Green communications for carbon emission reductions : architectures and standards

As climate change has emerged as a key global challenge over the last decade, the international community is now increasingly unified in a call to action. It is a challenge that not only jeopardizes the sustainability of our planet; it poses significant, long-term threats to the global economy. According to former UK Government and World Bank Chief Economist Lord Stern [1]: “If no action is taken, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year. Not acting now would incur a wider range of risks and impacts and the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of global GDP or more. The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry is estimated to contribute 2% to 3% of global Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions, a share that is quickly rising.