... Government officials and activists flying to Bali, Indonesia, for the United Nations meeting on climate change will cause as much pollution as 20,000 cars in a year.
The delegates each will produce an average 4.07 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or CO2, to reach the resort island 950 kilometers (600 miles) from Jakarta, according to estimates e- mailed to Bloomberg by the UN agency holding the conference.
Some of the 187 nations participating in the two-week forum promised to offset their so-called carbon footprint by planting trees or buying emission credits. The symbolic actions won't help stop global warming, some scientists say. ...
... EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and three of his staff are buying so-called carbon credits, each representing a reduction of a ton of carbon dioxide, on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, commission spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich said in a telephone interview.
$132 `Out of Pocket'
``I'm paying out of my own pocket, and some individuals will also offset,'' said Helfferich, adding she's spending about 90 euros ($132).
The U.S. won't compensate for the emissions of its delegates because ``we feel the best use of taxpayer dollars is for technology advancement, not purchasing carbon offsets,'' said Kristen Hellmer, a spokeswoman for the delegation. ...
... Delegates buying carbon credits should make sure they know what they're purchasing, because some companies that sell them are ``cowboys,'' Mark Meyrick, a London-based trader for EDF Trading, said in an interview. Companies calculate different amounts of carbon for the same flight, he said.
``What's very unclear when you do buy your offset is what exactly you're buying, and how it's calculated,'' Meyrick said. ``Offsetters don't do their reputations any favors when they can't come up with something that approximates the same number.''
