22 October 2007
Salome Alweny — THE Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda is to reduce carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, ahead of Chogm, after confirmation from the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on how to proceed.
The Commonwealth secretariat proposed last year that Chogm 2007, be carbon neutral, and Uganda accepted, making her the first country in the world, to host a carbon neutral Chogm.
"We are ready to make it a success but are only waiting for confirmation on whether to offset all the carbon emissions (by air when coming to Uganda, motorcycle or car while in Uganda) or just the air travel," the Executive Director of Ecotrust, Ms Pauline Nantongo, told Daily Monitor on Tuesday.
"We are also waiting for confirmation on whether to offset emissions for people coming from the secretariat only or the entire delegation," she said. Going carbon neutral means trying to see that the green house gass called carbondioxide, you emit in various ways including driving especially reconditoned cars, is reduced, by trees that naturally removes it from the atmosphere.
It is an easy way to take responsibility for Green House Gases (GHGs) created every time people drive cars, take a plane, or even open up computers to work.
Travelling by air, driving especially reconditioned cars, starting up computers usually result into GHGs including carbondioxide and nitrous oxide.
Excess concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere creates a blanket like barrier, which obstructs the sun's rays from being reflected back to space. This causes global warming.
The trust will calculate the amount of carbondioxide emitted by the delegates, who will, out of social responsibility, pay an assigned amount.
Ms Nantongo says in their earlier discussions, it was suggested that the secretariat pays $5.5 per tonne, of carbondioxide.
For this cause, Ecotrust will plant trees in 53 districts in addition to the trees that will be planted by the heads of governments.
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