Think about how you start the day. And how you end it... and everything that happens in between. Chances are your cellphone is a constant feature. Whether it's beeping you awake in the morning, or sending a bedtime SMS, the mobile has become our ever-present companion - the 21st century device of choice for everything from socialising to banking.
This is what makes it one of the most powerful tools for reducing our collective carbon footprint, changing consumer behaviour and generally making life more sustainable.
The telecoms industry has become an economic goliath, providing services to four billion people globally and impacting almost every market sector from aviation to agriculture. Because so many of its services have the potential to enable greater efficiency, it has to take up its role as a major player in the emissions reduction and greener living space.
This is not only an exercise in corporate responsibility; mobile is emerging as a forerunner in the telecoms arena, both in terms of growth and influence, and leveraging mobile services in creating more efficient systems presents massive business opportunities. Even small things, such as providing chargers that turn off when batteries are full, can reduce the energy consumption of billions of people.
Take Africa, for example - it's one of the regions to be hardest hit by climate change, and also has the highest mobile growth rate in the world, according to recent ITU stats. Here is a huge opening for mobile-based applications to help better manage precious resources and provide vital energy information.
Some may argue the telcos haven't been doing too badly - we've seen the beginnings of socio-environmental services in applications and device features, as well as in industry partnerships driving development initiatives.
The cellphone is one of the most powerful tools for reducing our collective carbon footprint.
Lezette Engelbrecht, copy editor and journalist, ITWeb
Nokia rolled out its green mobile solutions earlier this year, complete with an offsetting tool for travelling emissions and a Green Explorer Web widget to access eco-friendly tips and destinations. Samsung and LG have also introduced solar-powered handsets and device take-back programmes.
The problem is these offerings only scratch the surface of the kind of integrated, mindset-changing industry overhaul needed. Manufacturers and operators have to move away from gimmicky, nice-to-haves, to a core change in corporate identity and market functioning. Current efforts are happening too slowly and are too short-sighted - sustainability needs to be the goal, not an added extra.
Give and take?
A few months ago, the GSM Association (GSMA) unveiled the Green Manifesto, in which the mobile industry calls for government support on several fronts, so telcos can begin seriously tackling emissions reduction. They include provisos such as industry-wide standards for measuring performance, and tax incentives for greener handsets.
The manifesto reads: “It is the GSMA's view that the mobile industry will be able to support market development of the opportunities highlighted in this report, as long as the policy approaches highlighted in this report are broadly developed.”
Fair enough, but let's look a little closer at the paybacks of these “altruistic” activities. If telcos invest in more efficient infrastructure, sustainable handsets, less packaging, and better management of network traffic, sure it's good for the environment, but it's also good for the bottom line. It may require initial outlay, but it also brings energy and cost savings for years to come, not to mention potential payback from carbon credits.
Green credentials are also going to become an area of serious competitive advantage as consumers become increasingly savvy and demand environmental accountability from the companies they support. So enough of this “if, when, but” attitude - going green makes business sense.
If telcos are going to wait for governments to take the lead, especially in this country, it will only result in a painfully drawn-out, disjointed series of stops and starts, as progress is held up by pending legislation and delayed spectrum roll-out. Innovation must lead the way and policy will follow.
Great enabler
The GMSA reveals the mobile industry could save 2.2% of global CO2 emissions in 2020 - a figure not to be sneezed at. A key aspect is the wide range of services mobile can deliver, from teleconferencing and travel solutions for businesses, to consumer awareness and energy management.
The TomTom-Vodafone traffic solution, for example, uses cellphone positions to calculate traffic flow and warn drivers of backlogs so they can take alternative routes. How many times would this simple heads-up have saved you (and thousands of other motorists) a good hour or two on the congested N1, spewing CO2 and negativity into the air, while work piles up at the office?
Or imagine receiving an SMS that electricity demand is particularly high in your area, and a request to switch off non-essentials like the pool pump for a few hours to ease the load (which you could do via an app on your phone). Then, when you get home, instead of finding the whole block plunged into darkness for the rest of the evening, you can switch appliances back on and proceed as normal. It's about getting relevant, real-time information when you need it, so you can make decisions that impact your quality of life, the efficiency of wider systems, and the state of the environment.
Mobile technologies are capable of enabling this holistic approach to sustainable living, right now, but depending on governments to implement policies to drive it forward will stifle any progress, and result in a market-paralysing push-and-pull process. The mobile industry will have to take up the mantle and run with it.
As the old comic book adage goes: With great power, comes great responsibility, and telcos are a pretty powerful lot indeed.
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