TELECOMMUNICATIONS/ENVIRONMENT : ETNO, WWF TEAM UP TO BATTLE CLIMATE CHANGE.

The historic telecommunications network operators want to have their say in the climate change debate. Their European association, ETNO, has found an ideal partner in the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with which it has teamed up 'to promote the positive impact of the information and communication technologies [ICT] on the environment'. The two groups presented, on 29 January, a joint road map' meant to point the way to reducing by 50 million tonnes a year the EU's CO2 emissions by 2010 (1). A subsequent stage would be to set more ambitious targets for 2020.

According to the document, if 20% of business travel in Germany were replaced by videoconferences, CO2 emissions could be cut by 5.2 million tonnes. Or if 100 million Europeans opted for teleworking, the EU could save 2.87 million tonnes of CO2. ETNO and WWF also extol the advantages of audio-conferences, online payment of phone bills, virtual answering machines and online tax...