The GSMA made the announcement Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona as part of its effort to help operators and vendors "think forward" as the global recession affects mobile businesses.

For consumers it means no longer having to buy a new charger with every phone, and for manufactures and operators it is an opportunity to help reduce energy consumption.

"The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues, and this program is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers," said Robe Conway, chief executive of the GSMA. "There is enormous potential in mobile to help people live and work in an eco-friendly way, and with the backing of some of the biggest names in the industry this initiative will lead the way."

Helping the Environment

"A universal charger makes a lot of sense as consumers' mobile devices proliferate," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret. "A standard charger would be good for the environment and, in general, make life easier for consumers."

Nokia, one of the companies participating in the initiative, has included energy-saving features in its products, from chargers that use 90 percent less energy to alerts reminding users to unplug chargers, according to the company.

"By supporting this industry initiative on common charging solutions and enabling consumers to choose if they need a charger with every new device or can reuse existing ones, we can contribute further in improving the industry's environmental footprint," said Mitti Storckovius, director of environment devices at Nokia.

The drop to 50 percent less chargers being manufactured each year will ultimately reduce greenhouse gases by 13.6 million to 21.8 million tons each year. The GSMA said the initiative has the potential to avoid 51,000 tons of duplicate chargers.

A 2012 Target

The group has set 2012 as the target to release a universal charging solution (USC) developed by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform. Chargers are expected to include a four-star or higher efficiency rating, which is three times more energy efficient than an unrated charger, according to GSMA.

Some of the world's largest mobile-phone companies, including Vodafone, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and T-Mobile, have joined the effort.

One major player did not join the party, and that's Apple. The company's dock connector hit the market with the third-generation iPod in 2003 and has been included with each iPod and iPhone since then.

"There's a whole eco-system built around this connector, so I'm not surprised that Apple isn't on board entirely," Gartenberg said.