As civil society host of the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition is making a conscious effort to ensure the environmental impacts of this meeting are minimised. 

This gathering is believed to be the largest disarmament meeting that the New Zealand government has ever convened with approximately 160 civil society participants from 38 countries and diplomatic representatives from more than 100 governments traveling to New Zealand.  The greenhouse gas emissions caused by this air travel are one concern (a roundtrip airticket from the London to Wellington accounts for 7754kg CO2 and costs approximately USD$200 or GBP100 to offset). 

The global Cluster Munition Coalition has agreed to make a financial contribution on behalf its staff and sponsored participants to “Manawa Karioi,” a 12-hectare ecological restoration project on the edge of the suburb of Island Bay in Wellington that aims to increase biodiversity in the area.  This is not an officially-sanctioned carbon “off-setting” project, but rather a unique opportunity to make a sustainable contribution to a local community development initiative.  Contributions will be collected throughout the week of the conference and a delegation from the CMC will handover the donation to Tapu Te Ranga Mara (a Maori community house) at the conclusion of the meeting.

Civil society participants have been booked into accommodation located within easy walking distance of the conference venue and are encouraged to use local public transportation.

Another environmental consideration is the amount of printed materials and other resources that will be disseminated over the course of the conference.  The NZCMC has sought to reduce the amount of paper that it produces and disseminates by advertising its public events on the website and through email alerts, as well as by putting core documents on flash drives for civil society participants.  Our promotional banner is made from biodegradable materials and most publicity flyers are printed on recycled materials.

Where possible, we have sought to support local businesses including accommodation, transportation, and restaurants.  We are grateful for the support that we have received locally including donations from the (locally-owned) New World Metro supermarket, fresh fruit from Common Sense Organics, and fairtrade products from Trade Aid.  We are encouraging our participants to drink Wellington’s tap water, which is safe and tasty, by providing them with special water bottles that can be reused. We are providing canvas bags as opposed to plastic ones for use by our participants.  The T-Shirts produced to identify our volunteers have been sourced from a fairtrade provider.

16 Feb 08

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