Last week, 26 000 conference delegates descended on the city of Abu Dhabi to talk renewable energy, clean technology, and generate a fair amount of exposure for what has been called the richest city in the world.
The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) made all the right noises: leaders like UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon addressing the youth, a future energy prize for outstanding contributions to sustainable energy, and a “project village” for developers to showcase their innovations.
I don't know what went on in the conference halls and corridor conversations in between. Perhaps the summit was constructive in many ways. But the impression created by the beaming press releases and grinning headlines was one of high-sheen frosting on a cake with a gaping hole in the middle.
Lots of dough was doled out to worthy causes, as was praise for the visionary city of Masdar - a hi-tech, zero-carbon metropolis standing half-built in the desert. Maybe they were hoping the flow of cheques would distract from the irony of the world's fourth-largest producer of oil hosting a summit on sustainable energy.
Yes, the city can be commended for raising awareness and funding for future energy initiatives, and has made some strides to diversify its oil-based economy. But it's what happens when the cameras aren't rolling, when everything returns to “normal”, that reveals the root of our energy concerns.
For example, delegates could spend a morning engaged in discussions on solutions to climate change, only to break for refreshments, and lunch, and refreshments again (sponsored by the irrepressibly generous ExxonMobil). If you think of the logistics involved in keeping 20-odd thousand people fed, hydrated and air-conditioned for four days, it's not exactly a carbon-light exercise. Those who didn't make use of their own cars were carted around by taxis and shuttles, and with 30% of attendees coming from outside the UAE, that's around 8 000 flights there and back.
It's in the everydayness of things where the heart of sustainability really lies.
Lezette Engelbrecht, online features editor, ITWeb
The problem is not the events themselves or the discussions they facilitate, it's in the everydayness of things, where the heart of sustainability really lies. If the basics of conference proceedings - transport, accommodation, catering, services - are not designed and delivered in a carbon-friendly way, the messages being preached from the podium fall flat once you leave the meeting hall. It's like serving cocktails during breaks at an AA conference.
The WFES is by no means the only culprit. Thousands of similar conferences of varying scales are held around the world each year, and while the intention may be greater efficiency, the execution is often anything but. A delegate to the recent Cancun conference recalls being the only passenger in a bus for 40 people.
How do we begin to talk about future efficiencies when present practices aren't even close? Technology has brought a myriad of ways to meet virtually, without the costs and emissions involved in travelling and accommodation (not to mention time and productivity). Granted, certain leaders may need to meet in person, but surely not tens of thousands of attendees?
So the energy summit serves as another well-meaning, but passing event in a year, which will see little in terms of real change. And therein lies the rub. As long as sustainability is the exception rather than the rule, a topic for special conferences, a “future” concern, even the most promising innovations will not take off. Because in the majority of households, in the majority of cities, in the majority of the world, energy efficiency just isn't the norm.
The reality of the problem was reflected in Ban Ki-moon's speech, in which he noted that energy advancements aren't reaching citizens in developing countries, where 1.6 billion people are without electricity. Nevertheless, energy consumption could rise by 40% within two decades.
“Our challenge is transformation,” he said. “We need a global clean energy revolution - a revolution that makes energy available and affordable for all.”
And that revolution is not going to come without a shift in behavior. In places with the education and resources and access to technology, these changes will be facilitated more easily. But without effort on our part, no technology in the world can save the future, because the one thing it doesn't have the power to change is we ourselves.
It took huge campaigns from government, NGOs, private institutions and the media to bring about changes in the approach to issues like HIV/Aids and smoking. Everyday attitudes to energy use are not going to change without the message being driven home over and over again that this has a significant impact and that every individual makes a difference.
Summits and meetings play a key role, but without a solid base of efficient practices, they serve as mere filling and frosting for a sunken cake. And future generations will be left to judge the results - the proof of the pudding, after all, is in the eating.
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