Greenhouse gas emissions during the 2003 World Summit

• Main Authors: W I R den Heijer, L J Grobler
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2017-10-01
• Series: Journal of Energy in Southern Africa
• Subjects: methane; carbon dioxide; greenhouse gas; global warming; Footprint model; nitrous oxide; Johannesburg Climate legacy; World Summit on Sustainable Development
• Online Access: https://journals.assaf.org.za/jesa/article/view/3081
• ISSN: 1021-447X; 2413-3051

In recent years, global warming and climate change have become international issues for both industrialized and developing countries. Increasingly we will need to understand and manage our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) risks in order to comply with national and regional policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions. It is for these reasons that it is fast becoming critical to know which processes cause GHG emissions and how much they are causing. This article will describe the link that exists between processes and GHG emissions. As a demonstration, the article will describe how these GHG emissions was generated during the 2003 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and how a model was developed to determine what the GHG emissions were during the WSSD. The GHG study, and subsequent model development, was done in order to keep the WSSD in line with its principles for the ecologically sound management of the environment and the issue of climate change. It was proposed that the WSSD be made carbon neutral. This meant that all the GHG (and thus carbon or carbon equivalent) emission generated by actions of the WSSD be offset over a period of time. In order to offset the GHG emissions of the WSSD it was essential to have a good assessment of the amount of emissions that was generated during the Summit. An emission Footprint model was developed, based on information obtained throughout the Summit. The method used a number of resources to determine the emissions resulting from delegate air travel to and from the host city, road travel to and from Summit venues, energy consumption at hotels and venues and waste generation amongst others. This paper will provide the critical factors that influenced and contributed towards the model. The results of the model will also be provided and discussed.