Gore: Technology Should Address Climate Change

February 5, 2007: Former US Vice President Al Gore has pointed the finger at the IT sector to do something about climate change, and Australian IT services company Renewtek says it is already answering the call.

Speaking to an audience of Silicon Valley business and community leaders, Al Gore said green IT initiatives will soon present many opportunities and could provide the perfect chance for the IT sector to take a leading role in the Earth’s sustainability. “It’s abundantly obvious that clean tech, green tech ventures will be a new pathway that attracts a lot more energy and time and investment,” he said. “This is an exciting time for Silicon Valley.”

Gore’s speech titled ‘Thinking Green: An Economic Strategy for the 21st Century,” was presented to an audience of approximately 1,500 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California. His speech was made as the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its 4th Assessment Report and dire warning on the state of global warming.

“The world faces an unprecedented challenge and Silicon Valley can make an unprecedented contribution to successfully meeting that challenge,” Gore said. “Technology is the key to giving us enough leverage to change the pattern that is now causing the climate crisis.”

For Australian based technology start-up Renewtek, their contribution to addressing climate change has been formalised through their Greenhouse Friendly certification achievement. Renewtek was recently celebrated by the Department of Environment and heritage for being the first IT company to go carbon neutral under the Federal Government’s Greenhouse Friendly program.

As the first Australian technology provider to achieve the certification, Renewtek has made the commitment to monitor and report on its emissions, acquire carbon abatement credits and take action to become more energy efficient.

Fergus Porter, CEO for Renewtek says so far, the computer industry has done little in addressing greenhouse emissions. “We felt we should take the lead in doing something about it,” he said. “More and more of our customers and staff are taking a keen interest in the environment and hence are requiring us to have a policy on sustainability and the environment.”

According to Gore, such interest from the IT sector could have significant benefits for the Earth’s sustainability. “You can chart a course and change the future of civilisation," he told his audience.

Al Gore’s credentials in the technology world are well established. He’s a board member for Apple (which has ironically been slammed by Greenpeace for not being ‘green’ enough) and an advisor to Google.

When discussing the emergency of climate change, Gore said, “we are transforming the composition of the earth's atmosphere in a dramatic way in a very short period of time.”

“The degree of certainty, which was already very high, is now as close to certain as scientists are ever willing to say something is certain,” he said. That certainty, as indicated by the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change, came down to a 90 percent probability that humans are to blame for climate change. While the IT might not be the worst culprit, it’s still a major contributor and an industry that can make a difference.

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