Share the Ride, Cut the Carbon? Yeah, right.

So way back at the end of November/ beginning of December, Doha welcomed over 15,000 participants to the UN Climate Change Conference www.cop18.qa.  I think Doha has forgotten. The global coverage of the conference was very complimentary and Qatar has been congratulated for its efforts and commitment to sustainability. But during the conference week, residents and conference attendees were wondering why this city was chosen to host. Their track record for environmentalism is not nearly as positive as the news coverage of the COP18 event. In fact, they have the worst per capita carbon dioxide emissions of any country in the world. Not exactly something to proud of. What wasn’t widely reported in the positive global news reports was the fleet of buses forever racing back and forth between the hotels and the convention centre with only a few passengers on them; even worse, the buses sat idling for hours with the AC on so that the six or eight passengers would ride in a comfortable temperature. 

Idling for hours...

As the richest country in the world, Qatar likes to spend money. On some worthwhile things and on lots of frivolous things. I am encouraged to know that money is being pumped into “green” projects here, but the everyday behaviours of residents is so far from green, that I predict that the new projects will struggle to succeed. It will take time to transform these behaviours.

Start with an easy one. Recycling. There is none. No pick up. No recycling bins at the ex-pat compounds. No recycling bins at our school. As a BC girl, I like to recycle. When we first arrived, we struggled to find any recycling bins, but we did eventually find some at Dahl Al Hamam Park, Katara and University of Calgary Qatar. We try to collect our recycling at home, load it into the car and drop it off at the bins. Sadly, the bins are often full and overflowing, so we have to bring it home again. But perhaps the most discouraging thing is the rumour that the “recycling” from the bins is just taken to the dump. 

Even worse, Qatar burns its garbage every evening (oh, except during the week they hosted COP 18). Check out this link:  Doha Burning

It will take a long time to change behaviours in Qatar, but in the meantime, we still make sure that our own boys remember to be green. Well, as green as is possible in the desert.