(Re)claiming the environment | GISWatch 2010
New GISWatch asks, How sustainable are ICTs really? A new report launched at the start of the UN Climate Change conference questions the assumption that information and communications technologies (ICTs) will automatically be a panacea for climate change.
We publish below one of the introductory articles. You can download the full GISWatch 2010 report here.
(Re)claiming the environment
Climate change is presented as a crisis: by the scientific community, global institutions, governments and the media. Its urgency provokes the need for mainstreaming environmental concerns in the information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) sector. While analysts argue that climate change magnifies development inequalities, it is also likely to magnify political disagreements and fault lines – already the case at global forums such as the recent negotiations in Copenhagen.