05 Jan 2010

ICT carbon reduction 'requires investment'

Investment in carbon reduction commitments is needed by the government in order to kick-start businesses into action, it has been claimed.

Simon Mingay, research vice-president for lead sustainability and organisation strategies at Gartner, said green IT projects are presently thin on the ground and this could be due to a lack of government initiatives to promote the uptake of these schemes.

He commented: "The ICT industry will invest when they've got someone putting up money to do it. Any investment in the industry ahead of projects being put on the table is very, very limited."

Mr Mingay added progress is likely to be slow for the foreseeable future.

According to Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general at the International Telecommunication Union, the adoption of an agreed methodology for measuring the carbon footprint of ICT equipment and its inclusion in national adaptation/mitigation plans is needed if businesses are to take carbon reduction plans more seriously.