Since the Industrial Revolution started in the middle of the 19th century, carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere have increased steadily and dramatically from the burning of fossil fuels, namely coal, oil and gas, and to a lesser degree from methane and industrial gases.
 

This increase in CO2 from roughly 280 parts per million (ppm) prior to the Industrial Revolution to about 392 ppm today is having a dramatic impact on our climate, both warming our climate and altering our weather with more droughts and more very extreme weather events. Our sea levels are rising and entire countries are at risk of disappearing. If the Greenland glaciers fail, global sea levels could rise by 20 feet, swamping low level areas around the world.
- Excerpt from carbonfund.org
 

As part of its effort to help mitigate the green house effect and to address the issue of climate change, the Local Organizing Committee of FIG 2014 will be pursuing a home grown Carbon Offset Programme to plant trees in order to offset the price of progress by giving back to the environment.

Aptly named “Let’s Meet & Green”, this programme is an extension of the green campaign launched by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) on 9 November 2010 and helps enhance the commitment made by the Malaysian Government to offset our nation’s carbon emission by 40% by the year 2020.

A Special Carbon Offset Technical Tour, in collaboration with Malaysian Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), a primary supporter of this event will be organized. The organizer will invite the Presidents of Member Associations of FIG, FIG Council Members and Head of Delegations, including the Director Generals / Surveyor Generals attending the XXV FIG Congress in Kuala Lumpur to participate in the planting of trees at Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) (www.frim.gov.my) on behalf of the Congress delegates. The event will be as follows: -
 
Date: 18 June 2014
Time: 11.00 – 14.00 (including lunch on site)
Venue: Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong, Kuala Lumpur

Invitees will be transported from Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to FRIM in Kepong, 16 kilometers north west of Kuala Lumpur via the Middle Ring Road. FRIM was founded in 1929 and sits in a campus of 544.3 hectares of tropical rain forest and further surrounded by Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve. FRIM is a haven for nature lovers to enjoy fresh, serene ambiance away from the city of Kuala Lumpur.

Presidents of Member Associations, Head of Delegation, Director Generals/ Surveyor Generals and Delegates are encouraged to contribute to this Carbon Offset Programme by filling in the Registration Form via www.fig.net/fig2014/registration

Help Save Our Earth!

All contributions will be channelled towards FRIM’s tree planting activity. The FIG President CheeHai Teo will present this contribution to representative of FRIM on the day itself. The trees will be maintained by FRIM and if for some reasons the trees are to be replanted, FRIM will undertake to replant them. Everyone are welcomed to view the progress of the trees through the years by revisiting the site in future.

Further details can be reached via email to Ms Liz Azwan, Executive Secretary FIG 2014 at lizazwan@icloud.com