A Climate for Talking Green

If you’re going to host a conference on climate change, you had better show people that you’re serious about revolutionizing business practices.  At last month’s COP15 climate change conference in Denmark, organizers wanted to show that sustainably is in fact possible.  The committee was tasked with building a conference that held true to its guiding principles and embodied the spirit of cooperation and sacrifice for the sake of the environment.  Since 1998, Denmark has been energy self-sufficient and among the world leaders in the use of both renewable energy and alternative fuels.  Today 29.6 % of Denmark’s electricity comes from renewable energy.

Upon arrival in Denmark, delegates and world leaders were met not with the typical parade of limousines and chauffeurs.  Instead, delegates were greeted with maps, bicycles and free bus passes around town. The idea wasn’t to make it hard for people to get around (there were in fact chauffeurs for people who really needed them).  What organizers wanted to do was send the message that dealing with climate change seriously involves compromise and sacrifice, and they had better get prepared to do both in Copenhagen.

In looking at venues throughout Copenhagen, organizers choose the Bella Center as the forum for this year’s discussions.  The centre is exceptional in its use of green technology.  Beginning in 2007, the centre’s management implemented its first eco-friendly strategy. The basis for the project was an investment of over 2.5 million euro in order to achieve a 20% reduction of CO2 between 2007 and 2009 (over 1500 tonnes per year). The strategy evolved in close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark to ensure a more sustainable COP15.

During the conference itself, many additional initiatives were also launched.

Gifts
As part of its efforts to reduce the environmental and climate impact of COP15, the Danish government decided to discontinue the practice of giving gifts to the participants. Instead, the 4 million Danish kroner saved – roughly $700,000– will be spent on climate scholarships allowing 10-12 candidates from all over the world to carry out 2-year climate related master’s programmes at Danish universities.

Food
Sustainability was one of the main focal points when it came to providing adequate and satisfactory catering at the COP15. Besides ensuring healthy, tasty, and reasonably priced food, Denmark chose to guarantee a minimum of 65% organic food and beverages including fair-trade products such as coffee and tea.

Laptops
COP15 offered delegates a large number of computer workstations at Bella Center. There were 2000 laptops available to participants—all of which consumed less energy than conventional PCs. The laptops used for COP15 were also compliant with Energy Star 4.0 and 5.0 standards. These laptops consume significantly less energy than average laptops of the same size.

Rollerball pens
The organizers recommend all delegates use their own pens at COP15.  If participants came unprepared, they were welcome to use the official COP15 rollerball pens, produced from 89% recycled plastic from water bottles.

Water
Due to the very high quality of groundwater in Denmark, all potable water at the conference venue was tap-water served in decanters or at self-service automatic dispensers. This implies a considerable energy saving advantage because production, transportation and disposal of water bottles were avoided.

Waste
All delegates at Bella Center were encouraged to make use of the waste management systems on site. Paper, plastic, metal, wood and glass were recycled to the highest degree possible by an EMAS-certified local waste management company.

The Result?
Regardless of the legislation—or lacktherof—COP15 did succeed in showing the world that it is possible to live sustainably and do business in an environmentally conscious way.  Critics were quick to respond, saying that delegates still flew to the conference and that this in itself is a huge carbon cost.  A fair point to be made.  There’s obviously a lot of room to grow, but at least COP15 took the first step.  Hopefully such action will encourage others to do the same.