Review of research on environmental impact of ICT and human rights bifurcation of Green ICTs

This paper attempts to provide a review of the recent and current state of the art of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) affects the environment and human rights bifurcation of green ICT’s. The review has revealed that currently dominant approach is either a micro-level case study approach or a micro-level statistical approach. It is inferred that a more predictive and empirical model, which could be applied within a sector of society, ought to be more beneficial in the long term. Moreover, there is growing enthusiasm for the benefits of ‘green’ ICT’s, but a general oversight among environmental activists and conscionable consumers, not to mention policymakers, is the assumption that usage of a product is the only segment of that item’s lifecycle with environmental impacts. Post-disposal and re-manufacture challenges tend to be forgotten in state or corporate boosterism about ‘green’ technologies in telecommunications, with the costs being suffered by human beings and ecosystems far away from consumers. Consequently, human rights are at stake, with a conflict brewing among contemporary conceptions of human rights concerning development, telecommunications, telematics and environmental protection. AGH-UST Open University contributes to partnership in this field of experts and knowledge-based society.