* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By Roli Mahajan
More than 20,000 people are attending the 17th conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP 17, in Durban this year. They include environmentalists, representatives from different civil society organizations, and government delegates, to name a few.
What would astound a common man is that these people (or at least a majority of them) advocate for fewer carbon emissions and yet their carbon footprints have been estimated to be around 24,000 tonnes at a bare minimum.
On questioning some delegates about this problem, their reactions to the irony of the situation ranged from disinterest or vague answers to the view that, “Our attendance here is for a greater cause.”
Sarika Katoch, a young Indian delegate, was of a philosophical view that when it came to carbon footprints the answer was never a simple yes or a no.
“Just like the world is not simply black or white, this is a grey area. One cannot totally eradicate one’s carbon footprint, though one can just increase or decrease its ratio. On a personal scale, I tried to opt for a flight which took the bare minimum time to reach Durban,” Katoch said.
Sri Lankan photographer Thishya Weragoda, who was attending the meeting to install a photo exhibition, candidly admitted, “I do realize that I leave a footprint. After all there are enough environmentalists around me to make me realize that. But this is a cross that I will have to bear. It is a professional hazard.”
But, he said, “I do reduce my carbon footprint because we have a rubber and mahogany tree estate back home” that stores carbon.
Samuli, a young man from Finland who is studying in the United States, sheepishly said that he contributed more than his fair share to the world’s carbon footprint because not only had he flown to Durban but he had crossed the Atlantic by air quite a few times this year.
WORTH IT TO PARTICIPATE?
“However when one looks at the larger picture, personally my travel contributes towards education, while in the context of the conference, if people didn’t come together there would be no Kyoto (Protocol). Lack of our presence today would mean less pressure on the governments for stronger action.
“If the good people who are for the right cause stop flying, then only people who are not for the right cause will be making decisions. So we have to acknowledge the fact that if we were carbon neutral and remained in huts where we were born, we wouldn’t have any inputs.”
Michael Kuhn from Welthungerhlife, a German relief organisation that fights hunger and poverty, said he contributes to airline programs such as Atmosfair to compensate for his travel.
“They are reducing my footprint and if my stay here is efficient then there is no irony in the situation,” he said.
One government delegate, who asked not to be named, has driven six hours from Pretoria, South Africa, to attend the meeting.
“I know all this travelling has an impact and I am not sure what is being done about it,” he said. “Personally, my contribution towards mitigation would be watering plants in my backyard so that they survive and do away with some carbon footprint, at least.”
Durban’s government, however, has been moving this year to mitigate some of the enormous carbon footprint of the climate meeting.
The eThekwini Municipality (city of Durban) has been working for over a year to offset the footprint of those attending both the Durban games in the 2010 football World Cup, hosted by South Africa, and the UN climate talks. The process will take five to eight years, city officials say, and is based on a series of local natural habitat projects which result in increased climate adaptation capacity and green jobs for locals involved.
One reforestation project has been established within the buffer area of the municipality’s Bufflesdraai regional landfill site, north of Durban, to create a natural carbon sink. Approximately 182 hectares of the 757 hectare municipal-owned buffer area around the landfill has been replanted to forest, and the plants are nurtured by locals.
Projects like these might have a positive impact but what remains to be seen is whether the conference’s extravagant emissions are justified, when the emissions reductions targets that the conference seeks seem to remain beyond reach.
Roli Mahajan is a blogger based in New Delhi, India.
