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By Jia Cheng The Portuguese embassy in Beijing advocated its zero carbon practices in a conference on Tuesday, saying that managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the embassy's activities would be a practical contribution to the environment. José Tadeu da Costa Soares, Portuguese ambassador to China, told the Global Times, "The idea of starting the project was brought to me last year by Ecoprogresso, a Portuguese consulting company." "Each contribution is important, because we cannot only expect government to take sole responsibility to solve environmental problems. Citizens or small institutions also need to show their efforts," he added. The project of monitoring and offsetting the embassy's emissions was started through a joint initiative from the ambassador and the Beijing office of Ecoprogresso, which specializes in climate change and carbon management. Renato Roldao, chief representative officer with Ecoprogresso, said that last year was the base year for calculating the carbon footprint. "The main goals of this project are to make a practical contribution to the improvement of the environment, as well as to raise awareness and promote best practices," he added. Officials and experts are optimistic on the project and urged other embassies to join into such activities. Soares said that the project would bring a positive influence in China, since the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) is placing major importance on environmental protection. Davide Cucino, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Global Times that the Portuguese embassy project was a good example, and that other embassies were expected to follow suit. Calculations showed that the embassy's GHG emissions last year amounted to 49.73 tons of carbon dioxide, and that the embassy would seek reductions this year, namely in the fields of transport, waste management and energy. |
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