Activism and Awareness

ResponsibleChina Podcast: Dermot O’Gorman, WWF China and “Go For Gold”

In this edition of the ResponsibleChina Show, I talk to Dermot O’Gorman of WWF China’s Go For Gold campaign, an initiative that that encourages Olympic athletes, National Olympic Committees, and individual tourists to offset the carbon emissions from their air travel to Beijing for this summer’s Olympic Games.

Listen to the podcast: 04-responsiblechina_-dermot-ogorman-wwf-china-and-_go-for-gold_.mp3

(Music credit: “Fresh,” by MadMaxXB from Garageband.)

To learn more about Go For Gold, visit the official site here.

On March 27th, 2007, WWF began a global campaign urging Olympic athletes to “Go for Gold.” That is, to donate the equivalent cost of the carbon emissions from their flights to meet the Gold Standard– or equivalent – offsetting projects. These include wind turbines in Madagascar, solar power projects in Costa Rica, biomass projects in India, and other energy efficiency initiatives. It is expected that China projects will begin soon.

By signing on, as individual athletes or an entire Olympic delegation, participants can become a member of the global team in the race against climate change. Even before the Olympic Games commence, these team members will already be taking home the gold for their efforts in offsetting their carbon emissions. WWF recommends the use of the following sales points for Olympic athletes and travelers to calculate their carbon emissions and to select offset projects:

www.climatefriendly.com
www.myclimate.org
www.atmosfair.de
www.nativeenergy.com
www.tricoronagreen.com

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Bio: DERMOT O’GORMAN, Country Representative, WWF China

Dermot joined WWF in May 1998. During this time he has worked as the Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Programme for WWF International in Switzerland, was the Regional Representative of WWF South Pacific Programme for 3 years, based in Fiji and as the Head of Government and Aid Agency relationships at WWF-UK in London. He currently is the Country Representative of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to joining WWF, Dermot worked with Government Environmental Agencies in Australia and England. including the the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Serive and the England Countryside Commission. He has two degrees in Environmental Conservation and an masters in Environmental Policy and Assessment from the London School of Economics. Dermot is Australian, is married with no children.

Background: WWF and WWF China

Since it was founded in 1961, WWF has become one of the world’s largest and most effective independent organizations dedicated to the conservation of nature. WWF now operates in around 100 countries, supported by nearly 5,2 million people worldwide.WWF has been active in China on the conservation of giant panda and its habitats since 1980, when it was invited by Chinese government as the first international NGO to work on nature conservation. In 1996, WWF opened its Beijing office and then set up its presence in eight other cities across priority eco-regions in China. Today, WWF China Porgramme Office has a staff of more than 80 working on conservation programmes, such as species, forests, freshwater and marine, climate and energy, education for sustainable development, wildlife trade and scientific development and international policy.Since 1996, WWF has invested more than 320 million yuan (USD 40 million) in over 100 projects in China.

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