Man’s need or man’s greed: The human rights ramifications of green ICTs

There is burgeoning enthusiasm for the benefits of “green” ICTs, but a common oversight among environmental activists and conscientious 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. Pre-manufacture and post-disposal challenges tend to be forgotten in state or corporate boosterism about “green” technologies in telecommunications, with the costs being suffered by peoples and ecosystems far away from consumers. Furthermore, human rights are at stake, with a conflict brewing among modern conceptions of human rights concerning telecommunications, development, and environmental protection.This article argues that these unappreciated environmental and human rights factors must be considered by policymakers who promote the benefits of “green” ICTs. The article analyzes the conflicts between “green” ICT boosterism, by policymakers and manufacturers, and the human rights of the persons other than consumers who are affected by the ICT product lifecycle. The article combines a qualitative review of the environmental impacts of ICTs with a policy analysis of international human rights regulation. The article concludes with an argument that the nations of the world should acknowledge communications- and environment-oriented human rights when formulating technology policy and telecommunications policy, with a discussion of the political and social ramifications of failing to acknowledge these burgeoning human rights issues.