Ecobreves – CHILE: Plan to Curb CO2 Emissions

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Feb 4 2008 (IPS) - There are already six institutions taking part in the citizen initiative “Zero CO2” in Chile, and the goal is to inventory, reduce and compensate for emissions of carbon dioxide — the main greenhouse-effect gas — by changing people's daily habits. The latest to join the program to fight climate change was the private Center for Environmental Technical Training, which used to consume 3,175 kilowatt hours of energy annually, releasing 16.3 tons of CO2. The goal now is to reduce emissions by 10 percent each year.

Achieving that goal is only possible “with changing people's habits. If improvements and training are introduced, we could reach 30 percent,” Manuel Baquedano, director of the Ecological Policy Institute and promoter of the project, told Tierramérica.