Tuesday, 27 Aug 2002

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

I am, as they say, reporting live from Ubuntu Village at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Noise surrounds me. Drums pounding, people singing, cell phones going off, people talking and screaming, equipment whirring, videos blaring, and helicopters flying overhead. You can pretty much forget about concentrating on anything.

One of many distractions: Ubuntu dancers perform at Nasrec.

IISD.

I am in the South African Pavilion, which houses many national organizations, government bodies, and companies. We are located in the section of the tent devoted to energy-related matters, near the National Electricity Regulator, the power utility of South Africa, renewable energy manufacturers, gas, petroleum and biofuels companies, and consulting firms like ourselves devoted to assisting individuals and commercial ventures in energy management.

Some of us are here to assist the Green Energy Project for the WSSD. As I mentioned yesterday, this project is enabling two of the summit venues — Ubuntu Village and Nasrec — to meet their energy demands through green energy (wind, solar, bagasse, mini-hydro, and geothermal). The South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism granted the project to AGAMA Energy, with funding from USAID. Additional associates include One World Sustainable Investments, Gailforce Communications, and Green Light Solutions.

Okay, so what is AGAMA Energy? And why are we here? And what does my organization, Global Environmental Objectives, have to do with AGAMA?

Both GEO and AGAMA Energy are based in Cape Town, South Africa. GEO is a small environmental consulting firm focused on ISO 14001 EMS, air quality management, policy and strategy development, and environmental reporting within the energy sector. AGAMA is a consulting company that advises individuals, enterprises, and governments on green energy solutions. This includes policy and strategy development, technical design, installation and maintenance of renewable energy systems for homes, businesses, housing projects, and more.

While AGAMA Energy is primarily a technical energy services company, there is obviously a strong environmental argument for green energy, and the role of GEO is to offer environmental management input to the project. Additionally, GEO assisted in locating green energy sources (both in South Africa and abroad) and is helping monitor and evaluate the impact of green energy during the summit (e.g., calculating carbon emissions avoided through the use of clean energy). This information in turn is submitted to the Greening the WSSD Project and the daily Green Barometer, which is sent to the media and posted on various posters and billboards throughout the summit grounds.

The calculations and evaluations will not be completed for a few weeks following the summit, so I am afraid all of you will have to wait patiently to hear the final tallies on energy use. Until then, let’s hope everything goes well and that a few solid sustainable development decisions will be made — with action plans to support them.