PlanetArk 25 Jun 08;
SINGAPORE - Singapore's prime minister said on Tuesday that water security may be a source of conflicts, while launching an institute in the city-state to research Asia's water problems.
Lee Hsien Loong told water industry players at the start of a one-week water summit in Singapore that the provision of safe and cheap water was becoming harder because cities were growing bigger and global warming was having an effect.
The Asian Development Bank said in November that developing countries in Asia could face an unprecedented water crisis within a decade due to a mismanagement of resources.
"More and more cities and countries see access to water as a security concern and a potential trigger of conflict," Lee said.
Lee blamed the water scarcity on a lack of sound water management practices and called for more research and innovation in the sector.
The Institute of Water Policy (IWP) was launched at the opening of the water summit, and will receive S$7.5 million (US$5.5 million) in funding over the next five years from the government.
The institute will do research on water policy and water management issues and take on consultancy projects to advise governments and international organisations such as the World Bank. (US$1=S$1.368) (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Ben Tan)
World must manage water carefully: experts
Martin Abbugao, Yahoo News 24 Jun 08;
The world's water resources must be carefully managed to meet the needs of billions of people flocking to urban centres, experts said Tuesday at a conference on sustainable development.
Advances in water technology will play a key role in increasing supplies, but simple steps such as plugging leaks and conserving water at home are important, they said.
Tony Tan, chairman of Singapore's National Research Foundation, said the world was witnessing the biggest migration from urban to rural areas in human history, surpassing that in Europe and North America in the 18th century.
"By the end of this year, for the first time in history, more than half of the world's population will reside in urban areas," he told hundreds of delegates to the conference, which ends Wednesday.
"Most of the growth in urban areas has been and will be in developing countries, particularly in Asia," he added.
By 2030, analysts project that towns and cities in the developing world will account for more than 80 percent of the world's population, he said.
The shift was expected to strain transportation systems, housing and water supplies, and make it tougher to meet health and sanitation needs, Tan and other experts said.
Tan cited the example of China, which today has more than 660 cities, up from 220 cities some 25 years ago.
In less than 10 years, more than half of China's population, or 870 million people, were projected to live in urban centres, he added.
Assuming that new cities will be built to accommodate these people, it would mean the emergence of 40 new mega-cities, each equivalent to the current size of Beijing, he said.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said that despite strong economic growth, the Asia-Pacific region is home to 700 million people with no access to safe drinking water, while many more lack access to basic sanitation facilities.
"This is a very critical situation," Mori, president of the Japan Water Forum and Asia Pacific Water Forum, told the conference.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said water was increasingly seen as a potential global flashpoint, with the pace and scale of urbanisation intensifying the challenge of providing safe, reliable and affordable water.
"More and more cities and countries see access to water as a security concern and a potential trigger of conflict," Lee said in a keynote address.
"Global warming can aggravate this by altering existing water distribution patterns, intensifying droughts and disrupting the lives of millions, as is happening in Darfur," he said, referring to the Sudanese region where conflict broke out five years ago.
Fehied Al-shareef, governor of the Saline Water Conservation Corp in Saudi Arabia, said technological breakthroughs have enabled countries to recycle waste water and desalinate seawater.
But these technologies can be expensive, he added, suggesting that age-old measures such as controlling water leakages in the network and managing the use of water at home should also be emphasised.
"We have to manage the water demand," he said.
Political will was also key to tackling problems such as water shortages, said Feliciano Belmonte, the mayor of Quezon City, the most populated city in the Philippines.
Top climate scientists predicted last year that billions of people would face water scarcity and hundreds of millions would likely go hungry as damage from greenhouse gases changed rainfall patterns, punched up the power of storms and boosted the risk of drought, flooding and water stress.
Proper energy pricing crucial to sustainable development: PM
Institutes also launched for water policy research, urban development
Lee U-Wen, Business Times 25 Jun 08;
(SINGAPORE) Energy prices should not be subsidised and should ideally be set at levels that would encourage people to use energy wisely, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Speaking at the launch of three conferences yesterday morning, Mr Lee also announced the setting up of two institutes in Singapore - one to tackle water policy research, and the other to promote best practices on sustainable urban development.
The prime minister was addressing 5,000 delegates from 60 countries at the joint opening of the Singapore International Water Week, World Cities Summit and East Asia Summit.
'To achieve results in energy efficiency and conservation, it is important to get the economics right,' he said. 'Energy, whether electricity or petrol, should be priced properly and not subsidised.
'Ideally, energy should be priced not just at today's market levels, but also take into account the likelihood of a future carbon-constrained world, be it due to scarcer supplies of fossil fuels or a post-Kyoto regime to restrain carbon emissions.'The Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, came into effect three years ago. Countries that have ratified it promise to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
'This will provide the right incentives to avoid overconsumption and to economise on the use of energy,' said Mr Lee.
He cited the example of Denmark and Japan, both of which have high power prices and energy-efficient economies. And in the US, where energy prices vary across the different states, 'the states with prices above the national average invariably consume less energy'.
Mr Lee also reiterated the global call for more countries to shift towards clean energy such as wind and solar power.
But he made no bones about the difficulty of the task ahead. '(Clean and renewable energy) should be part of the solution, but realistically they lack the scale to replace more than a small proportion of fossil fuel use,' he said. 'Green power is also much more expensive than fossil fuels.'
Conserving resources alone is not enough to meet the challenges of sustainable development, Mr Lee said. Other elements that need to be in place are sound water management systems, good air quality and proper urban planning.
On Singapore's part, the setting up of two more institutes will help further research into water policy and urban development, with the goal of helping to keep cities liveable and provide drinking water and basic sanitation.
The Centre for Liveable Cities will bring expertise on urban development from the government, industry and academia together to discuss issues such as environmental management and sustainable transport solutions.
The Institute of Water Policy - under the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy - will carry out research and help expand Singapore's growing water industry cluster. The government will provide the institute with $7.5 million over the next five years.
Still on the topic of water, Mr Lee noted how access to water is increasingly regarded as a security concern and a potential trigger of conflict.
'Global warming can aggravate this by altering existing water distribution patterns, intensifying droughts and disrupting the lives of millions, as is happening in Darfur,' he said, referring to the Sudanese region where conflict broke out in 2003.
While the world as a whole is not short of water, there is a lack of clean, fresh water where people need it, and a lack of sound water management practices is a 'large part of the problem', said Mr Lee. 'There have been breakthroughs in water technologies, more so than in clean energy,' he said, noting that desalination, water reuse and other water purification techniques have become much cheaper over the years.
'More water is available, at the right price. With a workable funding model, it is possible to build and operate water factories on a sustainable basis. Proper pricing will also help discourage overconsumption and provide the right incentives for the private sector to develop additional sources of clean water to meet growing demand.'
Holistic route to sustainable development
Straits Times 26 Jun 08;
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke at the joint opening of Singapore International Water Week, World Cities Summit and East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities on Tuesday. This is an excerpt of his address.
SUSTAINABLE development has become especially important with urbanisation happening on an unprecedented scale.
In 1900, only 16 cities in the world had a population of one million; today, there are more than 400.
Cities are dynamic engines of growth, creating jobs and providing opportunities for a better life. But as cities grow, they also put tremendous strain on resources and create acute challenges for environmental sustainability. How can cities develop vibrantly in ways that are compatible with the environment over the long term?
At the heart of it, all cities strive for certain common goals in sustainable living - clean air, clean water, good living environment and efficient use of resources. These goals cannot be achieved in isolation. They require a holistic approach, integrated with sound urban management policies.
The first element of sustainable living is to conserve resources. It is especially important to conserve energy. This is both to minimise wastage and also because usually, energy derives from fossil fuel, and saving energy also reduces carbon emissions.
Energy efficiency should be factored into the way the whole city is designed, including its urban layout, buildings, transport system and industrial facilities. But few cities start from a blank slate. They have usually been built over the decades, even centuries, and have inherited physical structures and systems which have become part of their history and identity. These cannot be easily modified, much less razed and rebuilt from scratch. Such cities can still improve their energy efficiency - for example, by encouraging use of public transport, and not over-cooling or overheating buildings. But substantial improvements will take time.
It is important to get the economics right. Energy should be priced properly and not subsidised. Ideally energy should be priced not just at today's market levels, but also take into account the likelihood of a future carbon-constrained world, be it due to scarcer supplies of fossil fuels or a post-Kyoto regime to restrain carbon emissions. This will provide the right incentives to avoid over-consumption and to economise.
It is no coincidence that countries and cities where energy prices are higher also tend to use energy more efficiently. For example, Denmark and Japan both have high power prices and energy-efficient economies. In America, energy prices vary across the states, and those states with prices above the national average invariably consume less energy.
Another strategy is to shift towards clean and renewable energy, like wind and solar power. These should be part of the solution. But realistically they lack the scale to replace more than a small proportion of fossil fuel use. Green power is also more expensive than fossil fuels.
Nevertheless, technology is progressing steadily and gradually bringing down the cost of alternative energy. Cities should therefore adopt an evolving, creative response towards these new technologies. At the same time, R&D on clean energy technologies, including safe nuclear power, needs to be one important component of mankind's response to global warming.
A second critical element of sustainable living is water management. The supply and management of water is fundamental to every city. The ancient Romans built aqueducts that were masterpieces of engineering. Some Roman aqueducts are in use even today. In contrast, London in the mid-1800s was rife with waterborne diseases like cholera, until it built an efficient sewerage system, and stopped using the River Thames as an open sewer.
If providing safe, reliable and affordable water was difficult in the past, the pace and scale of urbanisation today have only intensified the challenge. More and more countries see access to water as a security concern and a potential trigger of conflict. Global warming can aggravate this by altering existing water distribution patterns and disrupting the lives of millions.
However, scarcity of water is rarely the sole problem. As a whole, the world is not short of water. But mankind is short of clean, fresh water, available where people live and need it. A large part of the problem is the lack of sound water management practices. It is not enough to build the best water treatment plants, and then neglect to protect the water catchments from squatters or pollution.
Ensuring a clean and reliable supply of potable water requires an integrated approach - from the reservoirs, catchment areas and water treatment plants, to the reticulation, sanitation and sewerage system.
R&D, technology and innovation also play a vital role in water management. There have been breakthroughs in water technologies, more so than in clean energy. In the last two decades, advances in reverse osmosis and membrane technologies have made desalination, water reuse and other water-purification techniques significantly cheaper. This has transformed the problem from an absolute resource constraint to a question of economics.
More water is available, at the right price. Proper pricing will help to discourage over-consumption and provide the right incentives for the private sector to develop additional sources of clean water to meet the growing demand.
A third element of sustainable living is to maintain good air quality. Air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and particulate matter not only affect the overall quality of life but cause respiratory ailments and many other health problems. This is a major problem in many Asian cities.
It is not possible for cities to completely eliminate harmful pollutants. But they should keep emissions within acceptable limits, guided by international scientific benchmarks. This depends on rigorous and impartial enforcement of the standards. Governments can reduce emissions by encouraging the use of cleaner and more efficient industrial processes, fuels and modes of transport.
However, air pollution is not a localised problem. Pollutants spread far and wide. Apart from domestic measures, governments need to work with one another to maintain good air quality. For example, Hong Kong is affected by pollution from the Pearl River delta, while South-east Asia is periodically blanketed by haze pollution from forest fires.
Such trans-border challenges require us to work closely with one another. The strong multilateral and bilateral ties built up among Asean countries have been important in this regard.
Finally, a good overall living environment must be founded on sound urban planning. North American and European cities urbanised over 200 years. Today, cities undergo a similar urban transition in just 10 to 20 years. These cities therefore need to build new urban infrastructure much more rapidly.
Indeed, the best cities do far more than provide basic infrastructure. They also plan for human-scale communities, where residents have easy access to amenities and recreational spaces, minimising the need to commute while maximising the opportunities for interaction.
Sustainable development is complex. There is no silver bullet. Trade-offs are inevitable. Good policies matter. Governments can achieve much by holistic, long-term planning, pricing and managing resources properly, enforcing standards and planning norms.
The sustainable development of cities is one of the key challenges of our time. Good governance is vital in tackling this challenge, and achieving the right balance between economic growth, environmental protection and high quality of life for urban dwellers.
The stakes are high and we have to get it right early.
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