Climate Change: Mitigating Its Effect
Khairunnisa Ibrahim, Brunei Times BruneiDirect.com Mar 08
Brunei-Muara - Climate change is a very real issue that needs to be addressed because of its impact on human, ecosystems and the environment.
This was shared by Professor Victor Savage from the National University of Singapore (NUS), who gave a talk on climate change and mitigation issues yesterday at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
He said that it would take the concerted effort of all, especially the multi-national companies and the most developed countries in the world, to mitigate its effects, not only in terms of reducing emissions, but also deforestation and ecological footprints.
Here on the invitation of UBD's Geography Department, the NUS lecturer enlightened the audience on the different theories on climate change and global warming, the impact of the changing climate and weather patterns' and what needs to be done to mitigate these impact.
Among the impact mentioned were rising sea levels, widespread health problems, food security, water stress, species extinction and extreme weather.
To illustrate how climate change contributes to worsening health, Savage used Singapore as a case study, noting that in the densely-populated city-state, rising temperatures cause tropical diseases like dengue and malaria to become more widespread. The problem is exacerbated given the country's compact settlements.
One of the ways to mitigate climate change, said Savage, is by putting the focus on the main culprit, the biggest producers of greenhouse gases.
According to Savage, the worlds richest make up 20 per cent of the population, but produce 80 per cent of global income and output. Among the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide are the United States, European Union countries, China and India.
In terms of per capita emissions in 2005, Singapore had the second highest, producing 35 tonnes of carbon per person annually.
Singapore and Brunei both have high per capita carbon emissions, said Savage. This is due to two reasons: the countries' small populations and large oil and gas industries.
Energy systems should also be switched to those that are cleaner, safer and more effective, and that encourage the use of hydrogen energy vehicles and public transport to reduce harmful emissions.
Other mitigation measures mentioned include having benchmarks for environmental management, related laws and regulations and political sustainability.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
