Greening of ICT
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The VA in a nutshell
The ICT sector plays an increasingly important role in climate change issues, particularly in improving energy efficiency. This is also recognised by the growing emphasis that the Commission is placing on 'greening' ICT. Furthermore, our industry plays a central role as a 'communication vehicle' - informing, educating and enabling people to act to help address this global issue that requires individual, as well as collective, action to make a difference.
DIF members include companies that are at the forefront of green initiatives that improve the environmental performance of their digital products and services, and actively collaborating with the European institutions in this process.
DIF says
DIF members constantly work to improve the environmental performance of their operations and products and to engage their customers in the climate change agenda. They are particularly engaged in the implementation of EU energy efficiency policy through the Eco-Design of Energy Using Products (EUP) Directive. DIF members have been instrumental in developing an Industry Voluntary Agreement for Complex Set Top Boxes (i.e. boxes with conditional access) with the support of the European Commission as a proposed alternative to formal regulation in this area.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND POLICY MEASURES
Related EU documents and links
- Communication on mobilising Information and Communication Technologies to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy
- Communication on the promotion of the use of ICT to improve energy efficiency of the economy
- Directive 2005/32/EC on the Eco-design of Energy-using Products (EuP)
- Energy Efficiency Action Plan
The European Commission stresses the role that the ICT sector can play in the EU effort to combat climate change. It published a new Communication on mobilising Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy in March 2009. This followed the first Commission Communication on the promotion of the use of ICT to improve energy efficiency of the economy in May 2008.
In addition the Eco-Design of EuP Directive aims at establishing a framework for the setting of Community eco-design requirements for EuP with the objective of ensuring the free movement of those products within the Internal Market and, at the same time, promoting energy efficiency and environmental protection.
The Commission looks on an ongoing basis at priority EuP groups to be considered for the adoption of implementing measures that include many of the digital TVs products such as Set Top Boxes (STBs), televisions, external power supplies and battery chargers, network standby losses, and standby and off-mode losses of EuP.