Environmentalists in Beijing have launched a campaign to promote environmentally-friendly, or green, travel during the week-long May Day holiday.

 

China Youth Daily on Tuesday reported the campaign has been launched by Conservation International, the Global Village of Beijing and the Chengdu Research Base for Breeding Giant Pandas at Beijing's Zhongshan Park.

 

The campaign is designed to teach travelers what they can do to protect the environment during the Holiday, in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

 

Peking University Professor Lv Zhi says people need to pay close attention to how their travel plans may influence global warming as some forms of transport can emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.

 

Sun Shan from Conservation International says there are currently no Chinese standards for environmentally-friendly travel. The campaign is designed to help tourists consciously act to protect the environment. It is based on the Chinese tourist industry and draws on international best practice.

 

The campaign was launched on Tuesday. It advises travelers to arm themselves with information before they start traveling, to take action to offset their carbon dioxide emissions and to refrain from littering.

 

The Financial Times on Monday reported the International Energy Agency has predicted China will overtake the US as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases either this year or next year. Despite this, China's per capita carbon dioxide emissions are still relatively small, around an eighth of the volume emitted by the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

 

The Minister of China's Meteorological Administration, Zheng Guoguang, says per capita carbon dioxide emissions are still growing rapidly in China. Global warming may have already caused some unusual events in China, including the recent heavy snowfall in Shenyang, the serious drought in Chongqing and frequent sandstorms in Beijing.

 

Sun Shan says everyone can log onto the “Hi, Nature!” website at www.hinature.cn and calculate the amount of carbon dioxide their trip will produce. It is the first Chinese website that allows users to calculate carbon dioxide emissions produced by travel.

 

To encourage more people to join the green travel campaign, Conservation International will donate 0.5 yuan to a tree-planting project every time someone logs onto the "Hi, Nature!" website.

 

Around 100,000 Chinese people are expected to participate in the campaign.

 

 

(CRIENGLISH.com April 25, 2007)