ICT can make a valuable contribution to sustainable environmental management by improving monitoring and response systems, facilitating environmental activism and enabling more efficient resource use.
Scarcity of relevant and reliable information has always been a substantial obstacle to more effective environmental management. Used to collect, process and disseminate information, ICT enables a better understanding of issues such as climate change and biodiversity and helps to monitor ecological conditions so that prevention and mitigation measures can be activated. SIDSNet, for example, provides a medium for sharing information and good practices among the forty-three Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on common issues such as biodiversity, climate change, coastal and marine management and energy sources.26 In Nepal, computer imaging has been used to build a land resource database for the Arun River basin. This has generated the first ever basin-wide map of land use indicating forest degradation hotspots. The database, together with simulation models, was crucial to designing and implementing the land management program for the area.
ICT is also being deployed extensively to monitor and respond to environmental disasters in developing countries. This is demonstrated in Mexico, where fire emergency services are using satellite images to direct response teams to critical areas—resulting in significant reductions in casualties and property loss.
The power of ICT as an information and networking medium can also enable citizens to act as environmental enforcement agents, alerting decision makers to compliance infringements27 and leveraging the power of ICT to reach and influence public opinion. In Indonesia, officials discouraged by weak enforcement of water pollution standards created a public access database for rating the degree of factory compliance. Citizen groups have used the ratings to pressure under-performing factories. Within the first 15 months of activism, one-third of non-complying factories had met regulations.
ICT applications can be used to reduce the consumption of energy, water and other essential natural resources through more efficient agriculture and industrial procedures. For example, precision agriculture techniques28 using GIS and GPS systems can facilitate weather and soil monitoring, crop forecasting and the ability to optimize farm return on investment ensuring more efficient use of scarce resources.29
In the future, ICT may also play an important role in the fight against pollution—not only by providing more useful metrics and information, but also by enabling population decentralization and large-scale telecommuting.
Global Forest Watch (GFW)Application Model: Global Forest Watch is an international network of more than 90 local forest groups linked by the Internet. It aims to slow forest degradation around the world as well as infuse transparency and accountability into the industry. The initiative was started by the World Resources Institute in 1997 to give the general public a clearer picture of the threats to the world's forests. GFW uses a combination of satellite imagery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), mapping software, the Internet and on-the-ground observation to record forest coverage and condition, including where and how forest product companies are cutting. GFW compares the activity to forest leases to identify illegal cutting. These maps are posted on the Internet, naming specific companies that fail to comply with environmental policies and agreements. Illustrative Impact: GFW is ensuring fair and objective scrutiny of the practices of forest product companies. The group is already operating in 8 countries, and plans to cover 25 countries within a few years. It has negotiated agreements with IKEA, Home Depot, Loews and other major forest product retailers that constitute 40 percent of the North American market. The retailers have pledged to source only from sustainably-managed forests and forest companies and have agreed to use GFW's expanding database to guide their buying. GFW also provides governments, local communities, consumers and activists with information about what is happening to the forests, enabling the promotion and establishment of successful forest management practices. Results in a few countries demonstrate that GFW can produce information that is not obtainable by satellite systems and exceeds that currently available to governments and United Nations agencies. Challenges: Key challenges for GFW are: limited Internet access among concerned groups who have information to contribute and are also target information recipients; and securing political support and sponsorship among governments, industry groups, and NGOs in new geographic markets. If success in the North American market is any indication, this challenge is not insurmountable. Sources: www.igc.org; www.globalforestwatch.org. |
© 2001 Accenture, Markle Foundation, United
Nations Development Programme.
All rights reserved.