Organizer 1: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Ghana Youth IGF
    Organizer 2: Ihita Gangavarapu, Youth IGF India
    Organizer 3: Gabriel Karsan, INTERNET SOCIETY YOUTH@IGF
    Organizer 4: Nancy Njoki Wachira, INTERNET SOCIETY YOUTH@IGF

    Speaker 1: Lisa nyamadzawo, Civil Society, African Group
    Speaker 2: Maxwell Beganim, Civil Society, African Group
    Speaker 3: Michael J. Oghia, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
    Speaker 4: Chineyenwa Okoro Onu, Private Sector, African Group

    Moderator

    Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Technical Community, African Group

    Online Moderator

    Gabriel Karsan, Civil Society, African Group

    Rapporteur

    Nancy Njoki Wachira, Technical Community, African Group

    Format

    Birds of a Feather - Auditorium - 60 Min

    Policy Question(s)


    1. How can eco-friendly design, policy reform, and sustainable internet usage be improved in the wake of emerging technologies?
    2. What strategies exist to implement climate-safe e-waste recycling initiatives in countries?
    3. Can e-waste management initiatives enhance connectivity plans in Digital Inclusion Strategies?
    4. The E-waste economy fueled by consumerism 3.0, how do we create end-user accountability eco-friendly policies and enforce green technologies and energy transitions?

    Connection with previous Messages: Our session advances the below IGF message under the issue area of Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change with a focus on best practices in technological deployment and Digital Inclusion Strategies. “ Encourage circular economy and tackle e-waste: Whenever a digital device is bought,
    significant environmental damage has already occurred. It is thus crucial to strive toward circular business models, keeping the devices and resources in use as long as possible. “
    From the above message, there is the need to enhance device refurbishment, redistribution, and repurposing as an approach to connecting people who are not connected due to device barriers. In addition, further studies can focus on building a conceptual framework for e-waste recycling and digital sustainability for cities. Connecting the unconnected communities is inherently a matter of sustainability.

    SDGs

    11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
    12. Responsible Production and Consumption
    13. Climate Action


    Targets: Advancing digitalization has become a focal point of many discussions and is a driver for some of today's most pressing societal issues. Expansion of connectivity around the globe is inherently a matter of sustainability. In line with Goals 11, 12 and 13, our session emphasizes how digitalization gives people access to a vast network of untapped big data, which has the potential to help society and the environment.
    The proper use of digital technologies can assist in lowering costs while also increasing the flexibility and long-term viability of production processes and related developments. However, these beneficial outcomes are far from assured, and the method in which digital technologies facilitate the transition to sustainable manufacturing systems has yet to be thoroughly investigated, necessitating further dialogue and research in this area.

    Description:

    Digitalization has increased the consumption of natural resources and this trend is growing steadily. Though Digitalization rides on giant networks, powered by data centers and technologies distributed around the world, its raw materials comprise a variety of metals, plastics, and chemicals. Some of the more common metals include copper, lithium, tin, silver, gold, nickel, and aluminum which are often sourced from natural sources.
    There has been a growing concern about sourcing methods and the subsequent recycling of electronic devices which contributes to digital unsustainability. Not much research has been carried out on the particular areas of social-digital inclusion and environmental protection as two important pillars of sustainability. There has rather been increasing growth in the economic development pillar. This session explores the best practices to extend connectivity and dive into the technology-environment nexus with the goal to find alternative innovation approaches that even less resource-intensive nations can adapt to achieve less costly and more sustainable technologies.
    The more we dive into new realms of digital design of technologies the more it demands resources in its balance of power consumption and production, Semiconductor mining for chips in the era of IOT devices requires massive amounts of energy to power the infrastructure from its initial design to the final energy dependency usage with the end user, Its a vicious cycle embedded in the human production system and unsustainable when its equivalence to waste production is exponential, We need better eco friendly technology production and consumption, Our session takes place at a critical juncture of the climate agenda it is a personal, communal, national and global obligations to reform institutions, policy, production and consumption to innovate with eco friendly goals. The multilateral cooperation that the multistakeholder approach of the IGF has can push this message to the needed authorities to strategize how the internet can be used to save the climate with green connectivity meaningful to the planet. E Waste is a growing threat to a more technological maturing humanity in a connectivity driven industrial revival , we need to reshape our relationship to technologies that will aid achieving a sustainable healed planet our session is among the places that dialogue, accountability reforms and call to actions as internet stakeholders begin to form the rebirth of ecofriendly digital innovations.

    Expected Outcomes

    The session aims at developing a best practice report on e-waste management consistent with diverse research and the views of panel members. This will cover the adoption of digital inclusion strategies pursued alongside sustainability and recycling, rather than the prevalent sourcing of new devices to accelerate accessibility, for connecting historically underserved communities. The outcome will open a new avenue of study focused on the growing impact and complexity of the development and use of technologies on the environment. This provides the context required for tackling structural barriers to connectivity.

    Hybrid Format: In our quest to have a great experience and equal participation onsite and offline, we will strive to orient our audience at the beginning of the session of the format and resources for collaboration that we will put in place.

    Online Participation



    Usage of IGF Official Tool.