LIVE FROM WEB SUMMIT 2019, LISBON: Verizon consumer group chief Ronan Dunne (pictured) hailed the potential of 5G to combat climate change, by delivering innovative new approaches as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

In a presentation, Dunne said innovation was key to tackling climate concerns, explaining 4IR could “halt and even reverse the damage set in motion by the previous industrial revolutions”.

He highlighted key 5G benefits including low latency and fast download speeds as enabling advances in IoT which could play a leading role in tackling environmental concerns, helping to reduce carbon footprints or track “scarce resources” such as water and electricity.

“The capabilities of IoT, 3D printing and 5G with massive AI capability, has the potential to improve energy efficiency, and cut carbon emission and resource usage across production cycles, manufacturing, shipment and reuse right across the supply chain”.

He stated Verizon is working to halve its carbon emission intensity (the amount of pollution generated as a proportion of the intensity of industrial processes) by 2025 relative to levels in 2016, but argued no single company can go it alone, with coalitions key to delivering sustainability.

“The world population…is estimated to grow between 3 billion and 4 billion by 2100. Most of that growth will be in climate-vulnerable regions like sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East”.