Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Technology experts, government officials, policy
makers and engineers recently met in Italy. They
gathered in Rome for the first Green Standards Week
conference. Italy's Ministry of Economic Development
and the International Telecommunications Union
organized the conference. The event called attention
to the need for information and communication
technologies to fight climate change and to build
greener, more environmentally friendly economies. In
recent years, the world has changed because so many
people now use computers, mobile phones and other
kinds of electronic devices. But the increasing use
of information and communication technologies, also
known as ICTs, also has led to more pollution,
especially greenhouse gas emissions. This is mostly
because of the energy used to manufacture, transport
and operate such equipment. Still, many experts say
ICTs offer the best chance for reducing greenhouse
gases. The Global Information Society Watch reported
last year that ICTs could help to cut total
production of greenhouse gases by as much as fifteen
percent by twenty twenty. Alan Finlay is with the
Association for Progressive Communications. He also
helped to prepare the GISWatch report. He says the
effect of using ICTs to build cleaner environments
is far more powerful than their harmful effects.
"When you're look at greening with ITs, you're
looking at the impact of ICTs on the environment but
also what ICTs can be used in order to improve the
impact of other industries on the environment. And I
think the overwhelming consensus is that you can't
throw the baby out with the bath water."Mr. Finlay
says the GISWatch report and events like the ITU's
Green Standards Week are meant to look at the ICT
industry as a whole. "To our mind you can't really
divorce issues like e-waste -- which you see the
massive negative consequences in Asia for instance,
and direct impact on poor people's lives and
well-being -- from the equation. So, both need to be
looked at the same time." The ITU says a main goal
of the conference was to set clear policies for
measuring and improving the ICT industry's effect on
the environment. Another goal was to note the
importance of green ICT standards and values. For
VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
