Johannesburg Resolved to Hold 'Green' Summit: Official

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Johannesburg Resolved to Hold 'Green' Summit: Official

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

South Africa would take every measure to undo the damage caused to environment by the 65,000 delegates attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development and hold a "green" summit, the Star newspaper reported Tuesday.

This was the message from Mary Metcalfe, the Gauteng provincialmember of the Executive Committee for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs.

Metcalfe was launching an initiative of 20 million rand (2 million US dollars), funded by the provincial government, the Global Environment Facility, and the UN Development Program.

Metcalfe said she hopes to mobilize the general public by demonstrating ways to minimize waste, conserve water and use energy more efficiently.

It is understood that most delegates would arrive in fuel-guzzling planes, use air-polluting transport and consume a lot of energy and resources to heating, cooling and cooking food.

So the summit organizer had arranged delegates to take more than 200 special buses, specially designed to reduce noxious emissions, and manned by drivers who had been trained to minimize fuel consumption.

No efforts had been spared to ensure the least waste of the resources. Lights in public areas would be dimmed or switched off when not needed, and sensors in the washrooms would save water by switching taps off and controlling how long toilets flush.

Security guards had been instructed to close doors left swinging open to reduce the load on the air-conditioning system.

On the other hand, the UN summit at Sandton Convention Center was being encouraged to manage its vast outpouring of waste effectively. For example, all glass would be recycled, and all theadministration offices had been furnished with recycling bins for paper, cardboard, plastic and cans.

This is the first time that a UN conference has attempted to "go green", and to make sure the delegates and visitors keep consumption and production issues uppermost in their minds, the organizer of the summit would install a "consumption barometer" toprovide regular updates on what goes in and what goes out.

Electronic board in the meeting room would flash update of how much waste and carbon the summit was generating, how much water and energy was being consumed, and how much of the waste was beingrecycled.

The results would also be published daily in local press.

The UN venue was not the only "green" site in the summit, she said, adding the Global People's Forum at Nasrec was also attempting to run on environmentally friendly lines.

Like most of the greening initiatives showcased at the summit, the true test would not be its immediate effect, but the extent towhich it was adopted in South Africa after the delegated returned home.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Roundup: World Leaders Aim High at Earth Summit

US Secretary of State to Attend Earth Summit

China's Exports Hit Record of US$56.2 Billion in July ( 36 Messages)

China's On-going Reform Calls for Better Economic Illumination ( 31 Messages)

Fourth Unmanned Spaceship Set to Roar by Yearend ( 46 Messages)

FM Spokesman Rejects Al-Qaida Contacts Allegation ( 48 Messages)

Commentary: Taiwan Independence No Easy Thing ( 57 Messages)