November 8, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 21, 1422

MARRAKESH (Morocco), Nov 7: Some campaigners insisted on going overland to Marrakesh’s U.N. conference on climate change, not because they are scared of flying, but because they are worried about what aeroplanes do to the planet.

Twelve campaigners from as far away as Norway and Finland spent up to three days on trains and boats to attend two weeks of talks on a treaty that would force richer countries to cut pollution.

“I’ve been worried for many years that these conferences contribute more to the problem than to the solution,” said Ben Matthews, an environmental scientist who travelled from Norway.

“Carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft per passenger are about the same as each person driving a car the same distance,” he said while attending the conference.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main gas blamed by scientists for causing global warming. It is a by-product of the burning of fossil fuels.

Matthews and others also travelled by land and sea to previous environmental conferences in Rio and Kyoto. They are planning to go to next year’s summit in Johannesburg without recourse to an aeroplane.

“If you just fly into these conferences you get totally engrossed in article 3.14 or whatever and you forget what climate change is about. I would encourage people to travel overland. You have wonderful experiences,” he said.—Reuters