1. Mobile applications for Environmental Sustainability Tony Vetter, Project Officer, Knowledge Communications October 14, 2008

2. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) founded in 1990 in response to the Brundtland Commission report “Our Common Future” non-profit, non-governmental research institute demonstrating how human ingenuity can sustainably improve the development of our global environment, economy and society 150 people located in more than 30 countries, conducting research and providing expert knowledge and analysis

3. Sustainable Development and ICT “for sustainable development to be effective and efficient, it must harness the institutions and tools of the information society”

4. Source: ETNO & WWF, 2007, “Saving the Climate @ the Speed of Light” ICT Effects

5. Implementation Local Global Observation Global Environmental Observation GIS systems Atmospheric Vegetation / Ground Water Surface / Water Temperature GHG Tracking Consumption metering Atmospheric measurements Reporting Systems Mash-ups / SOA / Web 2.0 Global Action / Management Plans Early Warning Systems Famine / Drought Natural Disasters Environmental Mitigation Carbon-trading Conservation Planning International Agreements Ratification Implementation Local Environmental Observation Capacity building Awareness of threats Identifying impact Data Entry Web 2.0 / Wiki data logs Appropriate Technology SMS / Mobile Phone usage Cultural adaptation Local Action / Management Plans Resource Management Access / Allocation Enforcement Support and Funding Professional Development Response Planning Early warning response Conflict avoidance DIRECT EFFECTS

6. Indirect and Systemic Effects Capacity to self-organize is a vital tool for people to challenge unsustainable practices –to demand their rightful place in developing alternatives for sustainability –to change social and economic structures which negatively affect their communities ICT has dramatically lowered the transaction costs associated with social organization

7. What is “Networked Governance”? IISD uses the term “networked governance” to refer to emerging patterns of ICT-enabled interaction that are transforming –Economic, social and government structures (the information economy and society, wikinomics, etc.) –Communication among individuals, groups and communities (social networking, web 2.0, etc.) –Interactions between natural and artificial environments (the Internet of Things, ubiquitous networks, etc.) These are examples of the “indirect” and “systemic” effects of ICTs 7

8. Mobiles – “technically feasible to connect the world” http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/

9. Mobile applications for Environmental Sustainability Text Messaging Wildlife tracking Participatory Urbanism

10. Text Messaging Environmental activism –Greenpeace Argentina’s Forest Law campaign Product information for consumers –FishMS, Climate Counts, MomsRising Environmental alerts for citizens –airTEXT, Ergo Tracking environmental footprint –mobGAS

11. Wildlife tracking Save the Elephants - Pioneering Animal Tracking Project –Safaricom and Vodafone Foundations Sumatra’s Kerinci-Seblat National Park –Fauna and Flora International’s Tiger Protection Units

12. Save the Elephants - Pioneering Animal Tracking Project Uses GSM to pinpoint animals –download an almost continuous stream of data –longer battery life than before reduction in the risk of human/wildlife conflict detected unusual movements in the elephant population during severe drought

13. Fauna and Flora International’s Tiger Protection Units mobile phone technology has contributed directly to the success on several occasions, and led to the arrest of poachers, brokers and corrupt politicians Camera phones have enabled compiling of rogues’ gallery of dealers, brokers and poachers without their knowledge.

14. Participatory Urbanism Cambridge Mobile Urban Sensing (CamMobSens) SensorPlanet - Nokia Research Center Intel Research and UC Berkeley - Urban Atmospheres UCLA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) - Urban Sensing

15. Widespread use still impeded by a number of issues: Effective information and knowledge management systems for mobiles Effective outreach strategies How to ensure privacy while still transmitting useful information Ensuring data accuracy Preventing sensor tampering and system misuse

16. Presenters Hernán Pablo Nadal, Greenpeace Argentina –Greenpeace Argentina’s Forest Law campaign Barry Coetzee, FishMS –FishMS and influencing consumer choice Dr Nithya Ramanathan, UCLA's Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) –Urban Sensing Applications

17. THANK YOU Tony Vetter - Project Manager, Knowledge Communications Program E-mail: tvetter@iisd.ca