Walk the talk and consume ethically

Straits Times Forum 10 Jun 09;

IN A report co-published this year by the World Wildlife Fund and the University of Queensland, Australia, the impending loss of livelihoods induced by climate change in six countries in the Coral Triangle was highlighted.

The Coral Triangle is an area of coral reefs and mangrove rich in biodiversity. It spans Sabah, Indonesia, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste.

As the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, the oceans will become more acidic. This will result in the bleaching of the highly sensitive corals which are home to numerous fish species.

Although this region is so close to Singapore, and although Malaysia comprises part of the region, it is disappointing that neither country was involved in the report's authorship.

The report emphasises the need to protect livelihoods of the people dependent on the biodiversity in the Coral Triangle. How is this related to Singapore?

Well, the authors of the report say that the live fish trade for restaurants in major Asian cities 'involves cartels that provide boats to impoverished people who then over-harvest large fish from remote coastal areas (for example, Napoleon wrasse and groupers), which are shipped to major cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore'. (Hoegh-Guldberg et al, 2009)

Much as these cartels provide short-term income to the people, they diminish the sustainability of fish stocks in these communities by perpetuating harvesting of the resource way above the optimal sustainable yield.

Furthermore, they unnecessarily put an artificial price on fish. Local communities are pushed to resort to desperate measures to harvest more fish, such as blowing up patches of coral.

Promoting sustainability in Singapore should not be only a matter of conversational fodder, nor should it be only a matter of academic or corporate interest. It should be about the way we live our lives.

Despite Singapore's small geographical footprint, and although Singapore is distanced from immediate environmental impacts thanks to its geographical location and the meticulous work of its Government, its environmental footprint remains large. Decisions made by rural communities in the Asia-Pacific region are inadvertently influenced by the dollar power of this little red dot in South-east Asia.

Admittedly, Singaporeans are a nation of shoppers and consumers. One of the ways we can walk the sustainability talk then is to exercise our judgment in our daily decisions to consume ethically.

Lau Ying Shan (Miss)