Too much talk backed by too little action means that many companies speak about the environment but do precious little about it, say researchers
Too much talk backed by too little action means that many companies speak about the environment but do precious little about it, say researchers
The environment is a serious topic and so I thought I would start with something that, while not exactly a joke, is at least semi serious. While looking for cartoons on this topic, I came across an illustration that explained why the best efforts fail when we try to go green.
This cartoon depicted two people looking at a lot of chopped trees, with one of them telling the other, 'they had to cut down all the trees to print all the bailout money needed to create green jobs to save the environment'.
No laughing matter
But on a more serious front, the IT industry, which was seen to be an industry that has had the potential to do something good for the environment, seems to be failing badly. To understand this, let us rewind a bit.
According to the United Nations, in November 2007, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said "ICT
[information and communication technologies] will be instrumental in helping to develop new, climate-friendly technologies that can help economies growth sustainably and reduce emissions in the years ahead."
Just talk
However, according to ScienceDaily in February 2009, Richard Hawkins, Canada Research Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, said that IT doesn't necessarily reduce our environmental footprint.
While we could criticise many IT vendors for bringing out green technologies and using it for marketing rather than to do something substantial, the problem goes beyond just green washing. Hawkins puts it very clearly when he says, "We didn't adopt the mobile phone so we could drive and talk on the phone, we adopted it because we were already driving so much. Creating a greener cell phone won't reduce the impact of increased mobility."
Future moves
What can one do then? Niranjan Arasaratnam and Ken Shiu of Allens Arthur Robinson, in a report on IT and climate change, say that 'The need to meet new emissions reporting requirements in 2009 will require many organisations to procure new information technology systems or modify existing systems to provide enhanced reporting systems capability.'
They go on to add that, 'Implementation of emissions reporting and green IT initiatives should be seen as part of an organisation's broader corporate social and sustainability responsibility. It involves complex issues that require senior management involvement and proper planning, including the review of corporate contract documentation and procurement policies.'
Until companies do this seriously, World Environment Day will be just another day on your calendar.
What is green washing?
The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, for example putting an image of a forest on a bottle containing harmful chemicals. Environmentalists often use green washing to describe the actions of energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters.
Source: Wikipedia
QUICK TAKE
>>IT has a lot of potential to save the environment
>>However it is not delivering
>>Users and vendors should look at how to work together to make the change happen
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