The upcoming Group of Eight summit in Germany, where leaders will negotiate ways to tackle climate change, will produce 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, a study published on Sunday showed.
The study by consultants ClimatePartner for Der Spiegel magazine found that the total emissions from the June 6-8 summit would total about a third of those caused by last year's month-long soccer World Cup in Germany. "This is a conservative estimate," Moritz Lehmkuhl, managing director of ClimatePartner, told Spiegel.
The study showed that convoys of government cars transporting leaders and officials from the G8 industrialised nations to the venue in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm from the airport and back would use 7,138 tons of CO2.
Each G8 country is dispatching a delegation of more than 20 people, with the United States sending by far the biggest team, according to the study. They are also sending an armour-plated limousine for President George W Bush.
Guests from developing countries, Brussels and the United Nations will cause another 5,000 tons of CO2. Police, technical support staff, 4,700 accredited journalists and up to 100,000 demonstrators will contribute almost another 6,000 tons of CO2, said the study.