Hantu, the cone cemetery
from Singapore Nature and wild shores of singapore with more fishes
10 Fruit Trees of Pulau Ubin
from Running with the Wind
Lake Monster in Ubin?
from Manta Blog
Sumba Hornbill: Highly endangered
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Warming causes bleaching
Alit Kertaharja, The Jakarta Post 22 Jun 09;
A recent survey conducted by the Reef Check Indonesia Foundation (YRCI) revealed around 30 percent of reefs in northern Balinese waters have suffered mass bleaching.
Similar phenomena, found at several prominent dive sites in South Bali, experts believe were triggered by global warming.
The foundation's expert Jensi Sartin disclosed that, according to the resilient force theory, the mass bleaching was due to increasing sea temperatures. Coral reefs, which have a low level of ambient water movement, are more vulnerable to the impact of the changing temperature, which includes bleaching.
"Such conditions may *trap' the heat in the water which lead to the reefs' mass bleaching," said Sartin while carrying out the survey over the weekend at Pemuteran Bay in Gerokgak subdistrict, Buleleng regency.
The YRCI recorded that during April the weather around Pemuteran Bay was quite hot and bright, with little or no cloud cover. The hot sun shining on the surface of the sea had heated it up and released microscopic algae from the reefs, triggering the bleaching.
In theory, he stressed, the reefs could adapt quite well to such conditions. However, the reefs in the waters off northern Bali have already struggled against other threats, such as damaging sedimentation, waste and garbage disposal and powerful tidal waves. It is feared the presence of yet another threat, in this case global warming, will inflict massive damage on the reefs.
"It could damage several square kilometers of reefs," Sartin warned.
He said through direct observation of 11 reef locations in the island's western, northern and eastern waters, the YRCI found the level of reef bleaching in Pemuteran Bay, Lovina, Sembiran, Bondalem, Tejakula, Penuktukan, Tulamben, Amed, Padang Bay and Sanur was less than 10 percent of the total reef area. However, the surveying divers established that at the Bio Rock reef colony in Pemuteran Bay, the bleaching had affected more than 50 percent of the colony.
The survey showed at Spice beach, Sembiran beach, Bondalem, Tejakula and Penuktukan in Buleleng, the reefs' mass bleaching had reached up to 30 percent. Similar damage was observed on Karangasem's Liberty shipwreck, one of the island's most popular diving sites, and in Lipah beach, it was 40 percent.
"We have not yet received any reports of mass bleaching in Padang Bay and Sanur. Nevertheless, we are still on alert," he added.
Despite the global warming factor, the survey revealed the mass bleaching might also be caused by Drupella predator snails. The Drupella population has allegedly bloomed in Balinese waters since November. The Bio Rock Center said its diving team had pulled out 26,374 sea snails from one single dive site during a survey from early November 2008 until June 2009.
The YRCI conducts regular surveys to monitor the status of the country's coral reefs. In Bali, the survey is conducted with assistance from diving operators and volunteer divers.
Kim Rahn, Korean Times 21 Jun 09;
To Koreans, an attack by sharks as in ``Jaws'' used to be something that happened in other countries far away from here. But it may not be so now, as sharks have been seen along the coasts here in recent months.
The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute has warned vacationers visiting beaches to pay attention to sharks between May and September, saying the country is no longer a shark-free region.
The growing danger is due to rising sea temperatures and the expansion of warm currents to the peninsula. ``With the warm currents flowing toward the country, sharks' prey such as mackerel and squid, are coming to the coast, and sharks are following them,'' Kim Jung-nyun, a researcher at the institute, said.
Korea used to have reports of sharks in the Yellow Sea and sometimes off southern shores as well, but now sharks are found in the East Sea even though temperatures are relatively lower _ in February and March, two great white sharks were caught in fishing nets near Mukho Port, measuring 3.5 and 4.7 meters in length, respectively, and weighing 1 and 1.5 tons.
``Two sharks were caught in the early spring, even though the seawater temperature was not that high. Korea now needs to prepare for possible danger from sharks,'' Kim said.
According to the institute, great whites, shortfin makos, hammerheads, copper sharks and whale sharks are likely to appear off the Korean coast.
``On the west coast, there were six deaths from shark attacks over the last 20 years, and most of the victims were women divers. Korea has not had a report yet of a shark attack on a swimmer on the beach, but beach management authorities are coming up with preventive measures,'' Kim said.
Haeundae Beach in Busan, one of the most popular summer vacation spots, recently bought shark-repelling devices from Australia. The device, to be attached to jet skis, emits pulses of a 5-meter radius for six to seven hours, and can be used 45 meters below sea level.
Those enjoying leisure pursuits on the seashore, such as scuba divers, are advised to be careful. ``People are advised not to swim alone; at night; and when they are bleeding. When encountering a shark, they should not provoke it even if it is a small one, but just should get back to the beach quietly. It is also advisable for divers to tie ropes or belts on their ankles to make themselves look longer and bigger, as sharks do not attack an object larger than themselves,'' he said.
He also said that when a shark attacks, people are advised to hit its nose, where sensory organs are gathered, with wooden or iron poles, and then it will swim away.
Business Times 22 Jun 09;
This Week's Topic: Is there a business case for adopting green technology and/or green initiatives? Should businesses commit to becoming more green even if this means higher costs?
Jean-Marc Busato
Managing Director - Asia Pacific
Carlson Hotels Worldwide
MEETING industry standards and staying ahead of rising utility costs are some of the challenges confronted by the hospitality industry, and going 'green' could in fact be one of the best decisions made by a hotel.
Growing revenue by going green is where the green revolution is headed, for the hospitality sector. There is tremendous opportunity to build and cement customer loyalty by going green, as more and more guests prioritise eco-friendly travel and sustainable accommodation.
Wind turbines to generate electricity, and natural water filtration systems which allows rain water recycling are some forms of building sustainability technology available to hotels. At Carlson, environmental sustainability programmes are part of our commitment to conducting 'Responsible Business', and is starting to prove that if successfully implemented, can shape the bottom line performance positively. One of our hotels saved 1 million litres of water by using a technologically advanced and environmentally friendly cleaning method.
Ralph 'Skip' Boyce
President
Boeing South-east Asia
THE adoption of green technology and initiatives can have multiple benefits for a business. While the initial investment in these technologies may see a business incur additional costs in the near term, the long-term benefits of greater efficiency and operational cost reductions will more than outweigh the initial investment.
There is no better example to see this demonstrated than in the commercial aviation industry. Over the past 50 years, the introduction of new, more environmentally progressive technologies has resulted in the efficiency of commercial jets rising an astounding 70 per cent. This means that carbon emissions per mile flown have dropped 70 per cent and airlines have saved billions in fuel costs. As the industry leader, Boeing advocates the adoption of an efficiency standard for new airplane designs, which would help ensure that the industry continues to see the kind of technological and environmental breakthroughs we are pioneering with airplanes like the 787.
Peter Barge
Chairman
Jones Lang LaSalle
OUR company has outsourced real-estate contracts to over 100 corporate companies in Asia Pacific and the great majority have sustainability initiatives and many have published goals. While initially the driver may have been doing, or been seen to be doing, the right thing, today they are all fast discovering that large amounts of costs can be taken out by driving sustainability and energy initiatives.
In this environment it definitely makes great business sense and is one of the best ways to attack the cost base while at the same time benefiting the planet and our environment. Its a 'no brainer'.
Jonathan Yeo
Managing Director
Lexmark International
North East Asia & South Asia
I THINK adopting Green IT is not just about the environment and social responsibility. Green IT can actually translate into cost savings as well. Many people think they need to make big changes to adopt Green IT, but it can really be changing and doing small and simple things.
From an office printing/copying/ scanning/faxing point of view, 67 per cent of all corporations have no idea how much paper they consume.
An average office employee generates 13,000 pages a year. If you have 2,000 employees, this translates to 26 million pages or 16 acres of forest timber annually. One out of five pages is discarded unread. That's just from an environment point of view. From a cost point of view, an average employee generates approximately US$1,000 on output/pages annually. Again if you have 2,000 employees, that's US$2 million annually.
At Lexmark we implement what we sell to our customers in our own offices across Asia. We have managed to reduce our paper consumption by 45 per cent and our cost by 40 per cent.
There are three areas that corporations can adopt to achieve this;
1. Fleet/Device Optimisation;
# Multi function devices (copy, print, scan, fax), saves space, power consumption compared to having multiple devices;
# Having more A4 devices and fewer A3 devices, since 98 per cent of all office documents are A4. (A3 devices are significantly more expensive than A4 devices);
# Optimal sharing devices on the network compared to having individual devices in each office.
2. Pro-active Management
# Setting Duplex (double-sided) function as default.
# Tracking and authenticating every Copy and Print job via PIN number or swiping of employee cards. This reduces frivolous printing and copying significantly.
There is also no wastage as devices will only print when a user authenticates by physically walking up to the device. This also ensures confidentiality and security of documents.
# Tracking reports are then sent to various departments.
Usage quotas and limits can be set, costs can be billed back to individual departments.
3. Business Process Optimisation:
# the simplest example is scanning documents to an addressee's email as oppose to faxing it, where it incurs telco charges and paper consumption.
# there are also processes that can be integrated with Document Management systems and archival systems. An example is Bank account opening process where ID cards are photo copied on both sides, now need only be scanned together with all relevant documents and pre-programmed routed to the relevant back offices for processing.
In all our customer engagements, we have seen an average of 30 per cent to 55 per cent reduction in paper usage and cost reductions depending on industry. So 'Print Less, Save More' can really translate not only into savings and cost reduction, but it also helps us with our corporate social responsibility to the environment.
Chip Salyards
Vice-President
BMC Software Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd
IS there a business case for adopting green technology and/or green initiatives? Yes, and through virtualisation, BMC's IT organisation improved the utilisation of existing assets and minimised additional hardware purchases. In 2008, server reuse saved more than $5 million in avoided procurement costs. These efforts also reduced power consumption and data centre floor space requirements by 20 per cent.Â
Should businesses commit to becoming more green even if this means higher costs?
Rather than looking at greening IT as a formidable task with higher costs, think of it as an incremental and continuing process that will lead to substantial savings. Begin with a step that requires minimal capital investment and still delivers a huge payback in energy conservation. Use what you have in your infrastructure without having to buy new hardware.
David Leong
Managing Director
PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd
GOING green has a price tag. Question is 'Who is paying?' Â Whether the mantra calls out for the protection of the earth or it is about a 'Green Recovery' or 'Green Revolution', it must begin with a mindset shift. Â No matter how much technology, policies or whether there is a Kyoto Protocol defining a framework for environmental treaty, if Green Economics does not make sense, it will be a hard struggle for businesses.
Our environmental problems originate in the hubris of imagining ourselves as conqueror of earth but it seems we have become a cancer on nature with global warming and pollution getting awry and out of control. Somehow, with the advent of technology and ever increasing demand for oil, we are seeing some ruination of our eco-system and depletion of our own resources.  It does not matter if the oil price spiked at over US$140 a barrel or is at today's around US$70 a barrel, it does not dent the need for consumption.Â
Will the go-green efforts go the full extent, disregard business economics and be operable even at higher costs? For so long as it makes long term economic sense to the top and bottom lines of companies, whether it is the consumer demanding the green effort or the awakening of corporate consciousness, the effort will be pursued.
On the brighter side, the Green Economics seems to have developed a certain momentum with the stimulus, subsidies and protectionism for green energy in the US. Even China is taking a different tack with the building of more eco-cities to lead the Green Revolution. President Obama's push for American's industries to develop new kinds of energy and technologies will eventually pay off - both monetarily and environmentally. It is now left to be seen how the momentum will gather pace to ensure that everyone, from governments to consumers, will have that green mindset. Green initiatives can be implemented anywhere and by anybody.Â
Humanity is definitely on the march and I hope that our earth itself is not left behind. Â Â
Steven Phan
Country Managing Partner
Ernst & Young LLP
'GREEN' matters are rising on the agendas of businesses, stakeholders and regulators for good reasons that do not diminish in the current downturn. Forward-thinking companies truly understand that environmental and business sustainability go hand-in-hand. 'Green' programmes can optimise bottom lines through resource savings and provide financial benefits through greater operational efficiency. Green products and production processes are also more favourably demanded by increasingly discerning consumers in some markets.
Going green also improves company reputation and employer attractiveness, credibility with stakeholders and goodwill with local communities. While 'green' programmes can cost at times, the cost of ignoring them can be higher. Ultimately, companies - each unique - should seek to balance their business and 'green' priorities. And the important thing is to start thinking about it sooner than later.
Tan Yen Yen
Vice-President & Managing Director
HP Singapore
BEING green doesn't necessarily mean higher costs. Technology can significantly reduce energy bills and yield greater savings in the long run through more efficient management and providing a holistic view of energy consumption, but still reduce environmental impact.
With the use of appropriate technology, companies can better monitor and measure environmental footprints to meet regulatory commitments, including Singapore's goal to ensure that 80 per cent of government buildings are energy-efficient by 2030. Tools such as HP Thermal Logic help customers save energy costs in their data centre by combining accurate measurement and control with energy-efficient design.
Danny Teoh
Managing Partner
KPMG in Singapore
KPMG's 'Global Green Initiative' aims to reduce the combined carbon footprint of our member firms by 25 per cent in 2010 from a 2007 baseline, and green technologies and initiatives naturally form a part of this effort. This becomes even more important, when you consider that according to Gartner research, energy consumption costs may make up as much as 40 per cent of an organisation's IT operating costs by 2012.
Organisations can therefore no longer ignore the need for a commitment to balancing social and environmental performance with financial performance. This green commitment can sometimes become a differentiator, as more customers, trading partners and recruitment candidates increasingly evaluate the green credentials of the firms they choose to work for, trade with or invest in.
Albert Phuay
Chairman & Group CEO
Excelpoint Technology Ltd
BUSINESSES in general are waking up to the impact they are having on the environment and organisations have increasingly become more committed to environmental and social responsibilities. A key green focus in the electronics industry is to reduce the level of hazardous materials contained in electronic components and Excelpoint has been supplying our customers with lead-free components. In addition, we supply high-efficient components with enhanced power function which utilise less energy yet deliver higher performance.
Although green initiatives are primarily focused on saving the environment, it can bring about many immediate advantages such as reduced costs, improved performance and provide competitive benefits, all of which are even more relevant during this current economic downturn. Even if certain green initiatives such as the purchase of energy-efficient machineries and equipment may incur higher costs initially, the investment will yield good returns down the years.
John Ng
CEO
PowerSeraya
ADOPTING green technology should take into consideration not only the cost effectiveness of the solution or the initial significant investment pumped in, but also the long-term business benefits and positive environmental impact it has for an organisation's operations. Taking a long-term perspective to investments in green IT will help maximise gains from an efficient IT system.
At PowerSeraya, we have adopted virtualisation technology as part of our effective forward planning strategies to address our business needs and requirements. To date, the company runs about 100 virtual servers that sit on 10 physical servers. This has resulted in energy consumption savings of about 75 per cent and an avoidance of approximately 70 tons of carbon emissions per year. As an energy provider, we understand the value of energy and this 'green' IT strategy has proven to be sustainable and flexible in maintaining our business growth.
Brad Gray
VP of Asia South
Juniper Networks
IN every economic downturn, well-run companies look to cut unnecessary expenditures. In this climate, while it may be difficult to justify paying more for green technology, there are opportunities to save money in the long term by investing in green technology.
For some green investments (think compact fluorescent bulbs), the payback can be relatively quick; an awareness of how much you are spending on energy, what will likely happen to energy prices in the next 12-24 months and the energy efficiency (in terms of watts per unit of standardised work) of equipment you have in-house can help you find the green bargains you can afford, even in this economic climate. Saving the planet is a noble intent, and coupled with reducing the bottom line, makes it commercially compelling.
Goh Chong Theng
General Manager, Singapore
Rabobank International
AS a long-established financier of clean energy and carbon emissions reduction projects in Asia, Rabobank knows for sure that a business case for adopting green technologies exists in many industries.
The benefits can be realised in various possible ways. A green data centre, for example, can deploy IT systems in energy-efficient ways and on a large scale, thus simultaneously reducing power consumption and offering economies of scale. Perhaps this is why Fujitsu Asia, T-Systems and other leading IT vendors have established or announced green data centres in Singapore recently.
Green technologies may also generate additional revenue by, say, capturing heat and power from waste by-products. In some cases, this could provide an acceptable return on investment by itself.
Dollars and cents aside, greater adoption of green technologies could also help to bolster a company's corporate image. As we all know, energy and resource consumption are increasingly coming under close scrutiny from customers, shareholders or other stakeholders. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before companies with environmentally unsound practices are identified and portrayed negatively in media reports - which may adversely affect their financial performance.
Hence, it is becoming more and more important to adopt green technologies regardless of whether a business case exists or not. Still, we are seeing more and more of a business case in many industries, especially over the past three years or so.
Alan Koziarski
Regional Director
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE)
NEW business initiatives that incur higher costs probably wouldn't be approved in the current situation.
However there are low-cost 'green' programmes which can result in easily achieved cost savings. In New Zealand, Grove Mill's environmental commitment saw the winery challenge itself - to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give back by regenerating native forests. 'Investing' in carbon-neutrality also helped them achieve 120 per cent sales increase in a UK deal.
Occasionally, incurring higher costs is justifiable when a brand needs to have an environmental-friendly approach to tracing, labelling and production in order to remain in business. A good example is New Zealand company, Zespri. They track their carbon footprint from orchard to consumption, producing healthy fruit for a healthier planet. A similar carbon footprint study by Fonterra targets emission reductions from cow to customer. These efforts do incur higher costs, but are viewed as a long-term investment decision.
Loi Pok Yen
Group CEO
CWT Ltd
HISTORICALLY, the merchant class is despised for its obsession with profits with little or no regard for social responsibility. Fundamentally, the goal of a business is to make as much money as possible without breaking any laws. Thus, embracing green initiatives is only viable if it is illegal not to do so or there is a financial incentive to go green. Enforcement of such laws must also be effective in order to create a level playing field for 'green' businesses.
We are now in the middle of a recession and with survival being the No 1 priority, it is unlikely that businesses will become more green at a higher cost. It's tough balancing environmental responsibility and our duty to shareholders.
Leon Perera
Group Managing Director
Spire Research & Consulting Group
THE business case for going green has never been stronger. Though we are a long way from legally binding emissions targets, the Obama administration will tilt the global political consensus in this direction.
Firms that adopt green practices now will gain a competitive edge by being ahead of the curve when emissions-related laws are eventually tightened. Green corporate practices will also generate huge short-term benefits in terms of brand image enhancement with customers and employees as well as access to ethical investment funds. Lastly, many green initiatives also serve to reduce cost . . . but companies that 'greenwash' cost-reduction exercises will face a backlash.
Thomas McMahon
CEO
Singapore Mercantile Exchange
GLOBAL warming and ever increasing energy consumption costs make a solid case for adopting and implementing green technology and green initiatives. The benefits of using green technology far outweigh the higher cost of implementing them.
Not only do companies have a reduced carbon footprint but also are able to make effective utilisation of energy resources. The need for the day is for companies to become socially responsible towards the environment. SMX is committed to ensuring that our operations are environmentally-friendly through the adoption of green IT systems and energy saving initiatives.
Darren Thomson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Manulife (Singapore) Pte Ltd
IF green means more in terms of sales, profits, salaries and less in terms of price then I have a winning strategy and green is the direction I will go. This is such an interesting question because very few would disagree that making business more green is the right thing to do, and I am paid to do the right thing.
The paradox here is that doing the right thing is not always possible because something has to give financially. Either we do more, pay more or receive less for the same and that is a difficult outcome for most to accept. It's human nature after all.
In truth we all benefit from a greener business environment and most CEOs would do what they can when they can and if success were measured in terms of social responsibility then I for one would want to write that business plan.
I think where we can start is by integrating green objectives into the KPI of business leaders, management and staff as well as adopting a common sense attitude to the environment in both our work and social lives. By shaping greener habits, behaviour, and attitudes we shape culture and hopefully a greener society.
Subbaraju Alluri
CEO
Grey Group Singapore
WHY should it cost more to go green? Even if it does, it is certainly worth it. Green marketing has gained significant inroads into every market and across various target audiences. Ask my nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter!
The negative impact of carbon emissions is being felt around the world. Look at the climatic changes that are taking place - extreme weather conditions contribute to some very bad natural disasters. If as a business we can help reduce the carbon footprint, we will be in a better position to appeal to the global audience who are desperately asking for products that help reduce carbon emissions.
Of course, different markets respond differently to go green messages. Therefore it is important to understand specific market requirements before embarking on a go green strategy.
Yee-May Leong
Senior Vice-President Asia-Pacific
Orange Business Services
GREEN Technology does not have to be expensive. In fact, the opposite is true. Green technology gives companies an opportunity to reduce costs. For instance, in 2007, over 850,000 internal meetings within the Orange Group were held using video conferencing. It enabled employees to avoid making 1.7 million business trips.
If you compare the cost of deploying telepresence conferencing technology to the travel costs of actually going to meetings, telepresence wins hands down.
A 2008 study by the Climate Group estimates that ICT can reduce CO2 emissions by 15 per cent. At Orange, we have ICT initiatives to reduce our own carbon footprint in three areas: in travel, in our data centres and our buildings.
We use virtualisation technology to reduce the number of servers in the data centres and, in turn, lower energy consumption. This is relatively inexpensive to do. In France alone, Orange aims to reduce the number of servers by 40 per cent by 2010.
Orange uses ICT throughout the company to enable green business practices that promote collaborative work and paper-free workflow, optimise fleet management of vehicles, virtualise IT infrastructure and remote services.
In 2007, Orange reduced its CO2 emissions by over 200,000 tons. Greenhouse gas emissions affect people's lives. The world is challenged by threats of climate change, pollution and waste, and social inequity. This is the compelling business case.
Nick Lambert
Managing Director - Global Markets
Cable&Wireless Worldwide
ALL businesses are looking for smarter ways to manage their business today. Many of our customers realise that some initial capital investment and slightly higher short-term operating costs made towards environmentally friendly next-gen IT and Telecoms solutions could lead to significant medium and long term Capex and Opex savings.
Particularly, innovative telecoms solutions such as managed video conferencing, managed IP-voice and telecom expense management solutions minimise operating expenses related to travel and communication costs. By implementing these solutions, businesses not only become 'greener' but also provide a very sharp return on capital invested for their company.
Francois Lancon
President, Enterprise, EMEA & Asia
Nortel
CEOs today are rightly asking how much money they can save by using energy efficient technologies, not just how they can meet their environmental goals.
At Nortel, we demonstrate through our own network deployment just how these two goals are complementary. A global unified communications deployment saves us some US$12 million a year in communication and travel avoidance costs, and helps us reduce our carbon footprint substantially. In the last year alone, our technologies have enabled customers' energy savings to equate to taking more than 200,000 cars off the road. Sustainable green IT must make both economic and environmental sense in order to drive broad take-up and become a real agent for change.
Tan Teng Cheong
General Manager
Dell Singapore & Brunei
THE quick answer to this question is 'Yes, business should adopt green initiatives as it will help the environment both today and in the future'. Green technology can deliver a win/win scenario where we are doing the right thing for the environment as well as reducing costs within the business. One area where customers can go green and quickly see a return on their investment is in the data centre. By improving system utilisation and updating to newer, efficient servers our customers are dramatically reducing their power consumption and heat-loads . . . this all equals lower energy costs.
We recommend adopting the 'Performance-Per-Watt' measurement with Data Centre infrastructure as a simple method for our customers to gauge efficiency. For example, our recently launched 11th generation servers are leaders in this measurement and can provide over three times the computing power while lowering power consumption by over 20 per cent compared to the previous model.
On the virtualisation front, we at Dell have realised business savings of over US$29 million by virtualising over 5,000 servers. The impact is not just on hardware cost savings, but incremental savings from power and cooling and floor space. These are savings that can all add up towards impacting favourable business outcomes and bottom lines.
At Dell, being green is not only about producing energy efficient products. As a global environmentally responsible organisation, we aim to be the greenest technology company in the world. To this effect, we had achieved carbon neutrality in 2008. In addition, our Regeneration.org site continues to encourage people to be involved in taking care of the environment.
Wee Piew
CEO
HG Metal Manufacturing Ltd
I THINK the overiding objective for businesses is the pursuit of profit. Ultimately, shareholders invest in a business to make money. Hence, green objectives are best pursued by non-profit organisations. Having said that, there is a strong case for making money in the environmental or green industry. Consumers globally are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious and are more willing to pay more for products or services which are friendly to the environment. This opens up new business opportunities for companies which are willing to go the extra mile to meet the demands of this group of consumers. In doing so, they can turn a profitable objective into an environmentally friendly one as well.
Lim Soon Hock
Managing Director
PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd
IT is encouraging to note that more businesses are championing green technology initiatives, not just for cost savings, but because they see this as being socially responsible. The caveat here is consumer pressure and demand. Companies are market driven and unlikely to go green in their operating environment and produce green products, if there is no strong pressure and high demand from consumers.
While many laudable initiatives are already put in place, I believe more can be done to educate consumers on protecting Gaia, on a broader and deeper front in schools, the community and workplaces. This is also evident from the recent check by the Straits Times on 80 recycling bins, which uncovered non-recyclable waste in all of them. This highlights the current lackadaisical attitude of consumers and perhaps their lack of knowledge on the protection of the environment.
I think it would be difficult for businesses to commit to becoming more green, especially if it involves higher costs. This is especially so in today's trying times. Incentives from government can certainly help strengthen the business case, and it is heartening to note that Singapore is leading in this area.
Dr James Canton, in his book The Extreme Future highlighted climate change and energy trends as one of the key drivers that will shape risks and opportunities for the future. The lack of urgency by more businesses and consumers to go green could be a mindset one - due to the fact that many believe that they would probably not experience the adverse effects of an unprotected environment in their life times.
Our environment runs the risk of being destroyed, if measures are not taken early to protect it. For example, there is a compelling need to look for alternative energy sources and technologies, to curtail the climate change. When incentives do not work fully, legislation might be a possible option that governments can consider.
Steve Leonard
Senior Vice-President, EMC Corporation and President, EMC Asia-Pacific/Japan
EMC Corporation
COMPANIES can take action on climate change today by using efficient IT solutions that lower their costs, increase shareholder value, and reduce risk. Around the world, data centres, for example, are reaching capacity on power and floor space and facing even higher energy costs. Since a product's lifetime environmental impact is largely determined by its design, at EMC, we embed environmental consciousness in the design of our products with energy efficiency innovations in hardware and software that align energy efficiency across our information infrastructure product portfolio. The benefits are here today; in fact, some utilities and government agencies now offer financial incentives to companies that implement energy efficient data centres that make use of VMware server virtualisation and solid-state (Flash) drives.
Benedict Soh
Executive Chairman
Kingsmen Creatives Ltd
I REMEMBER when ISO initiatives were first introduced in the late eighties and early nineties, companies were more concerned about having their organisations registered as ISO compliant, than discovering real advantages of ISO standards to improve bottom lines. Similarly, green initiatives should, first of all, result in better cost savings and higher productivity, such as recycling of materials and enabling a healthier working environment.
However, as a socially responsible organisation, I would propose that certain actions like the using of bio-degradable materials, which may cost slightly more, should be encouraged. Going green, if appropriately adopted should eventually be beneficial to organisations as well as the society that we operate in.
Eric Hoh
Vice-President, Asia South Region and Head of Global Accounts, Asia-Pacific and Japan geography
Symantec
CLEARLY, the current economic climate has not affected the business drive to go green. This is largely because environmental responsibility makes sound business sense, with reduced power demands resulting in concrete savings, alongside a shrinking carbon footprint. What's more, customers are more likely to favour a green organisation, making the green path an effective means to retaining customer loyalty and trust.
For most organisations, the move to using energy-efficient technology is not only about reducing energy consumption and costs; it is also about reducing their carbon footprint and being more environmentally conscious. In Symantec's Green IT Report 2009, we noted that when it came to an organisation's green goals, reducing its carbon footprint was almost as important to it as reducing costs.
The rapid advancement of technology has made it easier and more cost-effective for businesses to adopt green technology. The centralised, shared model of Software as a Service (SaaS) provides a way for businesses to lower costs and power consumption by hosting their applications with a SaaS vendor. We are seeing enterprises leverage virtualisation to optimise the use of their current IT resources, delaying the need for more hardware. We are also seeing more small businesses investing in energy efficient products. Commitment to the green cause is undoubtedly strong with 97 per cent of Asia-Pacific and Japan companies at least discussing green IT strategies, and we're witnessing a diverse range of legislative, cost and social responsibility drivers among our customers.
Teng Yeow Heng Michael
Managing Director
Corporate Turnaround Centre Pte Ltd
SAVING the world by going green doesn't have to cost the earth. Several major corporations have taken green initiatives. Wal-Mart is great at reducing costs and yet it pledged to significantly reduce energy use at its stores that is expected to translate into lower costs.
Dupont, the giant chemical manufacturer, once among the worst polluters estimated to save US$3 billion from a 20-year effort to reduce carbon emissions. Other global corporate giants going green include BP, HP, Johnson & Johnson, etc.
There is no common denominator to measure financial savings by going green. The benefit of going green can't always be measured in the short term. There's no common financial reporting language yet, only a framework.
However, the upside is that you improve the company's reputation as a good corporate citizen which cares for the environment and that may eventually attract more buyers of goods and services.
For instance, green buildings are healthier and may save money in operational costs and it's a feel-good story living in a building with a low negative impact on the planet. Making a financial case for going green can be done - but oftentimes, the value isn't financial. In green buildings, there's often substantial water saving, for example, yet it's hard to get a financial benefit for that, as we simply don't pay that much for water. With energy conservation, the payback can come in 10 to 20 years or more, depending on the expected ownership of the building.
In other sectors, the regulations are coming or are already here. There are carbon credits, legislation regarding climate change and sustainability reporting for publicly listed companies. Several countries in Europe have regulations that require this type of reporting. Therefore, there is a compelling business case for adopting green initiatives even if it means higher costs as more legislation will be enforced to protect the environment.
Gery Messer
President
Red Hat Asia-Pacific and Japan
I BELIEVE that the case for 'going green' is a compelling 'Eco' issue - that is, an opportunity for corporations to do the right thing by way of both ecology and economy.
Businesses are economic entities and will adopt technology for the most pragmatic reasons: to raise the efficiency of their operations and to lower costs. The strongest case for green technology is its impact on the bottom line.
'Green IT' has taken on a lot of significance in data centres today. It is not about adopting a green product - a product with a green logo or green rating. A green data centre strategy has the impact of reducing the amount of physical machines, reducing power consumption and cooling costs, reducing space, and reducing carbon footprint. It should be a strategic approach geared towards creating an energy-efficient data centre.
With this view, there should be greater exploitation of virtualisation technology to create green data centres. Typically, individual machines in data centres run at 15 to 20 per cent utilisation rates. With virtualisation, data centres can achieve utilisation rates of 90 per cent or more.
A Singapore-based online graduate school, for example, found that by using virtualisation technology, it could replace 10 old servers with one new virtualisation server to do the job. While this meant investing in the purchase of the new server, with the total number of servers drastically reduced, the organisation cut down on energy use, space, cooling costs, and carbon footprint. Its cost-savings were more than $40,000. That was a real business case for green IT.
Dhirendra Shantilal
Senior Vice-President, Asia-Pacific
Kelly Services
ORGANISATIONS in almost every sector are making a move to be more environmentally and sustainably responsible despite the current economic conditions. Progress towards greener and more sustainable practices and development make good business sense because this can create new opportunities and competitive advantages.
In addition to benefiting the environment, green technology and initiatives also reduce costs to sustain further growth of the business by being energy efficient, lowering overhead expenses, saving on fuel, and reducing waste. While many organisations hope to see early returns on their green investments, they should continue to commit to green technology as part of their corporate social responsibility. For example, green office buildings use key resources such as energy and water more efficiently than conventional buildings. With more natural light and better air quality, green buildings can contribute to improved employee health, wellness and productivity.
Dora Hoan
Group CEO
Best World International Ltd
GOING green made a big impact among companies with environmental issues topping the agenda list in the 1990s. Over the years, it became more integrated into company operations as part of Corporate Social Responsibility. But the most promising area is in value creation. We are in fact, seeing more investments among Asian companies who are setting the new paradigm shift in sustainable business practices.
As a health and wellness company, we make it a commitment to make our business decisions considering the impact we make to society. We strongly believe businesses must be increasingly focused on the impact of their actions on education and economic development, on constrained global energy supplies, global water supplies, and on operational efficiency and sustainable business strategies.
There is no doubt that this is not an easy path. For instance, as part of our Green Eco Movement Programme, our Go Green Shopping promotes the use of recyclable bags in all our stores regionwide. This has cost us about three times more but we expect it to be a worthwhile investment over the long-haul. Sustainability can drive operational efficiency and innovative business outcomes. Our headquarters for instance was designed as a vibrant, open workspace designed to admit a lot of natural light and facilitate better air quality, which not only reduces energy consumption but promotes employee health. We envision that as we consistently integrate these practices and engage the participation of all our stakeholders, it will drive operational excellence and innovative business outcomes.
For all these reasons, we are convinced that it makes business sense to adopt ecologically sound principles. It is above all reasons, the globally-acknowledged responsibility of business. Our challenge then, is to realise a direct relationship between espousing sustainability and at the same time increase shareholder value.
Hansjoerg Wagner
Managing Director & Vice-President of Sales
Polycom Asia-Pacific
THE advent of economic, environmental and technological conditions has led to the unprecedented demand for green technology solutions.
MNCs and SMEs alike increasingly need to outsource and manage dispersed mobile workforces while maintaining a strong competitive edge and a global outlook. Therefore, timely communication among employees, customers and partners becomes more critical. Competition and the race to shorten time-to-market compel executives to scrutinise expenditure and maximise their available hours.
In addition, when health and security issues associated with business travel are taken into consideration, the value of collaboration tools that enable people to work together over vast distances becomes obvious. Companies have taken advantage of these tools to conduct meetings, leverage experts across the globe and undertake training and development of dispersed workforces; which in the process, reduces carbon emissions.
Besides reducing carbon emissions, businesses can make the initial investment easily justifiable, showing tangible benefits of both Green and ROI.
Robert Bailey
President & CEO
Abacus International
TO take a long term view - the business case for adopting greener technology is rather compelling. If the economy does not 'green up' more, then many of the pristine environments that people travel to see may be spoiled or changed as we've seen with some glaciers and coral reefs in the region. But the long term story is a hard one to sell. In a hard-pressed industry like travel, green technology must also justify itself on cost and/or customer service.
For corporations that are keen to go green, they are now able to contribute to the greening and preservation of the environment even as they travel. With travel booking solutions that highlight 'eco-friendly' travel suppliers ahead of the other options and integrates carbon credit purchase, the company is able to decide how it wishes to meet its own environmental goals. Certainly there needs to be more cost effective green solutions that creates extra value for the organisations.
Frank Koo
Managing Director
Oracle Singapore
ORGANISATIONS in Singapore today recognise that environmental responsibility is good business. Whether green projects are driven by an organisation's desire to protect the environment, reduce costs, produce eco-friendly goods to meet growing consumer demand, or comply with increasing levels of government regulation, the results can be both good for the environment and good for business.
Companies focused on green initiatives are looking for ways to:
# Reduce their environmental impact and cut costs by increasing efficiencies and reducing waste.
# Develop, produce and support environmentally sustainable products and services.
# Redesign their supply chains - from resource utilisation and manufacturing processes through transportation management, to product end-of-life.
# Create environmental progress reports for customers, partners, employees and other constituents, including data collection, tracking, analysis and the infrastructure to support these activities.
Information technology plays a large role in helping companies meet these objectives and Oracle develops and supports thousands of innovative software products that drive organisational efficiency. That efficiency extends to the mitigation of environmental impact, especially by reducing the consumption of power and paper in order to conserve natural resources. Oracle helps customers leverage their eco-advantage through solutions that address:
# ECO-EFFICIENCY - products that help reduce costs by optimising resource utilisation and minimising an organisation's carbon footprint.
# ECO-INNOVATION - products that help companies design green products and implement green processes.
# ECO-TRANSPARENCY - products that improve brand by making sustainability efforts transparent to the market.
Adoption of these solutions by our customers tells us that they constitute a strong business case for going green.
Liu Chunlin
CEO
K&C Protective Technologies Pte Ltd
THERE is general consensus that the 3 billion or so people in China, India, Russia and South America will form the next wave of middle-class consumers. Their consumption demand plus that of the existing rich nations will stretch the earth's resources and health, signs of which are already showing. Going green will not be a choice.
Whether a company will adopt green technologies now will depend a lot on the company's leadership and vision. Companies which aspire to achieve 'built to last', using a fashionable phrase, would definitely have to factor in green considerations. This is not only because they will be in the future they have a part to create, but also because it is the right thing. And if you forgive a pun, it is also the cool thing. Moreover from just a purely business strategy angle, it is very likely that future business rules, regulations and ethics will be green-driven. Companies which are late adopters may possibly be left behind or seen as unprogressive.
Cast in this light then, the question remains, how much more companies are prepared to pay. In the current tough business environment, this certainly poses a dilemma - choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea of business survival and green initiative. It is here that governments can play some role. Whatever economic and financial help they are prepared to render could be aligned with the green initiative. For example, the BCA in Singapore has launched the Greenmark incentive where additional allowable gross floor area is raised when developers adopt certain green technologies in a building design.
Gavin Selkirk
Corporate Senior Vice-President & General Manager
CA
MY response to the question 'Is there a business case for adopting green technology?' is a deafening YES! Green IT solutions deliver real, quantifiable value because the greater a company's energy efficiency, the greater the cost savings and return-on-investment enjoyed.
According to an official report, US data centre power utilisation alone has doubled since 2000 and now burns almost twice the level of electricity consumed by the nation's television sets! Data centre power consumption is set to double again by 2011, costing the US business community US$7.4 billion a year to run servers. The general trend is the same around the world.
Dennis Choo
Managing Director, Asia-Pacific
Premiere Global Services
EVERY business should do their part for the environment. Short-term costs associated with the adoption of green technology or initiatives should not hinder a company's attempt to be more environmentally-friendly. It is essential for companies to realise that getting lean, particularly on energy and resources, will help businesses to save money and the environment in the long run.
A company's green journey from awareness to action starts with incorporating environmental stewardship into its business strategy. Senior management's commitment towards green initiatives is vital for these strategies to develop and succeed. The factoring of environment issues into management decisions will allow a green culture to develop within the company.
At Premiere Global, we realised the advantages green technology and initiatives present and what these mean for our customers. The products and services we offer support pro-green initiatives. Our Conferencing and eMarketing Solutions as well as the paperless Document Delivery Solution help to reduce a company's carbon footprint and costs of communications.
To reduce paper wastage in the office, we had set up an online billing system for our customers. This means, our customers receive e-invoice notifications instead of the usual paper bills. Internally, we also run our very own Green Committee where we identify, analyse and implement ideas and initiatives that can create a greener, more environmentally friendly workplace.
Ben Williams
Corporate Vice-President & General Manager, APAC
AMD
GREEN IT is fast evolving from a do-good concept to becoming a must-do strategy for many businesses to focus on. Rising costs and cutbacks have fuelled corporate interest in adopting green technology as there are tangible cost-saving benefits. However, 'going green' extends well beyond hard dollar savings and into short to long term benefits that would optimise energy use and significantly improve business efficiency.
AMD's green strategy is based on a company-wide environmental policy established since 2001, providing guidance for us to stay committed to customers, partners, communities and employees to pursue performance-per-watt leadership, energy efficiency and environmental responsibility in products and operations. In turn, our customers are already reaping the benefits of using common technology to optimise energy used by products ranging from handhelds to data centres and without paying a premium price.
The real business value of green IT implementation lies in the realisation that going green gives today's businesses a genuine competitive advantage.
Andy Wilkinson
Senior Vice-President
Axway Asia-Pacific
THERE are definitely business advantages in adopting green initiatives. They make us re-look the way things are done, and create efficiencies that may not have been explored earlier. Just take a look at supply chain management, for instance. A well-designed and streamlined supply chain can help a company manage resources more efficiently while reducing waste. By applying it to environmental sustainability, we can also better take stock and analyse the carbon footprint to minimise carbon emissions as well as energy costs in the manufacturing and recycling of a product. In going green, businesses should also explore how their approach can help to generate savings for the long term that will more than offset the initial investment.
Lee U-Wen, Business Times 22 Jun 09;
THE who's who of the global water industry, from Hyflux to General Electric to Black & Veatch, are in town this week as the second Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) kicks off with a bang today.
This trade event, themed 'Sustainable Cities, Infrastructure and Technologies for Water', is a launchpad for many companies' products and innovations, with a view towards a worldwide audience. Every square metre of exhibition space at the Water Expo has been snapped up, with more than 400 firms registered. Some 10,000 delegates and trade visitors are expected to throng the SIWW.
Singapore-based Optiqua Technologies, for instance, is planning to showcase its early warning system that can detect chemical and organic contamination in drinking water.
Hyflux will present a suite of next-generation membrane technologies for municipal, industrial and consumer applications.
At the inaugural SIWW last year, governments, utility providers and water companies inked over $367 million in deals. More than 8,500 delegates from 79 countries took part.
This year, scores of other companies will hold separate media conferences to share insights and information on best practices, new research and case studies in a bid to address some of the world's most pressing sustainability challenges. At least 20 government ministers from around the world will also attend. Senior Minister S Jayakumar will officially open the SIWW later tonight in a gala ceremony, while Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be on hand to open the country's biggest water reclamation plant at Changi on Tuesday.
The $3.65 billion facility, on 32 ha of reclaimed land, will treat 800,000 cubic metres of used water daily, either to be discharged into the sea or used to produce purified NEWater.
At a banquet at the Istana on Wednesday, President SR Nathan will give out this year's Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize to Dutch professor Gatze Lettinga, 72, for his invention that uses bacteria to treat waste water efficiently.
But the SIWW is not just about big-money deals and awards. There will be presentations on a range of water-related issues, as experts seek solutions to help bring safe drinking water to over a billion people around the world who do not have access to it.
According to latest figures from the World Health Organisation, more than 4,000 people die from water-borne diseases everyday - equal to one per cent of Singapore's population dying every 24 hours.
Said SIWW managing director Michael Toh: 'The search for water solutions remains paramount, particularly with the growth of populations in the Asia-Pacific region. Technology can be replicated, and our water companies are able to export their expertise and knowledge to countries looking for water solutions.'
Their students will take turns to clean it and test the water's quality
Tan Weizhen, Straits Times 22 Jun 09;
SINGAPORE'S newest reservoir - the Marina Reservoir - was adopted by 22 schools yesterday at the inaugural Singapore International Water Festival, as part of a drive to maintain the cleanliness and quality of Singapore's drinking water.
Students from 21 secondary schools and the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) will take turns to clean the reservoir, Singapore's 15th, which opened last November.
They will also test the quality of the water - for example, its acidity levels.
SP will provide the water test kits and training for the secondary school students. The younger students will each be paired with an older student from the polytechnic during the activities.
As water ambassadors of sorts, the students will also promote the water cause by being guides at the Sustainable Singapore gallery. This gallery at the Marina Barrage showcases how Singapore has been conserving and managing the island's limited natural water supply.
The students will take on these activities during the school holidays.
The event yesterday was a prelude to the Singapore International Water Week which begins today.
Guest of honour Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District, said: 'We have to educate Singaporeans from young on the importance of sustainability development and the environmental impact of the choices they make. The Government's efforts alone are inadequate. We need a 'whole-of-nation' effort to make Singapore a more sustainable city.'
The adoption by the 22 schools also marks the first time a large group of schools have come together to care for the waters of Singapore's reservoirs.
To date, about 78 organisations - half of them schools - have adopted reservoirs and other waterways in Singapore.
SP hopes to rope in more secondary schools for this initiative in the future.
Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, one of the schools involved, is no stranger to water projects. Principal James Ong said: 'Our students have been cleaning up rivers as part of our water waste projects for three years. We are delighted to be involved this time round as it is in line with what we have been doing.'
Mr Yap Kheng Guan, director of 3P network department at the PUB, said: 'Thirty years ago, the Singapore River was so dirty, we had to conduct a major cleanup. Now we have clean waterways, and we hope this generation won't take them for granted.'
Yesterday's festival was attended by about 10,000 people who took part in races on dragon boats, rafts and solar-energy boats. They also walked on water using footwear made of special foam. American, Australian, Japanese and German international school students also attended.
Yahoo News 21 Jun 09;
REYKJAVIK (AFP) – Just days ahead of the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting, Icelandic whalers landed two fin whales weighing 35 tonnes each, the first major catches of the season.
But instead of savaging the whaling company responsible, Hvalur, or its boss Kristjan Loftsson, campaigners Greenpeace turned on the Iceland government.
"The government has dismally failed to show leadership despite its own outspoken opposition to the hunt," said Sara Holden, Greenpeace's international whales campaign coordinator.
"Its reputation and that of Iceland as a whole was sliced and diced by a single company special interest lobby," she added.
Greenpeace was angry because in their view, the recently elected government, which only came to power on April 25, was not reversing the previous government's position on whaling.
Far from rejoining the whaling moratorium that Iceland broke in 2006 after 16 years, the left-wing coalition has decided to stick by the increase in the whale catches quota decided at the beginning of 2009.
That increase permitted Iceland's whalers to catch 150 Common Minke whales a year -- up from a total of nine, previously.
"Today, it is clear that the whaling policy in Iceland is really run by the whaler Kristjan Loftsson and his company Hvalur," said Holden.
But for Loftsson, whose company dates back to 1948, whales are simply a natural resource that are there to be exploited.
"There are nearly 20,000 Minke whales in the seas of Iceland," he said. "If we hunt 150 a year that is not going to make much difference."
Greenpeace, he dismissed as an industry of lies.
For Loftsson whaling is so important to Iceland that it would be better to stay outside the European Union if membership involved submitting to a hunting ban.
A fisheries and agriculture memo from March confirmed the visceral importance of the industry to the country, describing it as "a traditional part of part of Iceland's history".
Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has been trying to allay fears in this area, with the fisheries and agriculture ministry presenting a bill to parliament on the issue.
The proposed law would be based on the principle that "if whaling is pursued, it will be done in a responsible and sustainable way", said a ministry statement.
"The minister will decide which species of whales will be caught, and how many of each species.
"This will give the minister an opportunity to consider grounded arguments on conflict of interests with other sectors, such as whale watching," it added.
This last practice, when tourists are taken out on boats to see the whales, is being promoted by anti-whaling campaigners as at least as profitable as actually hunting the whales.
"Whale watching is the sector within the tourism industry which has had the fastest growth in recent years, with growing numbers of jobs and income for the Icelandic economy," said the Icelandic Travel Industry Association.
The association called on the government to disavow on the whaling quotas set at the beginning of the year.
Yahoo News 21 Jun 09;
MEXICO CITY (AFP) – Environment ministers from the world's largest polluters, including the United States and China, meet on Monday in Mexico under a US bid to speed up work towards a key United Nations climate accord.
The so-called Major Economies Forum (MEF) aims to help form a new agreement to curb greenhouse gases to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.
The group's third meeting in as many months comes as worldwide climate negotiations are stalling ahead of a major Copenhagen summit in December aimed at producing the new UN accord.
Twelve days of international climate change talks ended last week in Germany without progress on the biggest question of how to share the burden of future emissions cuts.
Poor nations are seeking deep cuts from rich countries which are historically most to blame for today's problems.
They are mostly calling for cuts of around 25-40 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. Some nations, including China, have said 40 percent must be a minimum.
Within industrialised nations, the European Union (EU) has offered a cut of at least 20 percent over 1990, but Japan and the United States have so far offered reductions of around eight percent and four percent respectively.
The MEF was launched by US President Barack Obama on the back of a similar initiative by his predecessor, George W. Bush. Its members already met in Washington and Paris in April and May.
Participants include Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and the United States, as well as the 27-nation European Union.
Representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Norway and Spain will take part as observers, Mexican officials said.
The talks come as international support is growing for a Mexican proposal to raise billions of dollars to fight climate change through a so-called "Green Fund."
The plan would oblige all governments to pay in cash based on a formula reflecting the size of each nation's gross domestic product, greenhouse gas emissions and population.
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