Who cares?

I need to buy a car. I have been looking for months, and still can’t decide which model to go for. Do I purchase the tiny Peugot… or the monstrous Prado? My conscience tells me I should go for the small car to save gas and reduce my carbon footprint. But i just don’t care enough. I want to drive down Shaikh Zayed Road sitting four feet above ground. I want to feel powerful when I roll up to the hotel valet. And, when the parking lot is full, I want to drive on the curb and park wherever I like.

We all want to care about the environment. But wanting to care is not enough. The only thing that will make us change, really change, are incentives strong enough to slap us in the face.

What better incentives that the price of fuel and the slow moving traffic that guzzles it up? The cost of petrol is only going to increase – perhaps an environmental blessing in disguise. Companies such as UPS are examining their routes, finding ways to reduce their kilometres. DHL, sources tell me, is even looking at sending couriers through congested areas such as Deira on pushbikes, or in some cases on foot.

Many of the integrators have plans to convert their vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG), a purported clean alternative to gasoline and diesel made by compressing natural gas by about 75 per cent. TNT is finishing the trial of its first conversion and has committed to at least two more CNG cars in Abu Dhabi. DHL has two CNG vehicles in the UAE and UPS has said it plans to convert 10 to 15 per cent of its local vehicles in 2008.

But CNG has a drawback. Because it is stored in cylinders, the facilities required for its distribution are hard to find in the Middle East. I have heard Abu Dhabi and Dubai have two CNG refuelling stations each, but this, according to the integrators, is not enough. DHL, for example, says it would convert its entire fleet to CNG if the proper infrastructure was in place. TNT says the limited numbers of approved compressed natural gas technology providers in the market is its biggest obstacle to running a CNG fleet. UPS says it is looking into options, which will allow it to refuel CNG vehicles on site, but is still awaiting government approval. It costs around DH 9,000 (around US$ 2,500) to convert a standard vehicle to CNG , according to Syed Atif Ali, TNT’s AMEA CSR Manger. But, he says, the investment pays for itself with returns on mileage

I think many of us fail to realise that going green can actually be cheaper in the long run. Using innovative ideas to light and cool buildings, for example, can not only reduce COx emissions, but bring down your energy bill. What is it going to take for all of us to get this concept in our head? We might need a little regulatory help from our governments. Dubai, for example, recently passed a law requiring all residential and commercial projects to follow green building standards. While I’m unsure if this policy is being implemented 100 per cent, I have a feeling more of such rules are on their way throughout the region.

Government aside, many of your potential clients could soon start requiring you adhere to particular environment standards, as demonstrated by the Masdar project. Suppliers and logistics providers who open themselves to these policies will thrive, but those who fail to change could fall out of the market. You may not care that much about the environment now. But something tells me, in a few years, all of us will have to.