UN, Costa Rica, New Zealand
and Norway Outline Climate Neutrality Strategies
in Bali and Beyond
Bali/Nairobi/Oslo/San Jose/Wellington, 12
December 2007 - The United Nations has become
part of the growing worldwide effort to become
climate neutral.
Members of the UN attending the crucial climate
convention meeting in Bali today announced
that they are offsetting their greenhouse
gas emissions linked with travel to and from
the event.
The move, covering some 20 agencies, funds
and programmes, also includes the Secretary
General, Ban Ki-Moon, and his team.
In order to show leadership and demonstrate
practical action in support of developing
countries and the urgent need to counter global
warming, the UN bodies have jointly agreed
to invest in credits accumulating in the adaptation
fund of the Kyoto Protocol.
The UN calculates that its greenhouse gas
emissions arising from travel to and from
Indonesia represents around 3,370 tonnes of
carbon dioxide worth approximately $100,000
at current carbon prices.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General
and Executive Director of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), said today: "The UN
is today delivering as one on the issue of
climate change as it is increasingly doing
across the range of 21st century challenges
as part of its on-going and forward-looking
reform agenda".
"Offsetting emissions by supporting
the soon-to-be operational adaptation fund
sends a clear signal that climate proofing
vulnerable economies has?like the UN's action
on climate change generally?risen to the top
of the organization's agenda in 2007,"
he said.
"Under the leadership of Ban Ki-Moon,
the entire UN system has now pledged to work
towards climate neutrality, not just in Bali
but across offices and operations globally
and forever. Indeed I can announce today that
UNEP will be among the early movers and will
become climate neutral next month,"said
Mr Steiner.
Norway, one of four countries that have pledged
to go climate neutral nationally, today also
reconfirmed that it is backing the UN system-wide
work towards climate neutrality with an initial
investment of $820,000 for the UNEP-hosted
Environmental Management Group.
Erik Solheim, Minister of the Environment
and International Development, said: "We
believe it is important that the UN take the
lead and facilitate a common understanding
of what climate neutrality is and how to achieve
it. We are very happy to witness the strong
system-wide response across the UN these past
months, coordinated by the UN Environmental
Management Group, the EMG, and we are proud
to be a key financial supporter."
The news comes as Costa Rica, New Zealand
and Norway fleshed out some of the pioneering
plans and strategies they are developing in
order to achieve climate neutrality in their
own countries.
New Zealand
David Parker Minister Responsible for Climate
Change Issues for New Zealand, which will
in June next year be the main host for UN
World Environment Day with the slogan Kick
the C02 Habit, said: "We're proud to
be hosting World Environment Day in 2008.
New Zealand aims to become the world's first
truly sustainable nation".
"Our plan to become climate neutral
involves a goal of generating 90 percent of
our electricity from renewable sources by
2025, and halving our per capita transport
emissions by 2040 by introducing electric
cars and a requirement to use bio fuels. To
incentivise climate-friendly behaviour we're
introducing an emissions trading scheme, which
includes all sectors and all gases,"
he added.
Agriculture and livestock is an important
sector in New Zealand's economy, said Mr Parker.
"New Zealand is already a world leader
in agricultural research, and is turning its
expertise towards research to reduce agricultural
greenhouse gas emissions, for example, methane
from livestock,"he added.
Costa Rica
Paulo Manso, Chief of Costa Rica's delegation
to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, said: "The decision
to become climate neutral had been taken by
President Oscar Arias as part of the new Presidential
initiative called Peace with Nature".
"The Peace with Nature initiative honours
the ethical, human, social, environmental
and economic approach which Costa Rica has
towards the environment and sustainable development,"
he added.
Costa Rica has placed climate change at the
very top of its agenda arguing that a climate
neutral economy is also a competitive one.
The aim is to achieve the neutrality goal
by 2021 to coincide with the country's 200th
anniversary of independence.
The strategy will build on Costa Rica's decision
to tax fossil fuels in 1996 with 3.5 per cent
of the money raised allocated to the National
Forestry Financing Fund.
These, along with other financial support
such as loans and grants, are part of a payment
for environmental services programme that
pays landowners who manage forests for their
carbon sequestration and storage alongside
management for water production, biodiversity
and scenic beauty.
Costa Rica's avoided deforestation programme
(see separate press release from Costa Rica)
will include support for the Billion Tree
Campaign established by UNEP and the World
Agroforestry Centre, whose patrons are Wangari
Maathai and Prince Albert of Monaco.
In 2007 Costa Rica planted more than five
million trees or 1.25 per person making it
the highest per capita planting in the world.
Other elements of the strategy include increasing
the percentage of renewable energy generation
to well over 90 per cent and action on energy
efficiency including energy saving appliances.
Biofuels and a switch to electric and hybrid
buses and cars are also part of the plan alongside
capture and use of methane from landfills
and wastewater treatment plants as a fuel.
Norway
Mr Solheim, the Norwegian minister of Environment
and Development today, reaffirmed his country's
commitment to become "climate neutral
by 2050" and starting immediately to
over-fulfill its Kyoto obligations during
the first commitment period.
He said the Norwegian Parliament was expected
on 14 December to approve a plan for Norway
to buy carbon credits worth four billion kroner-
around 500 million Euro- under the Clean Development
Mechanism and Joint Implementation of the
Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Solheim said the country would be pursuing
vigorous energy savings and efficiency measures
at home to significantly reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and to fully utilize and contribute
to the evolution of the carbon markets established
under the UNFCCC's Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Steiner added that it was vital that a
deep and decisive international emissions
reduction regime is up and running by 2012.
"However, it also clear that some countries
are voluntarily and already prepared to go
that extra mile. And it is not just countries
but a growing and widening group of companies,
cities and individual citizens who are also
looking to their carbon footprints with a
view to working towards climate neutrality,"
he added.
Mr Steiner said that, at the suggestion of
Costa Rican Environment Minister Ricardo Dobles,
UNEP was establishing an Internet-based climate
neutral network.
He urged other interested countries, companies
and cities to join the initiative in advance
of its official launch at the UNEP Governing
Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
in Monaco in late February 2008.
Nick Nuttall
