Namibia adds to carbon cost of Copenhagen

NAMIBIA sent a 37-strong delegation to the just-ended climate change talks in Copenhagen, adding more then 59 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

According to a carbon footprint calculator available on the Internet (http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx), an average economy class return flight from Windhoek to Copenhagen, via Frankfurt, has a carbon footprint of 1,6 tonnes of CO2. If the delegates flew to Copenhagen via Johannesburg, the carbon footprint of the return flight of each of them increases to 1,91 tonnes of CO2.Depending on the route the delegates took for their flights from Windhoek to Copenhagen, each of them was responsible for adding between 1,6 and 1,91 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere with their attendance of the climate change conference.The delegation also raked up an S&T bill of at least N$581 552. The travel and subsistence allowances of the Prime Minister, Environment Minister, Ambassador to the UN and four Members of Parliament are not included in this figure.The size of the delegation has been questioned.It consisted of nine senior civil servants, four Members of Parliament, five support staff and 11 people billed as experts. These experts represented the ministries of Agriculture, Mines, Environment, Works, Finance, the National Planning Commission and the United Nations. The delegation also included a teacher and two pupils from Hochland High School.According to Prime Minister Nahas Angula, the delegates were needed because they all had different areas of expertise. He said Namibia needed to mobilise support since the country was a victim of climate change.Angula was disappointed by the fact that no agreement could be reached at the talks. Environment and Tourism Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula said Namibia wanted to see more done in future efforts by developed countries to address climate change.Shangula, who was part of the delegation, said Namibia’s position is that because developed countries pollute the atmosphere with their industries, they have to pay for cleaning it up.This, he said, is also the position of SADC, the African Union, the G77 and China. ‘They have a responsibility of providing finance to adaptation and mitigation as well as to technology transfer and capacity building,’ said Shangula.Overall it is estimated that more than 46 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide was pumped into the atmosphere thanks to the Copenhagen Conference.* Additional reporting by Absalom Shigwedha