[governance] Workshop Proposal - Towards a zero carbon Internet

[Ian Peter]

Bill, I was thinking more along the lines that probably well over 90% of the
worlds connected computers are in large installations run by governments and
corporations, and these may be responsible for about 10% of global carbon
emissions. There is much that can be done if these groups co-operate in new
ways. Also there were workshops which I found very disappointing on this in
Hyderabad. 
 
But yes the governance issue is a little hard to find at this stage and I
would certainly not like to see this as a main theme. However I think there
is room for a few regional co-operative approaches, there are a few national
legislation approaches, and definitely internet architecture approaches that
should be examined  here or elsewhere. I think these are aspects of
governance in a loose sense. (and lets face it much internet "governance" is
very loose)
 
But right now with just a few days to go this does not appear to be
something IGC is enthusisatic to support, and I am happy t acept that. Iwill
give some thought to whether I submit this as an individual or not.
 

Ian Peter

PO Box 429

Bangalow NSW 2479

Australia

Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773

www.ianpeter.com

 

 

 


  _____  

From: William Drake [mailto:william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch] 
Sent: 15 April 2009 19:32
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Ian Peter
Subject: Re: [governance] Workshop Proposal - Towards a zero carbon Internet


Hi Ian, 

Could I ask you to clarify something.  Last year when there were proposals
to make climate change a main theme, some of us argued against it, both on
the list and in the consultations (where Nitin agreed).  Our concerns then
were two-fold: 

First, while there are obviously links between Internet/ICT usage and CC, it
wasn't clear what links were being postulated between IG per se and CC.  Was
the contention that existing mechanisms---say, the regulation of registries
and registrars, IPV6, or WIPO/WTO regimes----have some discreet,
identifiable impact that could be ameliorated?  Or was it that a new
mechanism, say a global regulatory agreement on the operation of server
farms, should be established?  There was some good research done but
ultimately the linkages remained a bit undefined as a basis upon which to
proceed.

Second, some of us were concerned that the IGF shouldn't go off chasing UN
hot topics (no pun intended) when so many questions about the actual
institutional frameworks and conduct of IG per se had yet to be explored, or
at least explored in any meaningful depth.  IGF has generally looked more at
"issues" than "institutions," and in many arenas---standards, cybercrime,
IPR, e-commerce, etc etc---there's not been much focused discussion of
whether the rule systems and decision making procedures in place are
optimal, how they distribute benefits across stakeholder groupings, etc.
Sticking with the original mission rather than diluting the focus has been a
leitmotif of caucus and caucus member interventions over the years, for good
reason.

If we're going to reverse positions, what has changed since then to make
this the best use of an IGC proposal slot (we can't have too many),
especially when some IOs will probably make similar proposals again?  Do you
want to argue for a governance arrangement on energy usage? Or would the
steps taken by various actors in their, uh, respective roles, to reduce
emissions comprise something more like best practices etc?

Thanks,

Bill


On Apr 13, 2009, at 1:20 AM, Ian Peter wrote:


Let me know what you think of IGC endorsement of a proposal along these
lines, or any suggested changes. I appreciate this is a particular interest
of mine and a way away from the normal business of IGC, but would be happy
to see IGC involved if people feel that way.
 
 
Title Towards a zero carbon Internet

Concise description

This workshop is to specifically explore the steps which can be taken by
Internet users, but specifically by large private sector and governmental
users, to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with
current internet usage patterns and architectures. 
Much investigation in this area has been undertaken and there are some fine
private sector examples we can look at. There are also known actions which
can be easily adopted which will be outlined during the workshop.
Please note that this workshop should not be combined with workshops looking
at measurement of IT greenhouse gas emissions to meet carbon trading scheme
requirements. Important as those measures are, they result in an entirely
different discussion involving a different set of stakeholders. This
workshop is about what can be done immediately and work going on in the
field at this time.


Relates to theme - 

Critical Internet Resources


If so, who would you approach as co-organizers ? If not, who do you think
should organize it?


We would seek to have involved represntatives of  Google and VMWare,  a
representative of the Internet Architecture Board, a representative of
CANARIE (Canada) who have a significant program in this area, IISD, APC and
others.

Ian Peter

PO Box 429

Bangalow NSW 2479

Australia

Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773

www.ianpeter.com


 



 
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***********************************************************
William J. Drake  
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
  Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
New book: Governing Global Electronic Networks,
http://tinyurl.com/5mh9jj
***********************************************************


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