Report of the Fifth Meeting of ITU-T Study Group 5 (Electromagnetic Field, Environment, Climate Action, Sustainable Digitalization, and Circular Economy) Held in Wroclaw, 17–21 June 2024

2.1 Discussions and results of WP1/5 - EMC, lightning protection, EMF

2.1.1 Q1/5: Electrical protection, reliability, safety, and security of ICT systems

Q1/5 considers lightning strikes and earthing protection requirement for power systems against disturbances. A protection method for high-altitude electromagnetic pulse and high-power electromagnetic pulse, electromagnetic security issues on telecommunication systems related to electromagnetic waves, such as risk evaluation and mitigation of information leakage via electromagnetic waves, and test methods and requirements of soft errors in telecommunication equipment due to particle radiation are also considered.

At this meeting, revision of Recommendation K.81 “High-power electromagnetic immunity guide for telecommunication systems” and Recommendation K.87 “Guide for the application of electromagnetic security requirements – Overview” has been consented according to the contribution documents from NTT to resolve the issue informed from the Standardization Committee for Vocabulary where several terms and definitions in these recommendations are overlapping with the scope of ITU-Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) and ITU-T SG17.

The title of draft Recommendation K.spdm “Performance Requirements and Test Methods for Surge Protective Device Modules Used in AC power port of Telecommunication Equipment” has been changed to K.spm “Performance Requirements and Test Methods for Surge Protective Modules Used in AC power port of Telecommunication Equipment” to clarify that surge protective modules (SPMs) considered in this recommendation are different from general surge protective devices (SPDs). The descriptions of the following differences

• field replacement of SPMs is impossible,
• SPMs do not comply with SPD standards International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61643-11 because current capability testing is not included, and
• appropriate upstream SPDs are necessary in actual use

have been added. With these modifications, K.spm has been consented as K.155.

Draft new Recommendation K.pids “Practical guidance for protection of the indoor distribution system for mobile communication in large-scale physical buildings” was proposed. The comments from NTT, such as, the applicable environment is customer premise and scope should be clarified, were reflected into the draft, and the discussion of K.pids will be continued to the next study period.

The considerations on test methods and requirements of soft errors in telecommunication equipment caused by particle radiation considered in Q1/5 will be moved to Q2 from the next study period.

2.1.2 Q2/5: Protecting equipment and devices against lightning and other electrical events

At this meeting, Recommendation K.147 “Protection of digital ports connected to balanced pairs of conductors” and Supplement K.Suppl.25 “Long reach single twisted-pair Ethernet resistibility testing” were mainly discussed. The discussion concluded that obtaining more consistency with IEEE 802.3 “Ethernet” will be considered, which is also under consideration for revision, and consent will be the aim in the next study period.

For Recommendation K.21 “Resistibility of telecommunication equipment installed in customer premises to over-voltages and over-currents” and Recommendation K.20 “Resistibility of telecommunication equipment installed in a telecommunication centre to over-voltages and over-currents,” ZTE Corporation (China) requested to add the exception of insulation resistance testing on Ethernet port depends on the differences in circuit structure. Since the discussion also involved the insulation requirement of the Ethernet port within equipment cabinet etc., this proposal continues as a new issue.

The relaxing of overvoltage testing level for the internal Ethernet port in Recommendation K.21 was also requested, and will continue to be considered.

For the 1st draft of Supplement K.supple_TOV “Protection of ICT equipment with direct current (DC) power supply against transient overvoltage (TOV)” proposed by ZTE Corporation, the TOV appearing mechanism on the DC side will be further considered.

The revision of Recommendation K.12 “Characteristics of gas discharge tubes for the protection of telecommunications installations” has also been consented to include the guidance on the selection principle of “agreed primary protector” for overvoltage testing for the equipment that cannot agree with telecommunication operators prior to the testing, such as the equipment sold on the market, etc.

The draft terms of reference for Q1/5 and Q2/5 have been agreed in SG5, clarifying the scope of these questions. The work items regarding soft error will also be moved to Q2/5 from the next study period. Since Japan is the leader for the items, we will continue to lead the standardization activities on soft-error testing.

2.1.3 Q3/5: Human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) due to digital technologies

Q3/5 considers the estimation, calculation, and measurement methods for EMF strength in the vicinity of mobile phones and wireless systems in terms of human-body exposure.

At this meeting, the drafts for revision of Recommendation K.100 “Measurement of radio frequency electromagnetic fields to determine compliance with human exposure limits when a base station is put into operation” and K.52 “Guidance on complying with limits for human exposure to electromagnetic fields” for harmonizing with IEC 62232:2022 have been consented.

The draft revision of Recommendation K.83 “Monitoring of electromagnetic field levels” has also been consented for renewing the examples of monitoring result in Korea (Rep. of).

The draft new Recommendation K.peak “Time and spatial averaging in RF-EMF exposure assessment” has been proposed and consented as K.156. The draft includes the change on the recommendation title from “Comparison between peak and real exposure in the long-term considerations.”

The revision of Supplement K.Suppl.32 “Case studies of radio frequency-electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) assessment” has been agreed for adding the measurement results for 5th-generation mobile communication system (5G) base station.

The new work item regarding calibration of measurement equipment for the assessment of EMF exposure has been added as K.calibr “Calibration for equipment for the EMF assessment.”

Toward further new recommendations, the considerations on the work items K.AI&EMF “EMF evaluation method using artificial intelligence in vicinity of 5G NR (IMT-2020) base station,” K.devices “RF-EMF exposure assessment of wireless communication devices operating close to the human body,” K.reflection “Impact of the metallic structures for the EMF exposure level,” and K.Suppl.MethDataEMF “Guidance on Methodologies for RF-EMF Assessments and Responding to Public Concerns regarding human exposure to RF-EMF from Telecommunication Installations” have been conducted on the basis of related contribution documents.

2.1.4 Q4/5: Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) aspects in ICT environment

Q4/5 considers EMC standards corresponding to new telecommunication equipment, telecommunication services, and wireless system.

At this meeting, the revision of Recommendation K.42 “General principle for the definition of emission and immunity requirements for telecommunication/ICT equipment” has been consented for the title change from “Preparation of emission and immunity requirements for telecommunication equipment - General principles” and updating its content.

The final draft for revision of Recommendation K.emc_satellite “Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test methods for satellite communication terminal equipment” has been consented as K.157.

For the draft new Recommendation K.dmei “Determination and mitigation of electromagnetic compatibility issues for 5G network under tropospheric duct effect,” Q4/5 had received the liaison statement from ITU-R WP5D describing that this topic is within the scope of ITU-R. In response to this, the reply liaison statement has been sent to inquire concretely which WP considers what topic, and the consideration in ITU-T SG5 has been temporarily suspended.

The new work items of K.RIS_EMC “Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and measurement methods for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface” and K.emc_satellite_ES “Electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test methods for Earth stations for satellite communications” have been added.

Reviewing the last approval date of recommendations under Q4/5 and updating them are ongoing. Until this meeting, several recommendations, including K.92 etc., had been revised or reviewed taking account of the harmonization with the latest international standards such as IEC standards.

2.2 Discussions and results of WP2/5 - Environmental efficiency, e-waste, circularity, and sustainable ICT networks

2.2.1 Q6/5: Environmental efficiency of digital technologies

Q6/5 identifies the environmental efficiency requirement of digital and frontier technologies. It focuses on studying technical solutions, enhancements, metrics, key performance indicators, and related accurate measurement methods and reference values for different type of technologies. Three draft recommendations were submitted for consent, draft new Recommendations ITU-T L.FEMS (L.1260) and L.Cooling_DC (L.1327), and draft revised Recommendation ITU-T L.1310rev. L.1310rev “Energy efficiency metrics and measurement methods for telecommunication equipment” provides revisions on the consideration of core routers/switches with a large number of very high-speed ports in the measurement methods (Chapter 11.2) and on the adaptation to 5G (IMT 2020) in indicators and measurement methods for radio access technologies (Chapter 10). L.1260 “Reference model for factory energy management systems” is a recommendation specifying a reference model for factory energy management systems to efficiently manage energy consumption in factories. L.1327 “Guidelines for the selection of cooling technologies for data centres in multiple scenarios” provides an overview of the following cooling technologies currently prevailing for energy-saving operation of datacenters, the principles of each cooling technology and its cooling components, i.e., indoor heat exchange, outdoor heat dissipation, and refrigerant transmission and distribution. In addition to the analysis, the report explains how to select the appropriate cooling technology on the basis of various application scenarios called multidimensional application scenarios in a datacenter. It was decided to open two work items on L.DLEE “Deep Learning Computational Energy Efficiency Evaluation Framework and Metrics” and L.S_AI “Sustainable AI/XR-based System Design.” Progress was also made on the other work items. The first baseline texts were agreed for “Assessment of mobile network energy efficiency” (L.1331rev) and “Computing power efficiency matrix and measurement methodology” (L.MM_Computing power). The new baseline texts were created for “Assessment of Fixed Network Energy Efficiency” (L. FNEE), “Energy Efficiency measurement methodology and metrics for heterogeneous servers” (L.EE_sgpu), “The functional requirements and test methods of software energy saving for 5G network” (L.soft_ES), “Monitoring and Control Interface for Infrastructure Equipment (Power, Cooling and Building Environment Systems used in Telecommunication Networks) - Generic Interface” (L.MCI_Gen), “Monitoring and Control Interface for Infrastructure Equipment (Power, Cooling and Building Environment Systems used in Telecommunication Networks) - ICT equipment power, energy and environmental parameters monitoring information model” (L.MCI_MIM), as well as “Study of multi-dimensional network energy efficiency metrics” (L.Sup.MDEE).

2.2.2 Q7/5: E-waste, circular economy, and sustainable supply chain management

Q7/5 seeks to address the e-waste challenges by identifying the environmental requirements of digital technologies including Internet-of-Things, end-user equipment, and ICT infrastructures or installations, on the basis of the circular economy principles and improving the supply chain management. Three draft recommendations were submitted for consent, new Recommendations L.Env.PerSmartphone (L.1017), L.D4PI (L.1071), and L.UPR10 (L.1028).

L.1017 “Method for environmental performance scoring of smartphones” is a recommendation defining a method for scoring the overall environmental performance of smartphones, taking into account material efficiency and life cycle assessment (LCA) aspects. L.1071 “An information model for digital product information on sustainability and circularity” is a recommendation defining an information model for describing sustainability and circularity of ICT products as environmental information to be included in the digital product passport (DPP), harmonizing and complementing the European DPP and the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) B2B (business-to-business) DPP. L.1028 “Indicator for global warming potential impact as a function of ICT-equipment operating lifetime extension” is a recommendation that defines UER10, an indicator that helps to understand the relative relationship between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the use phase and GHG emissions over the entire product lifetime. It was decided to open two work items on L.DPP4C “Consumer-oriented environmental information and reverse value chain information about ICT goods on digital product passports” and L.ICT4RD “Methodology of Using ICT to Manage the Recycling and Disposal of E-waste.”

2.2.3 Q13/5: Building circular and sustainable cities and communities

Q13/5 aims to develop recommendations, supplements and/or technical reports identifying requirements and providing guidance, innovative frameworks, and tools for the use and operation of digital technologies (i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, etc.) in cities and communities that support the transition to a circular city. It also aims to develop metrics and key performance indicators that establish baseline scenario of circular cities and communities. One draft recommendation was submitted for consent, L.Ident (L.1632). L.1632 “Identification method for equipment at the building infrastructure in the sustainable city” is a recommendation that defines methods of identifying building infrastructure equipment called HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), which includes electricity, water and gas supply, and fire alarms to improve efficiency and safety of building-infrastructure-equipment management for sustainable cities. Progress was also made on the other work items. The first baseline texts were agreed for “Resolution method for Building Infrastructure Management Systems (BIMS) in sustainable cities” (L.resBIMS) and “Overview of Key Performance Indicators for circular cities” (L.circularCityKPIs).

2.3 Discussions and results of WP3/5 - Climate change, adaptation, mitigation, and net-zero emissions

2.3.1 Q9/5: Climate change and assessment of digital technologies in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement

Q9/5 aims to develop assessment methodologies and guidance that allow the objective, transparent, and practical assessments of the sustainability impact of digital technologies, including ICT, AI, and 5G, to align their developmental trajectories with the Paris Agreement and United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. Two draft recommendations were submitted for consent, L.1410rev and a new draft Recommendation L.database (L.1472). One draft supplement was also submitted for consent, L.Suppl.Mobile_phone_LCA. L.1410 “Methodology for environmental life cycle assessments of information and communication technology goods, networks and services” is a recommendation that consists of two parts. Part I is ICT life cycle assessment: framework and guidance and Part II is Comparative analysis between ICT and reference product system (Baseline scenario); framework and guidance. In view of the growing popularity of the idea of the circular economy in the ICT industry since the publication of the first edition (December 2014), this revision adds guidance on, for example, LCA for circular products.

It was also decided to open ten new work items on L.ClimAI “Guidelines for Assessing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Environment,” L.PCF_SEM “Guidelines for the assessment of the carbon footprint of a smart electricity meter,” L.Carbon_DA “Guidelines for Data Annotation for Carbon Verification Knowledge Graph,” L. EnvImpServers “Technical requirements for environmental impact evaluation of servers,” L.impact_simplified “Simplified assessment of the impact of the use of ICT solutions,” L.Suppl.CFA_BSE to ITU-T L.1410 “Guidelines for Carbon Footprint Assessment of 5G Base Station Equipment,” L.Suppl.CE_Shared_BS to ITU-T L.1420 “Carbon Emission Accounting and Allocation Methods for infrastructure Shared Base Station Sites,” L.TR MAP GHG “Assessing the Projections of Urban Greenhouse Gas Emission,” L.TR GLC service “General principles for the evaluation of low-carbon ICT service enterprises,” and L.TR GLC manufacturing “General principles for the evaluation of green and low-carbon ICT manufacturing enterprises.” Progress was also made on the other work items. The first baseline text was agreed for L.CFSP “Guidelines for the assessment of the carbon footprint of software products.” The new baseline texts were created for L.1420 rev “Methodology for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions impact assessment of information and communication technologies in organizations,” L.Biodiversity_footprint “Methodology for the assessment of the footprint of an ICT organization on biodiversity,” and L.VirtualMeetings “Methodology for estimating GHG emissions in the frame of virtual meetings and events.”

During the opening plenary, activities carried out under the Green Digital Action (GDA) for COP28 related to ITU-T SG5 and preparations for GDA COP29 was delivered by SG5 Secretariat.

2.3.2 Q11/5: Climate change mitigation and smart energy solutions

Q11/5 seeks to develop standards, guidelines, and measurement frameworks that support the development of a smart energy system and applying smart energy solutions to achieve a low-carbon economy. This question aims to develop recommendations, supplements and/or technical reports on real-time energy service and control solutions for more effective and efficient energy management trough ICT and digital technologies. Two draft recommendations were submitted for consent, draft new Recommendations L.VMPS (L.1384) and L.GHG management (L.1490). One draft revised supplement was submitted for agreement, Supplement 44 “Guidelines on best practices and environment friendly policies for effective information and communication technology deployment methods.”

L.1384 “Implementation of a virtual micro power station at base station sites” provides technical specifications for the implementation of virtual micro power plants with power storage systems installed in telecommunication base stations. L.1490 “Framework and functional requirements of greenhouse gas emissions management system using digital technology for public sector” is a recommendation to support public sector decision-making by more accurately quantifying, monitoring, and managing local emissions through the establishment of GHG emissions management systems using big data, cloud computing, and other ICT. It was decided to open five new work items on L.PS_HPC “Distributed power supply architecture for high performance computing (HPC) data center,” L.PV_base station “Smart controlling methods for photovoltaics system installed in base station site,” L.TR_DG assessment “Assessment method of digital sustainable transition in cities using ICTs,” L.1203rev “Colour and marking identification of up to 400 VDC power distribution for information and communication technology systems,” and ITU-T L.1210rev “Sustainable power-feeding solutions for 5G networks.” Progress was also made on the other work items. The new baseline text was created for L.NZ_Indicator & BP “Enablement indicator of information and communication technologies to other sectors and best practices to achieve net zero goal.”

2.3.3 Q12/5: Adaptation to climate change through sustainable and resilient digital technologies

Q12/5 aims to develop recommendations, supplements, and/or technical reports that support the deployment of digital technologies in accelerating climate-adaptation actions. This question would improve the efficiency of power and cooling systems in ICT networks, support the development of energy-efficient ICT architectures such as up to 400 VDC power feeding systems, add energy-saving features to ICT equipment and applications, improve air-flow-controlling technology, cooling technology and renewable energy systems, and more. Though no draft recommendation was submitted for consent, it was decided to open three work items on L.Liquid_DC “High Efficiency Liquid Cooling Solutions and Practices for Data Centres,” L.low_DC “Guidelines for the construction of low carbon data centres to climate change mitigation and adaptation,” and L.Bio-Adapt “Biodiversity Adaptation to Climate Change.”