THE CARBON footprint of the UN climate conference in Durban may be as high as 25,000 tonnes – or one tonne, on average, for each minister, delegate, participant or observer from 194 countries all over the world.
How this is to be offset, nobody knows. But South African home affairs minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma pointed out yesterday that a 500-kilowatt solar park had been installed to power Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli conference centre.
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said “certified emission reduction credits” would be used to offset the travel by 398 staff of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and 369 “supported delegates” to and from the conference.
“Climate change is a shared responsibility. We all have to take stock, and then look for ways to do our part, to walk the talk. Offsetting, using quality credits, is an important part of the secretariat’s efforts to reduce its emissions,” she said earlier this week.
The credits are being acquired under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for a project involving the conversion to natural gas of the Corobrik Lawley coal-fired brick factory in Johannesburg.
This is one of the projects being part-funded by China under the CDM through a UN-sponsored initiative called SS-Gate. Its chief executive, Dr Lin Jian, said it looked forward to other “great opportunities for co-operation between China and South Africa”.
The Durban municipal authorities are still working to offset the carbon footprint of football fans who attended last year’s World Cup in South Africa by reforesting a 180-hectare site near the city’s landfill site. But it will take up to eight years to make a difference.
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has called on the US to work with the EU to “reduce the pollution from airplanes” – instead of opposing carbon levies on all flights using European airports from January 1st next.
EDF lawyer Pamela Campos, who attended talks between the two sides on Thursday, said: “The US is making progress in reducing emissions from cars, buses, 18-wheelers – even garbage trucks. It’s time to show the same leadership in the aviation sector.
“Europe’s action has created an opportunity to create a broad-based system to reduce aviation emissions. The US should seize this opportunity to bring its success with ground-based vehicles to the aviation sector.”