Session
Round Table - U-shape - 90 Min
Our session, which will constitute the first meeting of the DCE, will primarily focus on following up from last year's results of the Policy Network on the Environment (PNE). The session itself will be the culmination of the work we're doing to bring together different groups together who are working on this topic within the IGF. The goal of this session is to officially kick-off our work, while creating a multi-stakeholder hub to bring together stakeholders interested in the topic and address cross-cutting issues in the context of environment, sustainability, and Internet governance (i.e., environmental data).
Our session will more closely resemble an open forum where we will encourage both in-person and remote participants to share openly. This will include facilitating interaction between the online and in-situ moderators.
The aim is to introduce the DCE to the IGF community, provide background on its history (PNE), and perspective for the way forward (Vision Document & Work Plan). We will show other DCs the benefits they can derive from working with the DCE on environmental and sustainability issues as well as highlighting ways that the environmental community can benefit from being involved in the DCE.
Michael J. Oghia, Dynamic Coalition on the Environment/ICT Sustainability Advocate, Civil Society, Eastern Europe
Rainer M. Krug, Dynamic Coalition on the Environment/University of Zürich, Academia, WEOG
Minda Moreira, Internet Rights and Principles Coalition, Civil Society, WEOG
AGENDA
11:15 - 11:20 – Welcome & Introduction
11:20 - 11:30 – Past & History of the DCE
- Flurina Waspi, PNE lead (remote)
11:30 - 11:40 – Our Vision for the DCE
- Rainer Krug, DCE Co-Chair (remote)
11:40 - 12:05 – Community Member Presentations
- Reina Otsuka, UNDP (on-site)
- YZ Yau, CITAD & APC, Nigeria (on-site)
- Dino Cataldo Dell’accio, UNJSPF (on-site)
- Jennifer Chung, EcoInternet Index (on-site)
12:05 - 12:25 – The DCE from the Perspective of Other DCs
- Minda Moreira (or other rep), IRPC (remote)
- Rajendra Pratap Gupta, DC-Jobs (on-site)
- Mike Jensen, DC3 (remote)
12:25 - 12:40 – Where Does the DCE Go From Here?
- Open discussion lead by Jennifer Chung and Rainer Krug
12:40 - 12:45 – Wrap-up & conclusion
Jennifer Chung
Elif Kiesow
Ellen Kusuma
3. Good Health and Well-Being
4. Quality Education
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Production and Consumption
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Targets: As the PNE report demonstrated, there are myriad links between environmental sustainability and Internet governance. We want to build on that work and expand upon it, bring in other relevant stakeholders, and ensure that the work we've done to connect the IGF to the wider sustainable development agenda can continue.
Report
A knowledge gap still exists between Internet governance stakeholders and the environmental sector, which has to be bridged further through a multi-stakeholder approach. The DCE works in tackling such cross-cutting issues across communities.
Best practices from the session have shown various landscapes, dimensions, and perspectives to dissect the aforementioned knowledge gap, whether it's with the bottom-up or top-down approach. The DCE is still growing, and although it faces challenges such as lack of resources and no concrete follow-ups yet, the DCE will choose the main topic to work on in the future. Other dynamic coalitions are keen to follow-up on the DCE's work.
PNE Updates
The session continues from the previous discussions that has resulted in the publication of Policy Network on Environment (PNE), which provided guidelines for high level diplomacy advocacy. It encompassed tackling the cross-cutting issues with multi stakeholders and inclusive approach. It also acknowledges the gap in knowledge that has to be bridged between two big sectors of the dynamic coalition: the internet governance or tech sector and the environmental sector.
Study Cases
Best practices from the communities are discussed and shown various landscapes, dimensions, and perspectives. These included:
- UN Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) shared about their Digital Identity greener and more sustainable solution using the blockchain and biometrics technology to manage the administrative process of 84.000 people in 193 countries.
- The work of CITAD & APC in Nigeria which has pushed for e-waste management through reuse-repair mechanism and ensured the ecosystem supported the practice holistically, for example guaranteeing the spare part for repairment is available and affordable.
- UNDP shared the CODES' publication of the Action Plan for a Sustainable Planet in the Digital Age which addressed three important systemic shifts of aligning digitalization, mitigating the negative impact, and accelerating digital innovations with sustainable actions.
- The EcoInternet research project by DotAsia has looked into the carbon footprint emission of internet use especially during the pandemic.
What's Next?
Other Dynamic Coalitions agreed that more discussions are needed in addressing the environmental impact of digital technology. Whether through a bottom up or top down approach it has to be inclusive of multi stakeholders, especially the ones who are the most impacted.