2011-11-25 - From 28 November- 9 December, the world’s attention will be focused on Durban, the third largest city in South Africa, which will play host to the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) climate change conference.
25, 000 delegates are expected to attend the largest environmental gathering on the planet, in the coastal city of Durban- the number of visitors could be bigger in the city, than the first ever Soccer World Cup on the African continent, which the country hosted last year.
ABB South Africa’s participation for COP17 includes exhibiting ABB’s energy efficient and renewable energy technologies at the National Business Institute (NBI) exhibition, which will be a parallel event to the COP 17 climate change conference.
The 27-square metre corporate stand will showcase our technologies for renewable energy such as solar and wind, solutions for the water industry, smart grids and mega city solutions which assist in increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
As well as participating in various closely aligned events during the two-week long conference, ABB is running a special renewable energy campaign for the Bloomberg/Business Week magazine. 5,000 copies of the supplement will be available for delegates at the ABB exhibition.
“Technology can play a great role in climate change mitigation, this is why there is a need to focus on investing in renewable energy and energy efficient technologies,” says Carlos Poñe, Chief Executive Officer, ABB in South Africa.
“ABB as a global group active in more than 100 countries, has committed to cutting its own emissions. We are investing in areas such smart grid communications, data centre power optimization and wind farm efficiency, as well as developing technologies that help customers to do more with less,” Poñe says.
Delegates expected to attend the event include, heads of state, local and international non-governmental organisations, corporate organisations and international media.
In the run-up to the climate change negotiations, ABB South Africa’s COP 17 campaign included a carbon off-set project at Injabulo village, in rural Kwazulu Natal. Together with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), ABB sponsored a project to provide solar electricity for a centre that cares for orphaned and vulnerable children, run by Nurturing Orphans of Aids for Humanity (Noah), a non-profit organisation that cares for more than 28,000 vulnerable children and orphans of HIV/AIDS in the country.
Another major project was the distribution of the ABB sponsored puzzling climate change game, to more than 28,000 teachers in over 1000 previously disadvantaged schools in the country. The fun and interactive game, encourages debate around climate change and explores actions to help mitigate climate change.
ABB also hosted the NBI meeting on technology and intellectual property at the ABB South Africa energy efficient green building at Longmeadow, Johannesburg, a component that is on the agenda at the conference. ABB South Africa ran a stakeholder dialogue in August, where customers, business organisations, non-governmental organisations and employee representatives engaged in discussions regarding the organisation’s sustainability initiatives. The highlight of this year’s event was ABB’s programme of action and build up to COP 17.