BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsmeddelelsen, engelsk utgave)

In December 2008, the European Union reiterated its commitment [1] to meeting its energy savings and carbon emissions targets by 2020 and stressed the urgency to step up efforts towards improving energy efficiency [2]. Energy efficiency is at the heart of the Union’s efforts to tackle the problems of energy security and climate change [3]. With the recent financial crisis and downturn in the European economy, the case for energy and resource efficiency gains has become even stronger.

Reorienting technological innovation towards the challenges of energy-efficient and lowcarbon growth will help Europe emerge from the economic crisis on a more sustainable footing. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are known for their broader, economy-wide capacity for energy saving and for their potential to effect rapid and profound change across every facet of society, government and industry.

What is now needed is a policy framework that embeds ICTs squarely in the efforts to confront the crises we face today. Europe has an opportunity to take a leading position in delivering such a framework and the challenge is to seize it. A number of international organisations including the OECD [4] are also looking at ICTs in anticipation of the United Nations Climate Change Conference which will determine the follow-up to the Kyoto protocol.