Did you know that one kw/h can boil 70 cups of tea, allow one to listen to 40 hours of music on a CD player, or operate an oil-heater for 20 min? UNDP Lesotho knows! Furthermore, they’ve learned that an 11 Watt energy saver bulb can provide light for 90 hours where as a 60 Watt regular bulb will only provide light for 17 hours- what a drastic and easy way to save energy and resources!
 

With the world buzzing about Global Warming and the need for change, reduction and adaption, UNDP Lesotho has recognized the importance of decreasing its dependency on fossil fuels.
 

In 2007 UNDP Lesotho was selected and given an award to take part in a Carbon Neutral UNDP Country Office (CO) pilot project. UNDP Lesotho was awarded funds for their proposal to test a carbon calculator. In their proposal to enhance the capacity of the Country Office (CO) to become carbon neutral they planned to calculate their carbon footprint, create an action and implementation plan, and to train the CO staff.
 

The assignment was achieved in July and August 2008. A complete inventory of its carbon footprint, using an innovative Carbon Calculator, was complied; an action plan formulated, and; training of the UNDP Lesotho staff was conducted. This was all done with the hope that UNDP Lesotho will play a leading role in becoming a green office- not only to benefit the CO economically and ethically, but a green office that would be a leading example to other organizations in Lesotho, and the region.
 

One of the key outputs of the project was to test a Carbon Calculator. This was successfully achieved and it was determined that Lesotho’s CO carbon footprint from June 2007 to July 2008 was 202.2 tons CO2, with the usage composition being, electricity: 89%; vehicle travel: 8%; flight travel: 3%. As well, through a detailed action plan, even within this small carbon footprint, UNDP Lesotho is excited to see the possibilities of saving resources!
 

What surprised the consultant the most during this study was that UNDP Lesotho was well on its way to already decreasing their carbon footprint. For example, all easy-to-change light bulbs were already CFLs, reminders to switch off lights could easily be found, re-using of paper was common, vehicles were properly sized for their purpose; and staff tend to use the main stair case instead of the elevator. Additionally, UNDP Lesotho’s power needs are met mostly through hydropower; thus, with this base they have a great advantage, making it highly conceivable that UNDP Lesotho can succeed in implementing its proposed action plan and being successful at becoming carbon neutral. Therefore it is a very realizable goal for UNDP Lesotho to aspire to be the first UNDP office to achieve carbon neutrality-what a great accomplishment in the world today!
 

With world population plus development growing and cheap energy sources depleting, energy is becoming expensive; thus, expensive fossil energy will dramatically affect the world’s poor. To maintain existing lifestyles in the 21st century calls for adapting and mitigating climate change, using existing resources efficiently and economically, and investing in sustainable technologies and products. Thus UNDP Lesotho hopes that through its example and through strong governance and discipline by all Basotho it can begin to tackle the problems associated with changing climate.