts to achieve Finland’s climate goals and how investments in this sector could promote the attainment of the goals in other sectors. The working group will submit a report containing proposals for measures. It will also assess the societal effects of the measures.