Take the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen as an example. Despite its noble mission to decrease the effects of climate change and promote sustainability, according to estimates gathered by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference actually generated a larger carbon footprint than any previous climate summit: 42,000 tons of carbon mostly due to air travel.

The event had to also provide several units of temporary housing, which wasted energy due to poor insulation and the use of oil heaters. Furthermore, most of the conference’s power was derived from coal, one of the world’s least sustainable energy sources.

Overcoming these environmental challenges is not easy, but can demonstrate a conference’s commitment to responsible action (and save on several key costs).

Irene Rompa, a sustainability consultant for ROI Community, suggests six ways for organizations and event-organizers to “green” their conferences:

1. Make sustainability a priority from day one. If you plan an event as a “green” event from the outset, you’ll have maximum flexibility in terms of materials and cost to make your event sustainable. If you neglect to make an event “green” from its conception, efforts to make it sustainable will often be cosmetic, low-impact, and high-cost.

2. Take the “reductionist” approach and always ask: what can be reduced, re-used, recycled? Don’t waste money on goodie bags whose contents have little value to attendees. Consider spending these resources on a sustainable project, such as planting trees, or conserving them by handing out “green” gifts or organizing a gift exchange at the event.

3. Reduce your plastic waste. Replace single-use plastic water bottles with reusable cups or bottles with your event’s logo on it. As plastic waste decreases, so too will your conference’s costs. Furthermore, reusable bottles provide free advertising for your organization and demonstrate its commitment to environmental sustainability.

4. Make your event’s food sustainable. Food is a key element of a conference to make sustainable. Consider having food provided in bulk to avoid wasted material from individually-wrapped meals, and using food waste productively by giving it to a local farm for compost. Providing mostly (or only) vegetables, and local/seasonal options makes the food “greener,” healthier and cheaper.

5. Look at each factor in the logistics of the event to make environmentally friendly changes. When printing banners, posters or materials with the organization’s logo on it, consider leaving off the exact dates of the conference or printing them separately. These changes will ensure that those materials can be re-used later. Picking a venue where attendees can stay that is close to public transportation makes additional means of transportation unnecessary, reducing costs and Carbon emissions.

6. Communicate what you’re doing with your attendees. Explaining to your attendees what you are doing to achieve your sustainable goals is very helpful. Because, let’s not forget, gathering many people in one place creates unique opportunities for setting examples, sharing knowledge and inspiring guests to think and act more “sustainably” in their daily lives.

One recent conference that implemented several of these ideas was the ROI Community Global Summit for Young Jewish Innovators, held last month in Jerusalem.

I and other conference organizers decided to focus especially on ways to reduce and neutralize the carbon emissions from attendees’ flights – by far the biggest polluter.

So to offset the emissions, we donated solar panels for water heating to 51 poor Israeli families in order to replace their diesel boilers, cut down their carbon emissions by 95 percent and lower their energy bills. In the end, over ten years, this donation will balance out the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by attendees’ transportation and automatically meant ROI Summit left a ‘green legacy’ by giving back to the community.

The thousands of individuals attending conferences every year provide organizations with an extraordinary opportunity. Sustainable technology has improved to the point where organizers can make a significant impact by implementing “green” strategies at their events to reduce monetary and environmental costs and assume leadership in the international community.

This guest post is by Beto Maya, the Director of Gatherings and Recruitment for ROI Community, an international network of over 800 Jewish social entrepreneurs and innovators in more than 40 countries. Beto is responsible for ROI’s summit selection, programming, and regional gatherings.

Image of green roundtable from Shutterstock

The post 6 Ways to Make Your Conference Go “Green” appeared first on Green Prophet.

We speak to Mohamed Abdel Raouf, a green researcher who will be attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) about what it could do for the Arab world

According to the latest reporting, the preparatory talks ahead of the Rio+20 summit have been inconclusive and raised real concerns that the conference will be a complete failure. Many delegates are frustrated at the lack of progress made around the global plan of action, entitled The Future We Want, which they hope world leaders will sign up to in Brazil in June. But Mohamed Abdel Raouf, remains hopeful that some progress will be made and also wants to encourage the Arab world to take a stronger position in favour of a Green Economy.

An independent environmental researcher, Abdel Raouf insists that “even if there is just tiny progress at Rio+20, it will be better than nothing” and it’s only through small steps that big progress can be achieved. The Rio+20 summit will be a follow-up to the landmark 1992 Earth summit in Brazil, at which international treaties to tackle climate change and conserve the Earth’s diversity of plants, animals, and other life forms were agreed.

I ask Abdel Raouf whether Arab countries are working to support the conference and its aims to encourage sustainable development. “Well, regarding RIO+20 I guess the Arab position in general is not in favour of a green economy and international environmental governance… However, I believe they must push and adopt a green economy as it is a new way to get new environmentally determinedly technology. This transfer of technology alone is a great benefit.”

And it’s not just Arab apathy world that is to blame for slow progress. Countries the world over seem keen to stick to business-as-usual. A group of NGOs and environmental organisation such as Oxfam and Greenpeace have already voiced their concern, adding that this business-as-usual approach won’t do at Rio+20. “To the presidents and prime ministers of nations responsible for changing course we say: ‘You can start to deliver sustainable development today or face the anger and disappointment of millions of citizens in the years and generations to come,’” said Rubens Born of the Forum of Brazilian NGOs and Social Movements for Environment and Development (FBOMS).

The joint statement also argued that “the current financial crises, growing inequalities, broken food system, global climate change and shrinking natural resources require a new approach to economic development but the current negotiating text offers just more of the same.”

In fact, Abdel Raouf echoes this very sentiment by stating that the root causes of the Arab Spring are environmental problems in the region as well as the unfair distribution of natural resources. “RIO+20 can be an opportunity to to tackle such environmental problems in a very structured way by changing the way the whole economy operates,” he remarked.

Image of Rio, Brazil from Mark Schwettman/Shutterstock

For more on climate summits and the Middle East North Africa region see:
Faith Leaders Prepare For Upcoming Climate Summit In South Africa
Green Buildings and the Next Climate Summit in Qatar
Guide to Durban Climate Talks and the Oil-Rich Middle East
Saudi Arabia’s Climate U-Turn Ahead of Qatar Summit

The post What Can Rio+20 Do For The Arab World? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Abu Dhabi is beset with a kind of sustainability schizophrenia. On the one hand there is Masdar City – an effort to achieve carbon neutrality and zero waste – and on the other certain irresponsible and extravagant moments such as the diamond-studded Christmas tree glimmering in the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Yet, since 2008 the Emirate has hosted the World Future Energy Summit, which spends a lot of carbon to bring together leaders, junior and senior, from around the globe to share ideas about renewable energy and other progressive initiatives. Last year’s event drew nearly 25,000 people from all sectors of the society. Next year’s summit – which will run from January 17-20, 2011 – promises to be equally well-attended.

A new feature of this year’s event is Project Village – a centrally located exhibition that allows visitors to peruse dedicated booths showcasing hundreds of renewable energy projects. There will also be a theater-style seminar room where certain presentations will take place.

Academics, representatives of the private and public sector, policy makers, world leaders, journalists, buyers, and investors are expected to appear at what is now labeled by organizers as a world-class event. In addition to exhibitions, there will be round table discussions, corporate meetings, and social events.

Among several, next year’s notable speakers will include: Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber – Masdar’s CEO, Dr. Sulaiman Al Jassim – Vice Chancellor of Zayed University, Adnan Amin – the interim Director General of Irena, and Gregory Barker – the UK’s Minister of State for Energy.

Also among others, platinum sponsors include Exxon Mobil, Total, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and the Alternative Energy branch of BP.

Certain facts about the 2010 summit:

• 24, 792 people attended;
• They came from 148 countries;
• 3,600 of them were CEOs or managing directors;
• 100 Official delegations attended;
• There were 145 keynote or expert speakers;
• And 600 companies from 38 countries exhibited their wares.

For more information or to register your company, please contact the summit organizers: http://www.worldfutureenergysummit.com

Other upcoming energy events in the Middle East:

World Future Energy Summit “WFES”

Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference

AGRAme 2011

The post 28 Days To World Future Energy Summit In Abu Dhabi appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Texas Star meets the Star of David: Two Lone Star states have a history of doing business together. They now look for clean tech opportunities.

While at first glance Israel and Texas may seem worlds apart culturally and in their approaches to business, consultant Arie Brish, an Israeli-American businessman who has spent more than two decades in the State of Texas, doesn’t see any dissonance. He sees tremendous potential for business deals between the two, especially in the emerging field of clean tech.

“There are cowboys in Texas and it’s very casual. Like in Texas and in Israel you don’t have to wear a suit and tie, and this combination fits the Israeli culture,” says Brish, who built his career and raised his family in the oil state after growing up in Israel.

He has spent more than two decades in the second-largest US state, working at Israeli high-tech companies, and later at his own company, and five years ago he was one of the founders of the Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

In February, the chamber had a big success, when it organized a delegation of 25 Israeli clean tech companies to Texas. It was the largest delegation of its kind to reach American shores expressly to coincide with a local conference. Brish says that deals are already in the works with the US state, which is number one in wind energy in America.

Although Texans are known for extravagant living, fueled by their lucrative oil industry, they are similar to Israelis in their keen interest in developing renewable energy, Brish says, adding that “Texas now produces enough wind power to power the state of Israel – about nine gigawatts.”

Personally representing Israeli clean tech companies, Leviathan Energy, and WindSL, the Israeli clean tech companies and their Texan matches are currently going through what Brish describes as a “pregnancy.” While they aren’t prepared to announce any deals, he says that they are in the works.

Connecting through clean tech and bio tech

Many of the Israeli companies that caught the eyes of Texan investors and strategic partners specialize in water technology, like metering company Arad Technologies (a smart grid like Greenlet) and wind and solar companies such as Interdan, which four years ago, in conjunction with the Ministry of National Infrastructure and the Negev Development Authority made the Palestinian Arab village of Drijat in southern Israel the first town in the world to be outfitted with a multipurpose solar electricity system that provides power to the entire village.

Notable speakers at the conference included Israel’s chief scientist Eli Opper, the lieutenant Governor of Texas, and the head of the Land Office of Texas.

Clean tech is still only a recent focus. The chamber has hundreds of members from both sides of the pond, comprising large Texan or Texas-based companies, organizations and individuals in various fields.

Beyond their mutual interests in developing clean technology partnerships and businesses, the two states share much in the biotech business in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, says Brish.

“The goal of our organization is for Israeli companies to open their US offices in Texas or create their US headquarters in Texas and there are a lot of good reasons for doing so,” he declares. “Of course it depends on the technology. Energy, oil and gas, now clean tech and water are big in Texas, as well as its medical business. The industry is advanced in Texas and it’s a good location for Israeli companies to do clinical trials,” he states.

Lone Star States are kindred spirits

Texas Governor Rick Perry told the chamber: “I want Texas to become the preferred location for Israeli companies doing business in the US. Like Texas, Israel has a long history of growing new technology companies through partnerships that include universities, government and private investors and entrepreneurs. Strengthening relationships between these two ‘Lone Star States’ will benefit our respective economies and increase understanding.”

The relationship is already two-way, with Texas exports to Israel totaling about $1 billion each year Brish says, mainly in high-tech exports from Dell, IBM and HP all of which have major facilities in Texas. “There is lots of military and defense [business] in Texas that goes to Israel,” he adds.

Interestingly, some American companies with a significant presence in Texas can also be found in Israel. Semiconductor Motorola spinoff Freescale has a large R&D center in Israel and Intel does, too. “All the big high-tech companies that have a big presence in Texas are also found in Israel,” Brish relates.

For that reason it’s not uncommon to see high-tech executives at Intel in Texas hailing from Israel. This is true for Freescale, Alon and Delek, the gas companies from Israel which have a major presence in Texas with their oil refineries and gas stations. Brish also mentions Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense company whose headquarters are in Texas.

Not to mention that the latest natural gas discovery in Israel was made in partnership with Texas energy company Noble Energy.

Twenty-one years ago when Brish first moved to Texas, there was virtually no activity between Texas and Israel. He says he watched the relationships developing over the past 10 or 15 years, but that since the creation of the chamber there’s been a surge in business cooperation. The opening of an Israeli economic consulate in Texas has been very helpful as well.

Informal, affordable networking

Brish estimates the number of Israelis living in Texas as being in the thousands, with many of them starting out at the massive University of Texas at Austin. “Younger people are coming to study and stay; they don’t go back,” he says.

His own involvement with Texas began when he worked for Motorola Semiconductors and moved to Texas with his Israeli wife. After leaving Motorola, he began his own startup and then become the CEO of an Israeli chip firm, Tehuti Networks.

Moving beyond the mindset of the Israeli who thinks that to do business in America you have to be in Silicon Valley, Brish managed to convince many of his high tech colleagues that Texas is the place to be. Now, with a clear business pipeline in place, doing business with Texas can include working with partners in Mexico, which he says can be a big bonus.

There are also political and religious explanations for the mutual attraction between Texas and Israel, according to Brish: “From a political point of view, Texans think like Israel in terms of homeland security; the culture of it. We talk to Texans and they understand our problems and why we do the things we do.

“Other angles that are less known, perhaps, are that the south in general is very religious; there are Christians, and they adore Israel,” he continues.

Brish who confesses to owning a cowboy hat that he doesn’t often wear, says that joining the chamber is an affordable and informal way to network with Israeli and Texan businesses and stresses that his door and email box are always open to new ideas and proposals.

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