The £43million summit that is polluting the planet: Cancun will generate 25,000 tons of CO2
The climate change summit in Cancun will generate 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide, its Mexican hosts admitted last night.
That means the £43million event will produce as much greenhouse gas as an average-sized African country would over the same two-week period.
The figure includes the carbon generated by flights, transport, hotels and food – and means the conference is polluting at the same rate as Somalia or Mali.
Soaring fumes: Flying delegates to the summit will produce considerable greenhouse gas
The organisers of the UN talks say they will plant trees and pay farmers to protect forests to offset the emissions. The Mexicans are also recycling rubbish from the conference, which spans two venues connected by shuttle buses running on biodiesel.
However, the rubbish has to be driven 800 miles to the nearest recycling plant in Mexico City.
Last year’s summit in Copenhagen generated an estimated 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide – a figure that was lower because many delegates did not need to fly.
More than 15,000 delegates and campaigners have flown to Cancun to work toward a treaty that cuts greenhouse gas emissions and prevents temperatures rising by more than 2c.
Delegates are also trying to set up a £60billion fund to help poor nations cope with global warming as well as creating a financing scheme to protect forests.
The talks last until the weekend.
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