MINIMISING COPENHAGEN'S CARBON FOOTPRINT

This month the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) published a fact sheet detailing the efforts to make the most significant climate change Summit in our time, the most sustainable as well.

The Bella Centre, where the conference takes place, is implementing a range of energy saving measures that will bring about a 20% reduction in CO2. To reach the centre, the public transport system is ready to bring the delegates back and forth from their accommodations (including an increasing number of certified environmentally friendly hotel rooms). The participants are encouraged to drink the safe tap water to avoid bottle waste and minimise their paper waste.

The delegates will also look in vain for the customary gifts or conference bags for delegates. With the money saved, 11 scholarships have been awarded to students from all over the world, including India. The students will attend fully financed two year MA programmes at Danish universities – all focusing on environmental technology.

What cannot be avoided must be offset: To ensure the conference will be climate neutral, the Danish Government, in partnership with Bangladesh and the World Bank, has decided to replace outdated and heavily polluting brick kilns in Dhaka with 20 new energy efficient ones. This will cut CO2 emissions by at least 50,000 tonnes a year, not to mention improve the air quality in one of the world’s most polluted cities.

Read the UNFCCC fact sheet here.