IEEE continues to boost its visibility as a trusted voice on mitigating the results of climate change. Final yr Saifur Rahman, the 2023 IEEE president, represented the group in a number of classes on the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29). Representatives from greater than 200 international locations attended the November occasion, held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Rahman, an influence knowledgeable, is a professor {of electrical} and computer engineering at Virginia Tech. In Baku he mentioned IEEE’s efforts together with helping to develop technologies that help mitigate climate change, educating sustainable applied sciences to younger engineers in developing countries, and publishing unbiased info.
Then in December, IEEE and the International Telecommunication Union held a symposium on reaching local weather resilience. Rahman was the occasion’s common chair. Along with high-level representatives from U.N. businesses, there have been representatives from different IEEE groups together with the Power & Energy Society, the Standards Association, Young Professionals, and the group’s Europe office.
The event was held at ITU’s headquarters in Geneva on 12 and 13 December. Members included engineers, business specialists, policymakers, researchers, and requirements growth organizations. Discussions had been held round 4 key areas: analysis, expertise, and requirements; coverage, regulation and implementation; schooling and abilities growth; and finance, commerce, and growth.
IEEE’s local weather motion actions at COP29
IEEE can serve humanity by selling clean-tech options for local weather sustainability, Rahman declared in his COP29 presentation.
“Pragmatic and accessible technical options are urgently wanted to deal with local weather change,” he stated. “As engineers and technologists, we’re uniquely positioned to supply technical options and provide a impartial house for dialogue and motion.”
He highlighted a number of IEEE assets together with the Climate Change web site, which homes all of the group’s assets. The IEEE Xplore Digital Library’s climate change collection incorporates publications, convention proceedings, technical standards, and different analysis supplies. The most recent analysis and upcoming conferences are within the IEEE Technology Center for Climate.
Rahman identified IEEE Standards Association Industry Connections packages on green hydrogen, marine carbon dioxide removal, and low-carbon building electrical technology.
He reiterated six feasible solutions for decarbonization in industrialized and rising economies that he first promoted at COP27 in 2022 to facilitate the worldwide shift towards renewable energy. The options contain lowering electrical energy utilization; making coal vegetation extra environment friendly; utilizing hydrogen, carbon capture, and storage applied sciences; selling using renewables; putting in new varieties of nuclear reactors; and inspiring cross-border energy transfers.
Rahman attended a number of COP29 aspect occasions:
The In the direction of a Abilities Pledge for Tripling Renewables session lined methods to extend electrical energy capability by 2030. A talented workforce is required to attain the objective, Rahman identified, so it should require an funding in schooling and coaching. He stated he believes international locations should look exterior their borders to seek out skilled technologists to assist design, set up, and preserve renewable power initiatives. IEEE will help allow information switch and workforce growth, he famous.
The Bridging Finance and Expertise occasion targeted on funding local weather motion. Cash alone received’t clear up the problem, nonetheless, Rahman stated, with no viable technical plan. He stated IEEE’s function is to assist facilitate investments in carbon-reduction applied sciences by selling energy-efficient methods and renewable power initiatives.
“Pragmatic and accessible technical options are urgently wanted to deal with local weather change. As engineers and technologists, we’re uniquely positioned to supply technical options and provide a impartial house for dialogue and motion.” —2023 IEEE President Saifur Rahman
Within the Creating Inexperienced Abilities for Young Professionals session, he spoke about the necessity to practice younger engineers in creating international locations on renewable power and sustainable applied sciences. He pointed to the IEEE Young Professionals Climate and Sustainability Task Force, launched in 2023 to encourage the following technology to steer initiatives and develop potential options. An article printed by The Institute discusses a number of of the duty power’s latest actions.
The Intergenerational Dialog for Shaping Future Climate Landscapes session lined managing long-term atmospheric carbon dioxide, constructing a worldwide local weather danger community, and aligning carbon pricing globally.
Rahman once more pointed to IEEE’s 30,000 younger professionals from 190 international locations. He inspired the viewers to make the most of them to assist unfold the phrase about how expertise will help tackle local weather change.
International Telecommunication Union Secretary-Common Doreen Bogdan-Martin and 2023 IEEE President Saifur Rahman had been panelists at a U.N. symposium discussing applied sciences that may assist mitigate local weather change. D. Woldu/ITU
“IEEE has a really sturdy local weather change program,” he stated. “We write papers, however we [also] wish to be sure that individuals on the bottom profit from our work. IEEE has sections in over 140 international locations. They embody engineers, IT professionals, and even businesspeople. I’m pleading with you to make use of us for the advantage of the local people.”
IEEE-ITU strategic alternatives
In Rahman’s opening remarks, he pressured a bottom-up strategy to expertise that helps top-down coverage frameworks, making certain that IEEE’s greater than 486,000 members—he calls its human applied sciences—can contribute to options.
James E. Matthews III, president of the IEEE Standards Association, pressured that technical requirements are the inspiration for scalable local weather options. He stated the agility of organizations corresponding to IEEE SA in creating tips for brand new applied sciences together with artificial intelligence and inexperienced tech options has resulted of their speedy adoption.
In discussing how the function of intellectual property, particularly patents, will help obtain the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, IEEE Fellow Claudio Canizares referred to as for a shift from remoted and proprietary work to extra collaborative options. {The electrical} and computer engineering professor on the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada, defined how IEEE might play a vital function.
One other subject of debate was the necessity to educate and practice individuals on implementing climate-resistant applied sciences. Sneha Satish Hegde, an IEEE member, highlighted how the IEEE Young Professionals Local weather and Sustainability Job Pressure offers mentorship and coaching. Hegde, a scientific researcher, is the duty power’s partnership lead. The duty power held a panel session throughout final yr’s Local weather Week NYC, which ran from 22 to 29 September to coincide with the U.N. Summit of the Future. Local weather-change specialists from organizations and authorities businesses all over the world highlighted the intersection of technology, policy, and citizen engagement.
How IEEE can help
A summary of the IEEE-ITU symposium outlines methods IEEE can proceed to take a lead function in local weather resilience by increasing partnerships, standardizing options, strengthening the repository of information, selling round economies, advancing sustainable practices, and bridging the digital divide.
The abstract concludes that by discovering extra companions, creating and strengthening requirements, and fostering capacity-building, IEEE might catalyze systemic change, contributing to a extra resilient future.
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