Participated at “Les Assises du Numérique” in Paris

As a preparation for the French presidency of the EU a conference about the digital economy was arranged in France. I was impressed by a presentation by Michèle Pappalardo, from the “Commissaire du développement durable”. She did a very good overview, both the positive and negative potential. She focused on the “98%” (What ICT can do, not the direct effects) and highlighted many of the most important areas. Would be interesting to see if France can ensure that ICT for a low carbon economy becomes a key question during their presidency.

Looking for brains and hearts at Science Po

Did a presentation Friday about winners in a low carbon economy at Science Po. If anything I said made sense at least two of the participants should have done something with a little edge before the end of 2008…

Rockefeller challenges Exxon

Is this a giant step closer to a transformative shift in the climate work? Reading the news about the need for a low carbon economy these days can make you an optimist. But when those who more than anyone else could claim to be the founders of the oil industry think it is time to move on, that is historic.

However, judging from the media coverage it looks like Rockefeller only seems to focus on the supply-side. Maybe this is medias lack of capacity to deal with the demand-side (would not be the first time) or maybe the Rockefeller’s are not as progressive as they need to be (but challenging Exxon takes more guts than most have, the Swedish government should be inspired in their relation to Vattenfall).

Rockefeller challenges Exxon

Is this a giant step closer to a transformative shift in the climate work? Reading the news about the need for a low carbon economy these days can make you an optimist. But when those who more than anyone else could claim to be the founders of the oil industry think it is time to move on, that is historic.

However, judging from the media coverage it looks like Rockefeller only seems to focus on the supply-side. Maybe this is medias lack of capacity to deal with the demand-side (would not be the first time) or maybe the Rockefeller’s are not as progressive as they need to be (but challenging Exxon takes more guts than most have, the Swedish government should be inspired in their relation to Vattenfall).

Eradicating poverty and saving the climate at the same time

Attended a bilateral donor meeting in Geneva early this week with some of the more progressive donor countries. The theme was climate change, innovation, ICT and poverty. I presented some ideas about ICT and focused on the triangular approach (see Re-think Chinese outward investment flows for background or this new paper about “completing the triangle” for an overview). I’m surprised how easy the poverty work turns reactive and that the focus on ICT in relation to poverty tends to focus almost exclusively on adaptation. The need to move people rapidly out of poverty and use ICT to ensure a rapid and resource efficient development path is really not well explored.

I really would like to follow up on the work in “Sustainability at the speed of light” where the role of ICT and poverty was explored six years ago. With micro finance and much smarter ICT solutions as well as a more widespread understanding of the climate challenge the room for truly sustainable initiatives that deliver results should exist today.