中国气候变化信息网 China Climate Change Info-Net

 
A UN climate conference is currently going on in Bali, a resort island of Indonesia. The meeting is tasked with setting down a "raodmap" for negotiations on a new deal on tackling global warming.

During the two-week United Nations Framework convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a lots of meetings and negotiations are under way to discuss climate change related issues and measures on how to tackle the problem.

The following are three technical terms which might help readers understand the climate change related issues better:

1. Carbon footprint: Carbon footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced. It is measured in units of carbon dioxide.

It is meant to be useful for individuals and organizations to conceptualize their personal (or organizational) impact in contributing to global warming. A conceptual tool in response to carbon footprints are carbon offsets, or the mitigation of carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy or reforestation.

The carbon footprint can be seen as the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. Specifically, a carbon footprint is usually expressed as grams of CO2 equivalents, which accounts for the different global warming effects of different greenhouse gases.

2. Carbon neutral: Carbon neutral refers to the practice of balancing carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, with renewable energy that creates a similar amount of useful energy, so that the carbon emissions are compensated, or alternatively using only renewable energies that do not produce any carbon.

It is also used to describe the practice, criticized by some, of carbon offsetting, by paying others to remove or sequester 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted from the atmosphere, -- for example by planting trees -- or by funding "carbon projects" that should lead to the prevention of future greenhouse gas emissions, or by buying carbon credits to remove them through carbon trading. These practices are often used in parallel, together with energy conservation measures to minimize energy use.

When an individual or an organization sets out to become carbon neutral, it is usually achieved by a low carbon economy, combining limiting energy usage and emissions from transportation, as well as from buildings, equipment and processes; obtaining electricity from a renewable energy source; offsetting the remaining emissions that can not for the moment be avoided or generated from renewable in a responsible carbon project, or by buying carbon credits.

3. Food miles: Food miles are the measure of the distance a food travels from field to plate. Agriculture and food now account for nearly 30 percent of goods transported on our roads.

This travel adds substantially to the carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to climate change - which is why food miles matter. A new report by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says that food miles rose by 15 percent between 1992 and 2002.