[Ict4devwg] UNEP and Microsoft Announce Partnership to Help Address Environmental Issues by Leveraging Technology

[Vern Weitzel]

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=562&ArticleID=6085&l=en

UNEP and Microsoft Announce Partnership to Help Address Environmental Issues by 
Leveraging Technology

Agreement focuses on facilitating international collaboration and knowledge sharing.

NAIROBI (Kenya), 17 February 2009 -Today the United Nations Environment 
Programme (UNEP) and Microsoft Corp signed a memorandum of understanding to work 
together on leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) solutions 
to help address today's complex environmental challenges. The signing took place 
during UNEP's 25th session of the Governing Council and Global Ministerial 
Environment Forum on the theme "Globalization and the Environment", held at UNEP 
headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and attended by more than 100 environment ministers.
The partnership focuses on helping environmental stakeholders -including UNEP 
and other international organisations, governments, nongovernmental 
organisations and researchers - work more effectively by making use of new 
technologies. UNEP and Microsoft are cooperating to support UNEP's mandate of 
promoting environmental understanding and increasing public knowledge about 
environmental factors and the problems facing future generations. Areas of 
cooperation include the following:

Providing access to research and scientific information on the environment
Building integrated knowledge platforms to enable better cooperation between 
different actors
Supporting the development of applications for environmental sustainability 
management
"We view our partnership with Microsoft as key to delivering solutions on a 
scalable level to a community of more than 190 nations and the UN system as a 
whole," said Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director. "UNEP's ability to mobilise 
information technology and the platforms for sharing environmental information 
is a precondition for working together as an international community to tackle 
environmental issues."
"Without equitable access to information and the capacity for developing 
countries to engage on an equal level in negotiating key agreements like the 
climate change treaty or the biodiversity convention, we will not make much 
progress," he said.
Access to Research and Scientific Information
UNEP and Microsoft have been collaborating since 2006 on Research4Life, a 
public-private partnership that includes the Online Access to Research in the 
Environment (OARE) consortium. Research4Life provides access to the latest 
scientific research through an online library of more than 7,500 peer-reviewed 
scientific journals, books and databases, made available by 130 publishers at 
low or no cost to developing countries. OARE focuses on environmental 
information, providing scientists, practitioners and policy-makers in 
participating countries with the information they need to implement targeted 
programmes and make environmentally sound decisions.
The platform is already having an important impact on communities, such as in 
Kenya's Rift Valley, where researchers used OARE resources to address pollution 
of the Njoro River watershed through a series of programmes, resulting in a 
reduction of waterborne diseases among the local population and cleaner use of 
the river.
Also, Microsoft Research's Computational Science Lab in Cambridge, UK, is 
partnering with the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) to advance 
environmental and ecosystem science, prioritising areas of urgent concern in 
environmental policy, at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity, human 
activity and sustainability.
WCMC is the world's authoritative institution for monitoring biodiversity and 
ecosystems for conservation purposes and collecting data globally on important 
biodiversity indicators. Microsoft Research's Computational Science Lab is one 
of the world's leading research laboratories pioneering new computational 
approaches to tackle fundamental challenges in the science of complex natural 
systems.
Integrated Knowledge Platforms for Information Sharing and Collaboration
The public-private partnership is underscored by UNEP and Microsoft's shared 
recognition that addressing the impact of climate change is a serious challenge 
that requires a comprehensive and global response from all sectors of society.
"If the world is to address the challenges of climate and environmental 
sustainability at scale, there will need to be many more partnerships between 
companies, governments and nongovernmental organisations," said Rob Bernard, 
chief environmental strategist at Microsoft. "We are honoured to work with UNEP 
to help accelerate leveraging science and ICT to enable people around the globe 
to both manage and reduce their impact on the environment. By collaborating with 
UNEP, we will use technology to work more effectively towards meaningful 
environmental change."
UNEP and Microsoft are developing knowledge platforms for enhanced information 
sharing and collaboration between environmental groups and governments. For 
example, the UNEP Global View for the Environment platform will use the 
Microsoft Single View Platform and Microsoft Virtual Earth to visually represent 
key environment projects, statistics and polices and to track progress towards 
reaching the environmental objectives of the Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs). This online mapping service relies mainly on inputs from UNEP, the UN 
Development Programme (UNDP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature 
(IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other environment data sources, 
creating the leading One UN portal for access to international environment 
information.
Another project is the update of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), 
an online platform maintained by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 
WDPA allows the world's major oil and mining companies to access the information 
they need to avoid infringing on protected areas.
Microsoft is also participating in UNEP's Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) 
initiative to promote global "buy-in" to climate neutrality. CN Net provides a 
platform for countries, cities, major international corporations, UN agencies 
and nongovernmental organisations that have set the most ambitious greenhouse 
gas reduction targets in the world to present their strategies in climate 
neutrality, providing visibility and inspiration to others. The programme serves 
as a network for sharing information and experiences, making the best available 
knowledge on climate neutrality widely available to all.
Applications That Help Measure and Monitor Environmental Sustainability
A current challenge in measuring, monitoring and managing environmental 
sustainability is the lack of standardised methodologies and supporting systems 
within organisations to gather the data. Microsoft is addressing this through 
the development of specialised software.
In collaboration with the William J Clinton Foundation, Microsoft is delivering 
a free tool called Project 2°, an emissions tracker for cities to measure and 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The application enables city officials to 
calculate the carbon footprint of both municipal operations and their 
communities uniformly, and use this information to enhance planning and 
decision-making for meaningful climate action and savings. It also helps users 
reduce and manage their energy consumption.
The Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX helps 
businesses deal with one of their biggest challenges: reducing their impact on 
the environment. The application streamlines the collection of data on four of 
the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Environmental Performance Indicators related 
to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping businesses 
measure consumption, monitor the impact of changes and ultimately reduce their 
carbon footprint.
About UNEP
UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for 
the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to 
improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. 
UNEP is an advocate, educator, catalyst and facilitator, promoting the wise use 
of the planet's natural assets for sustainable development. With its 
headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, UNEP has a first-hand understanding of the 
environmental issues facing developing countries. (www.unep.org)
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, 
services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)
Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more 
than 16,000 people in over 64 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in 
more than 139 countries and territories.

This material is for informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp disclaims all 
warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material for other purposes. 
Microsoft Corp shall not, at any time, be liable for any special, direct, 
indirect or consequential damages, whether in an action of contract, negligence 
or other action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of 
the material. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting any kind of 
warranty.

PR Contacts
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of Media
Phone: +254 (0) 733 632755; Mobile: +41 79 596 57 37
E-mail: nick.nuttall at unep.org

Mohamed Atani, OARE Technical Officer, UNEP
Phone: +254 (0)736106580
E-mail: mohamed.atani at unep.org

John Mandeville, Microsoft EMEA Press Centre
Phone: +44 (0) 207 067 0514
E-mail: JMandeville at webershandwick.com

Microsoft EMEA Response Centre
E-mail: emearesponse at webershandwick.com

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-- 
Vern Weitzel (Mr.) BSc, BA, MA, M Env Man & Dev <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
<vern.weitzel at gmail.com> <vern at ngocentre.org.vn> <vernweitzel at mac.com>

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