Executive Summary of the ITU-T Study Group 5 Meeting
"EMF, Environment, Climate Action, Sustainable Digitalization, and Circular Economy"
(Wroclaw, 17-21 June 2024)
The fifth meeting of ITU-T Study Group 5 "EMF, environment, climate action, sustainable digitalization and circular economy" in the 2022–2024 study period, convened by
TSB Collective letter 7, took place in Wroclaw, Poland, from 17 to 21 June 2024.
The ITU-T SG5 meeting was chaired by Mr Dominique Würges (France), Chair of ITU-T Study Group 5, and supported by the following Vice-Chairs: Pedro Brisson (Argentina), Jean Manuel Canet (France), Beniamino Gorini (Nokia Corporation, Finland), Byung Chan Kim (Korea, Rep. of), Shuguang Qi (China), and Nevine Tewfik (Egypt).
Remote participation was provided for all sessions.
Statistics
-
Participants: 192 (TD1529-R1)
-
Contributions: 147 (148 were received but 1 was withdrawn due to duplication)
-
TDs (not counting the revisions): 435
-
Incoming/ Outgoing Liaison Statements: 62 incoming liaison statements and 16 outgoing liaison statements
TD1335-R5. See also
LS database.
Main discussions and results
At its meeting held in Wroclaw from 17 to 21 June 2024, ITU-T Study Group 5 achieved the following outcomes:
-
Consented Recommendations: 21 (of which nine are revised Recommendations)
-
Recommendations Approved: none at this meeting;
-
Other texts agreed: 3 at this meeting;
-
New work items: 30 at this meeting.
- Finalization of the SG5 ToR Questions, title, and mandate.
Major accomplishments
Approval of the report of the last SG5 meeting
-
The report of the ITU-T SG5 meeting held from 13 to 22 November 2023, was approved as contained in
Report 6.
Recommendations Consented by SG5 for Last Call (AAP - Recommendation A.8)
Revised Recommendations
ITU-T Rec. Number |
Title |
Question |
TD |
|---|
K.81
|
High-power electromagnetic immunity guide for telecommunication systems
|
Q1/5 |
TD1656
|
K.87 | Guide for the application of electromagnetic security requirements – Overview
|
Q1/5 |
TD1657 |
K.12 | Characteristics of gas discharge tubes for the protection of telecommunications installations
|
Q2/5
|
TD1614
|
K.52
| Guidance on complying with limits for human exposure to electromagnetic fields
|
Q3/5 |
TD1665
|
K.83
| Monitoring of electromagnetic field levels
| Q3/5
|
TD1686-R1
|
K.100
| Measurement of radio frequency electromagnetic fields to determine compliance with human exposure limits when a base station is put into operation |
Q3/5 |
TD1641-R3 |
K.42
| General Principle for the definition of emission and immunity requirements for Telecommunications/ICTs Equipment |
Q4/5
|
TD1601
|
L.1310
| Energy efficiency metrics and measurement methods for telecommunication equipment
|
Q6/5 | |
L.1410
| Methodology for environmental life cycle assessments of information and communication technology goods, networks and services
|
Q9/5 |
TD1597-R1
|
New Recommendations
ITU-T Rec. Number |
Work item or provisional name |
Title |
Question |
TD |
|---|
K.155
|
K.SPDM
|
Performance Requirements and Test Methods for Surge Protective Modules Used in AC power port of Telecommunication Equipment |
Q1/5
|
TD-1579-R2
|
K.156
| K.peak
| Time and spatial averaging in RF-EMF exposure assessment
| Q3/5
| |
K.157
|
K.emc_satellite
| Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test methods for satellite communication terminal equipment
| Q4/5 |
TD1591
|
L.1260
|
L.FEMS
|
Reference Model of a Factory Energy Management System
|
Q6/5
|
TD1583-R2
|
L.1327
|
L.Cooling_DC
| Guidelines on the selection of cooling technologies for data centres in multiple scenarios
| Q6/5
|
TD1588-R2
|
L.1017
| L.Env.PerSmartphone
| Environmental performance scoring of smartphones | Q7/5
|
TD1582-R2 |
L.1071
| L.D4PI | A model for digital product passport information on sustainability and circularity
|
Q7/5 |
TD1586-R2 |
L.1028
|
L.UPR10 | Indicator for global-warming-potential impact as a function of ICT-equipment operating-lifetime extension |
Q7/5
|
TD1595 |
L.1632
| L.IDENT | Identification method for building infrastructure equipment in a sustainable city | Q13/5
|
TD1615-R1
|
L.1472
|
L.database | Requirements for the creation of an ITU database on energy consumption and GHG emissions of the ICT sector
|
Q9/5 |
TD1635-R5 |
L.1384
| L.VMPS
| Implementation of a virtual micro power station at base station sites |
Q11/5 |
TD1619-R3 |
L.1490
| L. GHG management
| Framework and Functional Requirements of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management System using Digital Technology for Public Sector |
Q11/5
|
TD1621-R1
|
Agreed informative texts
Document |
Work item or provisional name |
Title |
Question |
TD |
|---|
K.Suppl.32
| K.Suppl.32 | Case studies of radio frequency - electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) assessment
| Q3/5 |
TD1652
|
L.Suppl.60 to ITU-T L.1410
| L.Suppl.Mobile_Phone_LCA
| Example of an LCA of a mobile phone fully compliant with Recommendation ITU-T L.1410
|
Q9/5
|
TD1596
|
L. Suppl.44
|
L. Suppl.44 | Guidelines on best practices and environment friendly policies for effective information and communication technology deployment methods
|
Q11/5
|
TD1649-R2 |
New work items
Work item |
Title |
Question |
TD |
|---|
K.12 (rev)
| Characteristics of gas discharge tubes for the protection of telecommunications installations
| Q2/5
|
TD1613 (A.1)
|
K.Suppl.25
| Long reach single twisted-pair Ethernet resistibility testing
| Q2/5
|
TD1683 (A.13)
|
K.91 (rev)
| Guidance for assessment, evaluation and monitoring of human exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields
| Q3/5
|
TD1610 (A.1)
|
K.100 (rev)
| Measurement of radio frequency electromagnetic fields to determine compliance with human exposure limits when a base station is put into operation
| Q3/5 |
TD1608 (A.1)
|
K.calibr
| Calibration for equipment for the EMF assessment
| Q3/5
|
TD1643 (A.1)
|
K.RIS_EMC
| Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and measurement methods for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface
| Q4/5
|
TD1599 (A.1)
|
K.42
| Preparation of emission and immunity requirements for telecommunication equipment – General principles
| Q4/5
|
TD1602 (A.1)
|
K.emc_satellite_ES
| Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test methods for Earth stations for satellite communications
| Q4/5 |
TD1604 (A.1)
|
L.DLEE
| Deep Learning Computing Energy Efficiency Evaluation Framework and Metrics
| Q6/5
|
TD1634-R3 (A.1)
|
L.S_AI
| Recommendation for the design of environmentally sustainable AI-based and XR-based Systems
|
Q6/5 |
TD1664-R2 (A.1)
|
L.DPP4C
| Consumer-oriented environmental information and reverse value chain information about ICT goods on digital product passports
| Q7/5 |
TD1637-R2 (A.1)
|
L.ICT4RD
| Methodology of Using ICTs to Manage the Recycling and Disposal of E-waste
| Q7/5
|
TD1648-R3 (A.1)
|
L.ClimAI
| Guidelines for Assessing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Greenhouse gas emissions
| Q9/5 |
TD1690-R2 (A.1)
|
L.Carbon_DA
| Guidelines for Data Annotation for Carbon emissions Verification Knowledge Graph
| Q9/5
|
TD1661-R1 (A.1)
|
L.TR_MAP_GHG
| Assessing the Projections of Urban Greenhouse Gas Emission
| Q9/5 |
TD1673-R2 (A.1)
|
L.PCF_SEM
| Methodology for the assessment of the carbon footprint of a smart electricity meter
| Q9/5 |
TD1650-R2 (A.1)
|
L.Suppl.CFA_BSE to ITU-T L.1410
| Guidelines for Carbon Footprint Assessment of 5G Base Station Equipment
| Q9/5 |
TD1653-R1 (A.13)
|
L.Suppl.CE_Shared_BS to ITU-T L.1420
| Carbon Emission Accounting and Allocation Methods for infrastructure Shared Base Station Sites
| Q9/5
|
TD1660-R3 (A.13)
|
L.TR_GLC_ service
| General principles for the evaluation of low-carbon ICT service enterprises
| Q9/5 |
TD1701-R2 (A.13)
|
L.TR_GLC_manufacturing
| General principles for the evaluation of low-carbon ICT manufacturing enterprises
| Q9/5 |
TD1707-R2 (A.13)
|
L.EnvImpServers
| Requirements for environmental impact evaluation of servers
| Q9/5 |
TD1706-R2 (A.1)
|
L.impact_simplified
| Simplified assessments of the GHG emissions impact of the use of ICT solutions
| Q9/5
|
TD1708-R2 (A.1)
|
L.PS_HPC
| Distributed Power Supply Architecture for High Performance Computing (HPC) Data Center
| Q11/5
|
TD1623-R1 (A.1)
|
L.PV_base station
| Smart controlling methods for photovoltaics system installed in base station site
|
Q11/5
|
TD1642-R2 (A.1)
|
L.TR_DG assessment
| Assessment method of sustainable transition in cities using ICTs |
Q11/5 |
TD1676-R3 (A.13) |
L.1203 (Revision)
| Colour and marking identification of up to 400 VDC power distribution for information and communication technology systems
| Q11/5
|
TD1710-R1 (A.1)
|
L.1210 (Revision)
| Sustainable power-feeding solutions for 5G networks |
Q11/5 | TD1711-R1 (A.1)
|
L.liquid_DC
| High Efficiency Liquid Cooling Solutions and Practices for Data Centres
|
Q12/5 |
TD1669-R1 (A.1) |
L.low_DC
| Guidelines for the construction of low carbon data centres to climate change mitigation and adaptation | Q12/5
| TD1670-R3 (A.1)
|
L.Bio-Adapt
| Biodiversity Adaptation to Climate Change
|
Q12/5 |
TD1671-R1 (A.1) |
Contributions
The full list of Contributions can be found in
TD1528.
C596-R1 on Proposal ToR of a new question as result of the merging of part of Q11, Q12 and Q13 for the next study period was submitted to QAll/5 by Telecom Italia S.p.A (Italy). During the opening plenary, it was agreed to address this Contribution during one of the SG5 WTSA sessions.
Reports of Working Parties
Working Parties Meeting
-
The draft Report of Working Party 1/5 can be found in
TD1320-R4.
-
The draft Report of Working Party 2/5 can be found in
TD1325-R4.
- The draft Report of Working Party 3/5 can be found in
TD1330-R6.
Detailed reports of the question sessions are developed in Annex A.
Report of Q8/5 Guides and terminology on environment
The draft Report of Q8/5 can be found in TD1328-R2 .
Sessions on SG5 WTSA-24 preparation and report of the WTSA-24 Preparation Ad-Hoc Group
The SG5 WTSA-24 preparation ad hoc group was established at the ITU-T SG5 meeting, 13–23 June 2023, in Sophia Antipolis, France.
The Co-Conveners of this group were:
- Mr Daniel Dianat, Ericsson (daniel.dianat@ericsson.com)
- Ms Qi Shuguang, China (qishuguang@caict.ac.cn)
The tasks of this ad hoc group were to:
-
Prepare the revised Terms of Reference of the SG5 Questions.
- Prepare the SG5 revised Mandate (WTSA - Resolution 2).
-
Consider the discussion from TSAG on restructuring, WTSA-24 preparation, and provide appropriate guidance to ITU-T SG5.
The ad hoc group held 17 meetings from 9 August 2023 to 6 June 2024.
The report of the progress of the ad-hoc group was presented during the SG5 opening plenary on 17 June 2024, as contained in
TD1566-R2.
During the SG5 meeting (17–21 June 2024), four sessions of the SG5 WTSA-24 preparation ad hoc group were held, as follows:
- Monday, 17 June 2024, from 1400 to 1500 hours, CEST
- Tuesday, 18 June 2024, from 1400 to 1530 hours, CEST
- Wednesday, 19 June 2024, from 1330 to 1530 hours, CEST
- Thursday, 20 June 2024, from 1330 to 1500 hours, CEST
During these sessions, the group revised and finalized the SG5 ToR Questions, title, and mandate. The new proposed SG5 title to be submitted for WTSA-24 is Environment, climate action, circular economy and EMF (as contained in
TD1720).
Action plans for implementation of WTSA-20 Resolutions 72, 73 and 79 (Rev. Geneva, 2022) (Human exposure to EMF, environment, climate change and circular economy, and e-waste)
TD1564-R1 contains the "Action Plan" for the implementation of WTSA-20
Resolutions 72,
73 and
Resolution 79 (Geneva, 2022) (Human exposure to EMF, environment, climate change, and circular economy and e-waste). This document was updated during the meeting. It was agreed that the document will be further updated to include the results of this meeting and will be submitted for WTSA-24
Updates on Focus Group on metaverse — WG8: Sustainability, Accessibility & Inclusion with special focus on Technical group on sustainability
The final and last meeting of the
Focus Group on metaverse took place from 12–13 June 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The final deliverables and meeting report is contained
here.
During the SG5 plenary, an update was provided on the work of WG8 "Sustainability, Accessibility & Inclusion" related to activities carried out in the Task Group on sustainability. The following deliverables were briefly presented by the TG Chair, Qi Shuguang:
Technical Report
Metaverse Sustainability: Driving energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction
The deliverable is contained in
FGMV-O-264.
Technical Specification
Methodology on assessment of GHG emissions of metaverse
The deliverable is contained in
FGMV-O-265.
ITU-T SG5 Regional Groups
-
ITU-T Regional Group for
the Arab Region (SG5RG-ARB)
-
ITU-T Regional Group for Africa (SG5RG-AFR)
ITU-T
Regional Group for the Latin America (SG5RG-LATAM)
ITU-T SG5 Regional Group for the Latin America (SG5RG-LATAM) will convene its meeting on 5 September 2024 in Lima, Perú.
TD1506 contains the request to consider the appointment of Ms Lina Zuluaga from the Agency of the National Spectrum of Colombia as Chair of SG5RG-LATAM in replacement of Miguel Felipe Anzola. The appointment was approved by the meeting.
Collaboration matters and information sharing
During the opening plenary, the following information was provided:
-
ITU Activities to COP28 and preparation for COP29:
Activities carried out under the Green Digital Action for COP28 related to ITU-T SG5 and preparations for GDA COP29 as contained in
TD1563 was delivered by SG5 Secretariat.
-
Collaboration with ITU-D
Collaboration has been ongoing with BDT programme on environment in the following:
L.Database "Guidance for the creation of an ITU database on GHG emissions of the global ICT sector".
L.E-waste_collection "Guidelines on the collection, pre-treatment, dismantling, valorization and final disposal of WEEE".
The following TDs were noted during the ITU-T SG5 opening plenary:
TD1316 Meeting facilities and electronic working methods.
TD1297 Template for A.1 justification information.
TD1298 Template for A.13 justification information.
TD1299 Template for A.25 justification information.
TD1338 Information on Publication of geographical maps and infographics in documents and publications.
TD1339 Updates on the ITU English Language Style Guide.
TD1340 Instruction on the tools to identify standards developed and under development between ITU-T SG5 and ETSI TC EE as technically aligned deliverables.
TD1334 Communiqué of the TSB Director CxO consultation meeting, 5 December 2023, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ITU Council 2024
The ITU Council 2024 took place from 4–14 June 2024. The SG5 Chair provided a brief highlight of the main discussion of the meeting and mentioned the approval of new council Resolution on sustainability and climate action:
-
TD1575 New Council Resolution on sustainability and climate action.
SG5 Newcomers’ session
Due to the tight schedule, an exclusive session for newcomers was not scheduled. Experts were advised to contact Ms Nevine Tewfik and Mr Paolo Gemma, SG5 mentors (tsbsg5@itu.int), should they be interested in receiving a presentation for newcomers and support on SG5 activities and ITU-T working methods.
The following TDs were prepared for the newcomers and were noted during the ITU-T SG5 opening plenary.
-
TD1319 Newcomers' Pack.
- TD1317 Guidelines for the preparation of contributions.
-
TD1315 Bridging the standardization gap and Regional Groups.
-
TD1314 ITU-T SG5 Work Programme.
Promotion activities and bridging the standardization gap
Information was provided on the events organized as of June 2024 related to the activities on Environment, EMF and Circular Economy:
-
15th Symposium on ICT, Environment, Climate Change and Circular Economy, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 7–9 May 2024.
-
ITU Side Event to 2024 STI Forum: Leveraging Data for Climate Action: Insights from the ICT Sector, Virtual, 10 May 2024.
-
ITU Regional Workshop on EMF Harmony: Balancing Connectivity, Safety and Tower Location Selection in the Arab Region, Muscat-Sultane, Oman, 13–16 May 2024.
-
DTD Ask the expert session: Assessing the circularity of ICT goods, Virtual, 22 May 2024.
-
WSIS session on Traceability of E-Waste and the Use of Digital Product Passports for ICT Goods, Virtual, 30 May 2024.
During the ITU-T SG5 closing plenary the following activities were announced. More information will be made available on the ITU SG5 website:
- ITU AI/ML Challenge on Sustainable AI: Designing Energy-Efficient ML Algorithms
- ITU and ETSI event on Sustainability, Geneva, 11–12 December 2024 (tbc)
- ITU and IEEE event on Climate Resilience, 12–13 December 2024 (tbc)
SG5 Management Team, Rapporteurs and Associate Rapporteurs and Liaison Rapporteurs
- Click
here for the complete list of SG5 Rapporteurs and Associate Rapporteurs.
- Click
here for the complete list of SG5 Liaison Rapporteurs and other representative roles.
- Click
here for the complete list of SG5 management team.
List of stale work items
TSB provided information on the list of stale and possible work items as contained in
TD1318. The Rapporteurs of the concerned Questions were encouraged to discuss these work items during their respective sessions and take appropriate action.
Dates of the next ITU-T SG5 meeting
The next ITU-T SG5 is planned to be held from 26 May to 6 June 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. It was mentioned that the date and venue might change depending on invitations received.