Sustainable development is a priority for most developing countries, including Swaziland. The Convention’s (UNFCCC) ultimate objective considers enabling economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner. In addition, Swaziland has a priority for poverty reduction and hence is aligning all her developing path to the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

For long term sustainability of development it is important that the world at large adopts a clean development path. As climate change impacts tend to have economic and developmental consequences, for sustainability the world over needs to approach development in a way that will not compound the climate change problem, putting stress on development. This means we need to take a greenhouse gas neutral development path, often referred to as carbon neutral. To accomplish this, the whole world needs to work together at national, community, industrial, domestic and personal levels.

National

Countries need to ensure that all policies are in line with climate change. They need to guide development such that greenhouse emissions are minimised and vulnerability to inevitable climate change is minimised through optimal adaptation options. There is also need for the countries to make sure that their populace is aware of climate change, what they can do to address and cope with climate change.

Community

Communities need to make sure that their communal systems are in line with addressing climate change. For example, they can make sure that their communal grazing land is well managed, forests in the area are not over exploited, their communal waste management systems minimise the emission of greenhouse gases.

Industrial

Industries need to work towards reducing their carbon foot print. Measures towards achieving this are often in line with ISO standards. Some of the measures that can be taken are:

• Making sure that boiler systems are in good working order and used according to specification. They can also use their biomass waste as a fuel. While contributing towards the mitigation (reduction) of greenhouse gases, such a measure may also be reducing production cost.

Domestic and Personal

There is a lot that we can do at a personal level that can help contribute towards reducing greenhouse gases. It may look like the contribution is insignificant, but if we all act responsibly, the small contributions will add-up to a significant reduction. Most of the actions also have economic benefits, sometimes over a long period. Here are some examples:

• Switching off appliances that are not in use

Most homes in the urban areas have a lot of appliances that are often left on the mains even when not in use for a long time. These include computers, microwaves, television sets, radios, etc. When on the mains most of these appliances draw some power. The drawn power may seem insignificant, but over a long period is significant. If these appliances are removed from the plugs, not only will we save some electricity, but we also minimize the risk of these appliances being damaged in case of power surges that may arise.

• Efficiently lighting/heating/cooling of living spaces

The planning for efficient lighting, heating and cooling needs to start from house planning and construction. Windows need to be well positioned for receiving maximum natural light to cut on using electricity lights. This should be accompanied by the habit of opening blinds and curtains to allow natural light, before resolving to turn the lights on.

The houses should also be well oriented to optimise solar heating. For the southern hemisphere east-west orientation is recommended, with rooms that need to be warm facing the north, while rooms that need to be cool face the south. This should be accompanied by good ventilation to allow natural cooling, while minimizing the intrusion of cold drafts during colder days. We should also be in the habit of opening windows and doors to allow natural ventilation before using air conditioners and fans. During colder days the first option should be closing all doors and windows and keeping oneself warm using clothing and blankets before resolving to space heating.

Efficient lighting, heating and cooling will result in savings in electricity bills, thus reducing emissions from the generation of electricity. It also saves on the maintenance of the lighting, heating and cooling systems. In addition, discomforts that sometimes arise from using heating and cooling systems are minimised, and at times avoided.

• Efficient transportation

Most people need to move from one place to another almost on a daily basis. We commute to our work places, schools, shops, etc. We need to get into the habit of walking to these places if their within reasonable distance. While cutting on our transportation costs (bus fares, fuel costs, vehicle service costs, etc.) we also get much needed exercise and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and the emission of other pollutants.

Not all the places we need to commute to are within reasonable walking distance. In such cases we need to explore more efficient ways of commuting. These include using public transport, car-sharing, using small engine vehicles and efficient, well serviced vehicles. The Energy Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, also teaches ways for energy saving while driving.

The Kyoto Protocol has three financial mechanisms that were designed to help parties reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while allowing sustainable development to continue. These are:

• Joint Implementation
• The
• The Clean Development Mechanism

CDM

The Clean Development Mechanism is the only mechanism that allows developing country parties to participate.  The mechanism is based on the provision of Article 12 of the Protocol. Its purpose is to assist developed countries (Annex I) to achieve their emission reduction targets under the protocol through cooperation with developing countries (Non Annex I). At the same time the mechanism contributes to the sustainable development of the developing countries. The developing country implements projects, with the financial and/or technical assistance from a developed country partner, which have greenhouse gas reductions. In return for the assistance, the developed country partner benefit from the emission reductions, which are accounted to that country.