Durban Blog#2

Sawubona (hello!) and welcome to Day 2 of my blog. (I would have had it off sooner, but this is the second time I am re-typing it due to computer/Internet glitches. Grrrrr)

Yesterday was a busy day, and found me attending three different "side events" or presentations. I will share some of the highlights of a couple of them, and hopefully, they will have some educational connections for you!

The first one was a panel primarily with Greenpeace and the Sierra Club on Coal: the Dirty Truth. The question they looked at was, what really is the true cost of coal? Some of the issues they are considering include climate change, health impacts, water use (availability of water for people), and the effects of mining and water pollution. Coal production apparently uses huge amounts of water, and in a place like Africa, that is of concern, when it is already a scarce resource.

On the other hand, by obtaining electricity from renewables, there are reduced contributions to climate change, better energy security and access, and more high-tech jobs. They pointed out some of the barriers to renewables, such as huge coal subsidies in South Africa. In 2009, coal subsidies were $312 billion, compared to $558 billion in 2008. More than 90% of South African electricity comes from coal, with less than 1% from renewables. Centralized coal has failed to deliver electricity to 2.5 million households (10 million people), so they propose that decentralized, small, clean-energy solutions are needed to make electricity more readily available.

On the positive side, in the United States, the migration away from coal has begun. The China Coal Cap (for weaning China off coal) won't peak until 2035, or possibly 2030. Right now, China is the number one emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, with their reliance on 47% of the world's coal demand. (That is three times the coal consumption of the U.S.)

A speaker from India highlighted how coal mining has the potential to undermine India's forests and biodiversity, since they are starting to mine in dense forest areas. Some of these areas are home to the Bengal tiger and many indigenous people. He said that India is just in the process of "boarding the coal train" and this can be changed. Right now, 55% of India's power sector is coal based, with 37% of carbon dioxide emissions coming from the power sector. By 2016, coal needs in India will double. He noted how coal mining already has fragmented the landscape, which is an important tiger habitat. When one hears these statistics, one wonders about our hope for the future.

The last speaker from Greenpeace alluded to this. He said to remember that Martin Luther King's comments weren't, "I have a nightmare, but I have a dream." We have to try to be a little bit positive. I say, a lot positive!!

The main conclusion I took away from this side event was what Justin Guay from the Sierra Club said. "Fossil fuels don't need more support; clean energy does." Global energy subsidies for 2010 backed this up: $400 billion for fossil fuels vs $50 billion for clean energy. There are 1.3 billion people around the world who still lack access to electricity. Unfortunately, with large coal plants, the electricity often gets exported to large industrial users instead of the people who need it.

On a lighter note, it wasn't all work and no play! Dan and I had the opportunity to test drive (well, Dan did the driving) the new Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence Z.E. Anyone can sign up for test drives throughout the duration of the conference, and when Dan heard that, we were on our way within minutes. We drove the Leaf from the Expo site to the Moses Mabhida Stadium (where the World Cup was played). Dan did a great job of staying on the wrong (right!) side of the road. There, they had a test track set up where you could then drive the new Renault Twizy, an urban 2-seater, "fun-to-drive commuter vehicle that can be plugged into many conventional wall sockets. It will be available in March 2012. I was the video-recorder while Dan zoomed around the track! Arriving back at the start, he asked if he could go again! The technical engineer for Nissan suggested Dan try to keep up with him (a professional driver) and Dan gave it a great shot, only running over one tire on the obstacle course! At the end of it he said to Dan, "Who are you??" thinking he was a race car driver incognito! Anyway, we got to drive the Fluence back to the conference site. For those of you who are interested, check out the Twizy on www.renault-ze.com. Both the Leaf and the Fluence are 100% electric cars: zero gas and zero emissions and a wonderful ride.

In the evening we both attended the African First Ladies forum on Climate Change. Many of the themes resonated....one of the speakers proposed what I thought was a profound question: "What about the climate within us?" Yes, we talk about climate change, but unless we are willing to work together, probably not a lot of meaningful change will happen.

The information was not new: we know that women, young people, children and indigenous people are the most vulnerable in our world. In order to create a just, sustainable, peaceable world, we have to include women and girls in the dialogue on climate change. If mitigation fails, war and conflict may be the inevitable result, so women are invited to use their peace-building skills, wisdom and courage to create the necessary political will to change.

The representative from Girl Guides International made similar points, including how climate change accentuates existing inequalities. Astoundingly, she stated that 80% of the victims of natural disasters are girls and women. Microfinance projects for women help them break out of working strictly agricultural jobs, and give them stability for their families. She also said it is important to teach girls and women specifically climate change education.

I wrote this originally around 8:00 this morning, and now it is after 6:00 p.m. here. The day was hot and humid and we saw a lot more interesting things which I will tell you about tomorrow. Thanks for listening!