Environment Thematic Track Comprehensive List of Illustrative Policy Questions
Policy questions could be structured around any of the tags identified for each sub-theme as part of the validation process.
Below, an additional set of illustrative policy questions have been provided for each theme, bearing in mind these are examples only and that proposers are encouraged to put forward their own questions.
Remember: Policy questions are ones that bring together different disciplines or areas of policy research. A policy question should encourage dialogue, debate and discussion among different stakeholders and disciplines, be worded in an objective way to allow for different answers/views/proposals/solutions to emerge and not presuppose the outcome.
- How can existing and emerging digital technologies contribute to addressing climate change and how can they foster change in various sectors of the economy (manufacturing, trade, agrifood, etc.)? What initiatives exist and what can be done to improve them?
- What can be done to reduce the carbon footprint of ICTs (e.g. sustainable infrastructure, carbon-neutral data centres, efficient manufacturing, use and recycling of devices, etc.)? What lessons can be learned from various communities (e.g. indigenous peoples, small island states etc.) and existing initiatives?
- What role can data and AI play in tackling sustainability issues such as climate change, biodiversity, conservation and water scarcity?
- How could policy-making benefit from the analysis of big data to better understand impacts of policy decisions on sustainability?