Geneva Environment Network

Data, digital technology and the environment

Geneva is one of the main global hubs where digital policies are debated, evaluated, and adopted. As such, digital cooperation is one of the region’s key areas for international environmental governance activities and for reinforcing synergies among stakeholders.

Although advancing technology has always been coupled with significant impacts on the environment, recent advances in technology offer ground-breaking opportunities to monitor and protect the environment, as well as overall planetary health. By harnessing them appropriately, the digital revolution can be steered to act on the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and to advance global sustainability, environmental stewardship, and human well-being, towards achieving the right to a healthy environment for all.

GEN supports International Geneva activities and hosts meetings, roundtables, briefings, and workshops to

• promote the production of and access to transparent and high-quality data, which are crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda and the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
• discuss digital technology as a carbon producer and its widespread impact on global sustainability.
• discuss the contribution of digital technologies, including Earth observation, data collection and monitoring, sustainable consumption and production patterns, as well as sound environmental management.
• emphasise the importance of good governance in the digital arena and the need for cooperation among governments, institutions, and other data producers and users for better sustainability outcomes.

The organisations in the region that contribute to the environmental dimension of digital cooperation listed and partnering with GEN, include the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP), Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Internet Governance Forum (IGF), Global Resource Information Database (UNEP/GRID-Geneva), and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).