IUCN Green Passport
Last Updated: 26th August, 2008

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IUCN Green Passport By Xavier Font 14th August, 2008

My guide to a sustainable Congress has been put together to help delegates make environmentally-smart decisions at different stages of their trip to and stay in Barcelona. It is part of the IUCN effort to practice what it preaches at this year’s event on sustainability and conservation. Download the passport at http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_guide_final_lowres.pdf

8,000 or so IUCN members and affiliates travelling from around the world to gather for ten days at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. Though we hope much will be gained from the meeting, we recognize that the travel, consumption and waste generation linked to the Congress have implications for the local and global environment.

Mainly at stake are:

• the global climate through the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated through the travel, consumption, and waste generation resulting from the Congress;
• biodiversity, due to links with the food and other products we consume—from fish to wine corks!
• the sustainability of local water supplies, as well as our paper sources.

Also at stake are time, money and energy.

This guide has been put together with these issues in mind. It aims to help minimize the adverse impact of participation in the Congress, individually and collectively, by providing delegates with a number of smart options that are relevant at different stages of the Congress.

Delegates will find guidelines on how best to plan their trip, from choosing how to get to Barcelona and where to stay, to packing their bags. And further along the line we take into account water use issues, species that invade suitcases and then new habitats, options for eating out responsibly, and some local cultural considerations