Digital Pulse - Ch 2 - Sec 1 - ICT and Ensuring Environmental Sustainability

Summary

Using the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a starting point for evaluation, the author examines the way in which ICTs can contribute to environmental sustainability and associated issues. Daly seeks to identify ways in which the information revolution can be utilized to advance environmental goals. Recognizing that substantial literature exists on the use of technology for environmental monitoring and within projects, his focus is on the more indirect causal paths while seeking to relate ICTs to the specific targets and indicators for the MDGs. The author nevertheless cautions that it is important to avoid technological determinism and recognize that ICT will only help in the right conditions and that they have equal potential to contribute to unsustainable growth.

Key Points

Daly identifies several different areas in which ICTs have the potential to contribute positively:

• Population Pressures – ICTs can contribute to the empowerment and education of women, the likely survival of children, and the returns on investment in education, all factors which in turn contribute to reductions in family size and population growth.
• Efficiency of Resource Use – Modern economies are increasingly “weightless economies” involving the exchange of services and information over manufactured goods and resource exchanges. The movement of electrons is far more environmentally benign that the movement of large amounts of coal or lumber. Technology has enabled the remaining physical industries and activities to reduce emissions and become more efficient.
• Conservation and the Reverse Loss of Resources – Information is critical to guiding conservation and restoration programs such as ground water management programs that rely on sophisticated modeling. In addition, the administration of environmental programs and efforts is improved through the use of ICTs.
• Deforestation and the Loss of Biological Diversity – In order to preserve fragile areas and ecosystems the surrounding areas that have been designated for economic utilization must achieve their maximal intensive output. This type of “landscape management' requires the use of ICTs for remote sensing and information processing so that gains can be realized while still preserving specific areas. ICTs that contribute to alternative economic opportunities for the poor can reduce the pressure on forests and biodiversity.
• Land Tenure and Urban Issues – ICTs can simplify land tenure by contributing to systems that will simplify mapping, registration, and transactions – all serious issues in the developing world. In addition, the decentralizing potential of ICTs may allow for job opportunities to be spread out over wider areas and reduce the processes of urban migration that are so pressing in developing countries. The disbursement of economic opportunities over a wider area may contribute to more even development.
• National Policies on Sustainable Development – National policies are reliant on expert information and the widespread exchange of ideas and data. These types of analysis and dialogue are supported and enhanced by ICT applications. Broader discussions with the public that are so important to instilling sustainable sensibilities are also facilitated by new media and can be used to enhance understanding of environmental issues.

In concluding, Daly argues that the benefits of ICTs include the reduction of transaction costs carried over distances, the ability to obtain environmental data on much larger scales, the ability to conduct quantitative analysis, the ability to communicate with the public and the ability to control processes electronically. All of these benefits have the potential to enable people tom live in healthier environments. His only concern is that while these technologies may contribute to much greater efficiency, this may lead to an increase in the demands for products and services that will outweigh the benefits gained.

Source: ICT for Development Gateway