FA OCTIDINGS APR10 - Oceana Group

y Kevin Changoo
Outcome of COP17
Last year, South Africa played host to The United
Nations Climate Change Conference from 28 November
to 11 December 2011. The Conference drew over
12,480 participants, including over 5400 government
officials, 5800 representatives of UN bodies and
agencies, intergovernmental organisations and civil
society organisations, and more than 1200 members of
the media. Stirring a sense of history and leadership, the
South African hosts challenged negotiators in Durban,
the host city, to embrace the spirit of Ubuntu or interdependence.
The conference involved a series of events, including the seventeenth
session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the
seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the
Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 7). True to the spirit
of South Africa, the 13 day event called for a rich mix of people and
organisations working on climate change.
Negotiations over three consecutive nights resulted in the
adoption of 19 COP decisions and 17 CMP decisions and the
approval of a number of conclusions by the subsidiary bodies. These
outcomes cover a wide range of topics, notably the establishment of
a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a decision on
long-term cooperative action under the Convention, the launch of a
new process towards an agreed outcome with legal force applicable
to all parties to the Convention, and the establishment of the Green
Climate Fund (GCF). The GCF will act as an operating entity of the
financial mechanism of the Convention and is expected to mobilise
US$100 billion a year by 2020.
For the first time both developed and developing countries have
agreed to be covered by a legally binding treaty. A roadmap has been
developed towards achieving an agreement by 2015, a year after the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change updates the scientific
picture, and ensuring it is ratified globally by 2020. This was decided
with the backdrop of ever more gloomy and increasing accuracy of
climate change data as scientists are able to forecast temperature
increases and impacts with increasing certainty.
“We did not inherit the land from our
forefathers; instead we borrowed it from our
children.” - Native Indian Proverb
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y A N D W E L L N E S S
Companies globally are challenged to balance
competing demands, such as increasing shareholder
value, with sustainable business practises. As such,
Oceana recognises that practises introduced today have
long term impacts for future generations and that its
operations impact the environment significantly. The
company has thus commissioned a study on the fishing
industry’s role in adapting to climate change.
This past financial year marked the second year in
which Oceana participated in the Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP), which encourages companies to measure and disclose
their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Oceana continues to seek
innovative ways of managing GHG emissions and improving its water
usage and conservation efforts in all its operations. In terms of the
companies Environmental Policy, factories and vessels are required to
minimise usage of fossil fuels and emission of gases, particulate
materials, odours to the atmosphere and are in compliance with
conditions imposed by legislation.
“Waste not the smallest thing created, for
grains of sand makes mountains...” - E. Knight
Oceana has a continuous drive to achieve reduced energy
consumption through revised operating procedures and technological
advancements, recycling and using renewable and nonrenewable
resources, which results in the reduction of the group’s
carbon footprint.
With this high level of ambition and continued improvement,
Oceana’s response to carbon footprint reduction should evoke pride
and achievement to all its employees and stakeholders.
Photographs of the COP 17 in Durban as it appears on the website www.inhabitat.com.
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