Government carbon schemes ignore ICT

The Australian government’s schemes to move to a low-carbon economy ignore the potential role of ICT in reducing carbon emissions, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) warned today.

Bob Hayward, Chair of the AIIA Council for Environmental Sustainability Leadership, said that while the Australian government has a range of schemes in place to reduce the countries carbon emissions output - such as the carbon tax and various incentives - it has so far ignored the reductions in carbon emissions that ICT solutions can provide.

“There are no clear government incentives, grants or funding mechanisms in place to encourage and reward industry to invest in ICT solutions that by themselves would enable Australia to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction objectives,” Hayward said.

This is despite what the AIIA sees as the clear potential for ICT to reduce emissions.

“There is clear evidence from multiple studies and experiences globally that appropriate and targeted investments in sustainable ICT solutions by government, business and consumers can reduce carbon emissions within a developed and digitised economy by anywhere between 10-15% by 2020,” AIIA CEO, Suzanne Campbell said.

“This is greater than the current emissions reduction target set for Australia by the Federal Government,” she said.
According to the AIIA, there is a “glimmer of hope” in the government’s $200 million technology innovation program, but this will likely focus on clean tech and R&D.

“The federal government wants to see new jobs created in Australia as the nation transitions to a cleaner energy future. The AIIA believes that with the right policy settings and government support, innovative Australian ICT solutions that help reduce pollution and waste can be built here and exported overseas,” Hayward said.

“Australia can be a showcase to the rest of the world on how ICT can be used to reach pollution reduction targets,” he said.

Campbell called on the government to work with the ICT industry to explore ways to help Australia reduce carbon emissions, including:

• sponsoring research on the carbon reductions made possible by ICT solutions
• considering incentives for Australian companies to upgrade or invest in emissions management software (EMS)
• expanding the scope of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to include ICT projects and to increase the size of the fund it administers to take into consideration ICT solutions
• taking note of the announcement by Multimedia Victoria of the Digital Futures Fund to spur investment in ICT solutions