It's a green gathering

Some 700 parliamentarians from around the globe are arriving in Dhaka to take part in the 136th Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and this would cause carbon emission.

But the organisers have vowed to make the annual assembly a carbon neutral one by giving some people in Bangladesh better cooking stoves.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, president of IPU, told The Daily Star that they would calculate the total carbon footprint once all the guests arrived and then devise a way to neutralise it.

He added they would calculate the carbon footprint on April 4 or April 5 during the conference.

“The delegates are arriving by aircraft which emits carbon dioxide ... The total amount of carbon to be emitted in the process of carrying the delegates will be calculated and neutralised. This is important for sustainable development,” he observed.

The IPU, the world's largest parliamentary platform, has decided to neutralise the carbon footprint to turn the gathering into a “green assembly”.

Saber said they were planning to distribute improved cooking stoves among people as part of neutralisation of the carbon footprint.

Referring to a study, he said air pollution in Bangladesh kills around 80,000 people every year. That is why they are planning to distribute improved stoves among the people.

“We are planning to distribute improved cooking stoves to the people who use traditional stoves. We will give a better technology to those who are using improved stoves,” he added.

The type of fuel for the stoves has not been decided yet.

Saber said the objective was basically to keep harmony between consumption and conservation.

The IPU president further said that after calculating the carbon footprint, they would collect money through mobilisation including donation, corporate social responsibility fund and so on.

“It will be the first such kind of green assembly in Bangladesh, which is one of the worst victims of climate change...”

He said the improved stoves would be given to the people free of cost but could not say exactly how many stoves would be distributed.

Saber added that they had launched an app “IPU136” to avoid use of paper during the assembly. All the updates and information about the assembly would be available in the app.

As many as 1,348 delegates from across the world would join the assembly which would create a huge carbon footprint.

Founded in 1889, the IPU, a global organisation of parliaments, works to establish democracy, peace and cooperation among people.