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August 2008
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.
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