Best of our wild blogs: 16 Aug 09

Scenes from the side
from The annotated budak and cutting corners

The Toad That Lives In The Leaf Litter
from Life's Indulgences

Are we Human; or are we Dancer?: Kranji Coastal Cleanup from You run, we GEOG

International Coastal Cleanup at Chek Jawa (12-Sep)
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Team SPF environmentalists takes on the Pandan Mangrove
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Pin-tailed Parrotfinch feeding on bamboo seeds
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Fun Quizzes by Planet Green
from Pulau Hantu

Read more!

A tip to students: Be driven about causes

Apart from grades, idealism and passion are important too
Kor Kian Beng, Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

IT IS not all about grades, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told undergraduates at the end of a dialogue yesterday.

They should also be charged up about other issues and causes, like their counterparts in the United States, India or China, he added.

'If you look at the best students in dynamic societies such as the US, India or China, they are not just bright, they are passionate, idealistic, driven, out to change the world for the better and to make a mark for themselves.'

He described these students as full of energy in pushing causes and promoting projects, ranging from helping disadvantaged families to promoting green energy.

'Our students should similarly be charged up,' he added.

The PM gave the Nanyang Technological University students several tips on it: pursue causes they believe in; volunteer and serve in the community or in non- governmental organisations; venture into many fields, including politics.

He said at the end of his 45-minute speech: 'Dare to dream, surprise yourself with what you achieve and create a better future for all of us.'

His hope is that younger Singaporeans will do more than just be a factor of production that contributes to the economy.

While the Government will try to create the preconditions for Singapore to stay competitive in the long term, he said it will rely on the new generation to push the boundaries.

'Make the society more vibrant and interesting while maintaining our cohesion and harmony, and breaking new ground to make Singapore a different and a better place,' he urged them.

In school, Singaporeans have to compete with foreign students in such areas as grades, scholarships and hostel rooms, he noted.

Friction between them is inevitable as a result of frequent interaction, he said.

But, he argued, that it is critical for local universities to bring in international students, in the same way other prestigious universities, such as Harvard and Cambridge, are already doing.

'This will help raise our standards, and create a stimulating environment for our own students.

'This will also provide opportunities for local students to build networks and prepare them to engage Asia.'

He urged both Singaporean and international students to make greater efforts to know one another better.

Universities too need to organise joint activities to foster integration between them, he said.

During the dialogue, an Indonesian student asked if foreigners were being brought in to make up for Singaporean students' lack of soft skills in such areas as critical thinking, complex problem-solving and communication.

Replying, PM Lee said Singapore is not doing badly in these areas but 'we can do a lot better'.

Foreigners will help improve them because they will give the Singaporean students 'a different stimulus'.

However, what will make the difference is when Singaporeans live overseas and are exposed to a different environment, he said.

'You see how other people live, and you cope with the different circumstances, and from that we hope you get new tools in your toolbox to solve problems.'

Read more!

Electrifying Singapore with new forms of energy

EMA head envisions a cleaner, greener island less dependent on polluting fuels
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

ENERGY generation, that dull conversation stopper revolving around pipelines and power grids, has got sexy recently.

Run-of-the-mill engineers working in hot, dirty conditions are giving way to visionaries painting a picture of a cleaner and greener Singapore of smart meters, electric cars and renewable power, creating challenging new careers for young people.

And there's someone leading the charge: Mr Lawrence Wong, the new chief of Singapore's energy authority, is convinced that energy is the new hot topic of the town.

'The tide is changing, and so are people's perceptions,' he says. 'The younger generation, especially, are keen on cleaner forms of energy.

'It's not just in Singapore, but globally. We're caught by the tide of what's happening on the international stage, with growing concern for the planet and climate change. People are keen to do something.'

It was the surge in this new thinking that convinced Mr Wong to take the helm at the Energy Market Authority (EMA) in January. At 37 years old, the administrative service officer, who spent the previous three years as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's principal private secretary, is one of the youngest people to head a statutory board.

The agency reflects the generational changes under way. Once a low-profile organisation working to ensure that energy flows whenever someone flicks a switch, it is now expanding its role and vision, aptly summarised by 'Smart Energy, Sustainable Future'.

This new vision acknowledges the fast-changing landscape, which has become more challenging and intertwined with climate change and sustainability.

'We want to be the energy authority. One that oversees a wide spectrum of energy issues, one that's vocal and provides advice to the Government on policy issues,' adds Mr Wong.

More dramatically, it is turning itself into an industry developer. It recently set up Singapore LNG Corporation to oversee a billion-dollar LNG terminal project, which was originally to have been developed by Singapore Power's unit PowerGas and French partner GDF Suez.

Financial difficulties made it challenging for the firms to stay on schedule, prompting the Government to step in so that the project is not delayed.

The intervention underscores how important LNG - a natural gas cooled to liquid form - is as an emerging energy source for the country.

'It's important for Singapore's energy security so we're not overly reliant on our neighbours for gas,' says Mr Wong. About 80 per cent of Singapore is powered by natural gas from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Construction will begin in January with the LNG terminal ready in 2013.

The opening up of new fields of energy has captured public attention, with about 700 people flooding the EMA with applications for just a few job positions in the new LNG firm.

Job-seekers will have plenty of other opportunities once Mr Wong's two other main goals start coming into focus.

One is what he calls the electrification of the transport sector, where everything from cars to buses will run on electricity instead of polluting fuels. Singapore's small size makes such a system viable.

An average car consumes about 80kwh of energy for every 100km it travels, but 75 per cent of that is wasted because of the inefficiencies of the combustion engine. But electric vehicles consume about four times less energy for every 100km driven.

Although there are obstacles such as cost, battery technology and infrastructure, Mr Wong believes technology will solve the problems.

He also believes Singapore can be the centre of this rapidly expanding market. A task force chaired by the EMA and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently launched a $20 million test-bedding programme to bring electric vehicles here.

It is working with car makers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi as well as Keppel Energy on suitable vehicles and infrastructure to kick-start the industry. This could mean electric vehicles plying our roads by next year, with an electrified public transport system not far off, says Mr Wong.

Another goal - this one further on the horizon - is to develop a super-intelligent power grid where smart systems are integrated into the electricity market.

Singapore's grids are already pretty smart - they are automated and can re-route electricity in case of supply disruptions. But they can get smarter, with each household wired more intelligently into the network. Users will be able to see price variations and decide when to consume electricity at the optimum rate, explains Mr Wong.

A $3 million pilot project has been run in some homes in Marine Parade and West Coast. Smart meters are linked to home appliances and show residents what uses the most energy and when.

Results show the massive potential of smart meters, with households using them quickly reducing their energy consumption to below the national average, says Mr Wong.

Households could eventually choose different packages with peak and off-peak prices from energy providers, like the way we pick a telco for communication services.

The obstacle again is cost - such meters are currently about 10 times more expensive than standard ones - and price is still the main concern for the man in the street when energy issues are raised.

Singapore's power generators (gencos) have recently been sold to foreign firms and Mr Wong acknowledges public concerns that the relatively high prices paid will be passed on to consumers.

But gencos operate in a competitive environment, he says. They have to bid against each other to sell electricity in the market and will be under pressure to price competitively as newer players enter the market. He lets on that 'there are power companies looking to set up new plants in Singapore'.

The EMA is also evaluating potential energy sources such as coal, solar and nuclear - a process that will be tempered by environmental and economic factors.

'This is a difficult balancing act but we will act on what is in the best interest of the country,' he says. 'At the end of the day, we have to answer to the average Singaporean and nothing speaks more than the affordability of energy here.'

Meanwhile, Mr Wong is boosting the EMA head count, from 200 when he joined to 250 today, with the aim of reaching 280.

'If you ask people if they know what EMA is about, I reckon they don't,' he notes. 'But if we deliver our projects, people will see more of us at the forefront.

'We also hope to build up a culture... where people have a sense of excitement about doing their work.

'It's going to take some time but we will be able to gradually establish what EMA stands for.'

Energy czar since January
Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

MR LAWRENCE Wong, 37, is the new chief of the Energy Market Authority (EMA).

The principal private secretary to the Prime Minister from 2005 to 2008, he assumed the position in January this year.

Mr Wong has a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a Mason Fellow. He also has bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

He started out doing economic research and forecasting at the Ministry of Trade and Industry before joining the Ministry of Finance as a government economist, in charge of budget policies and fiscal planning.

From 2002 to 2003, he was deputy director of budget and head of economic programmes at the Ministry of Finance.

He moved on to become the director of health-care finance at the Ministry of Health, where he implemented reforms to MediShield, the national health insurance scheme.

Mr Wong, who is single, currently also serves on the board of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

Q&A
Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

Q Why did you decide to take up the post of EMA chief executive?

I had come to the end of my term in the PM's office and I looked at the options offered and thought energy was an interesting portfolio.

I don't have previous experience, but in the civil service, you move from one place to another and pick up issues on the job as fast as you can. Some of my background in finance and economics has been very helpful in looking at energy issues from a regulatory point of view.

It has been a great experience, learning about the issues and engaging with the different stakeholders in the industry.

Q What kind of role can the EMA play to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption?

Singapore is 'alternative energy disadvantaged' so efficiency is a big part of our national strategy to reduce consumption. EMA has stepped forward to co-chair the energy efficiency programme office with the National Environment Agency (NEA), so that we can also offer our perspectives and be in the discussions formulating strategies.

Q How do you think the man in the street perceives energy? Do you think people take it for granted?

I remembered reading a headline in The Straits Times: Energy is sexy, clean energy is sexier. The perception has changed and people are getting more interested in it.

It's easy to be complacent, but within EMA, we're always vigilant and mindful of the experiences of power disruptions in the past. The work that our chaps do is invisible to the public eye, but very critical in ensuring there's a reliable electricity supply to consumers.

Q There has been talk of an Asean power grid to connect networks in Asean countries. What is its progress?

This will be a long-term endeavour. The reality is our systems are quite different and we're the only country in South-east Asia that has a liberalised electricity market. So the framework differs from country to country, it needs some harmonisation, so work is still ongoing.

Q With some of our neighbours looking at nuclear energy options, what are Singapore's concerns?

From our point of view, it is important to look at nuclear safety and security. I think all countries share our concern on this. We are working towards signing a nuclear safety framework.

As for us, we're not ruling out this option for the long term. We know there are difficulties: the size of our country is one, safety is the other. And our energy needs are small relative to the size of nuclear plants today.

But technology is evolving, some nuclear reactors are getting smaller, so this is something that is worth looking at, and we should not rule it out.

Q Is the EMA prepared for a post-Kyoto world where a price is put on carbon?

We are studying the implications of this scenario for Singapore, and this is also on the agenda of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC).

If you talk to all the gencos, they are aware this is something that will likely happen so they are thinking ahead about the possibility of a carbon price, and how it will affect their fuel choices.

Q What can we expect from the Singapore International Energy Week in November?

Our theme this year is 'Clean energy, sustainable solutions for urban cities' and there will be notable speakers coming to speak on the future of energy. A clean energy exhibition will also be held.

We want Singapore to be a focal point for people to come together and discuss energy issues, and also a business platform where businesses can exchange information and views on a whole range of technical issues.

Read more!

Haze back with sudden change in winds

Amresh Gunasingham & Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

HAZE shrouded Singapore yesterday evening, as a sudden shift in wind direction blew smoke from blazing fires set in Indonesia directly to the island.

The number of hot spots in Kalimantan and South Sumatra has doubled over the last week. Satellite images detected 53 hot spots - large-scale fires set to clear land - in Sumatra and another 117 in Borneo. The flames are fuelled by drier than normal conditions, said the weatherman.

In Indonesia, Jambi's Sultan Thaha Saifudin Airport was shut for four hours because of the haze. Visibility was down to under 800m, far below the normal 1,800m, an airport official told The Jakarta Post.

Riau, which has not had any rain for almost a week, has seen a jump in the number of hot spots from 18 on Monday to 28 yesterday, Mr Ardhitama, an official with the meteorology office in Pekanbaru, Riau, told The Straits Times.

He added that the dry spell in Riau is expected to last for at least another three days.

At 4pm in Singapore yesterday, the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) stood at a moderate 55. But the 24-hour index did not capture fully the worsening conditions as night fell and the winds shifted.

By then, many people were reporting that they could smell the acrid smoke and see it in the air.

Mr Chia Aik Song, associate scientist with the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing at the National University of Singapore, said that satellite images showed huge smoke plumes stretching 40km over many parts of Banjarmasin, the 70 sq km capital of South Kalimantan, and Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of Central Kalimantan.

Such thick plumes indicate more severe and larger fires.

The number of fires mirrors that of three years ago, when hazy days last hit Singapore and PSI levels reached an unhealthy 150.

'The fires are not as intense, but if it gets worse, more haze can be expected,' warned Mr Chia.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the hazy conditions may persist for the next few days because of the prevailing southerly wind conditions.

However the situation could be alleviated by showers, NEA added.

Visibility in Singapore was noticeably worse yesterday.

From the 24th floor of the Clifford Centre in Shenton Way, Mr Johan Wong usually has a clear view of Marina Bay.

'But today I looked out my window and I couldn't see past the Benjamin Sheares Bridge,' said the 35-year-old lawyer.

Teacher Joan Lim, 28, could smell the haze the moment she stepped outside her workplace in Serangoon Gardens.

'I couldn't see most of the building tops in the area,' she said.

No pact to stop issue being discussed at global forums: Yaacob
Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

ASEAN member states do not have an agreement that prevents countries from discussing the haze issue at international forums, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.

He was responding to Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) who asked whether Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia - members of the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze - had agreed not to take the issue beyond the regional setting.

In comments in The Jakarta Post last month, Indonesia's Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar claimed the five members agreed at an earlier meeting in Singapore not to discuss the haze issue at international forums, such as the United Nations General Assembly.

He alluded, in the same article, that Singapore's raising of the issue at the UN General Assembly in 2006 had resulted in several countries cancelling their financial aid meant for protection of Indonesian forests.

Responding yesterday when Ms Lee raised the issue, Dr Yaacob denied that any agreement was in place:

'The simple answer is no.'

Instead, he noted that regional countries had, in fact, benefited from international support to tackle the haze.

Ms Lee asked if he thought Indonesia was too slow in combating the haze and added: 'Do you think we have to protest before they start taking any action?'

There were no such plans, he said. 'I don't think we have to protest because we have already protested.'

He added: 'But despite the best efforts of Asean, haze continues to plague our region, and this is especially due to the limited resources available in the region to prevent and mitigate the fires.'

Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim asked whether illegal logging in Indonesia would also be addressed.

Recent Indonesian media reports suggested the issue was a potential stumbling block to Jakarta ratifying the Asean haze agreement later this month.

To this, Dr Yaacob said Singapore's position was that anyone guilty of illegal logging should be prosecuted based on Indonesia's laws: 'There is nothing preventing Indonesia from taking necessary action to deal with whoever is responsible for the illegal logging.'

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

Joint efforts with fire-prone provinces help to ease haze
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

ALTHOUGH Indonesia has yet to ratify a 2002 agreement between Asean members to tackle the haze problem, joint efforts with individual provinces are showing results.

Two collaborations with fire-prone regions in Indonesia - one involving Singapore and another Malaysia - have managed to reduce the number of hot spots.

Singapore has committed $1 million to help the Jambi provincial government implement programmes to prevent or mitigate the outbreak of fires. And according to National Environment Agency data, the number of hot spots in Jambi went down 23 per cent in the past two years - from a peak of 2,150 hot spots in 2006 when the haze last hit hard here.

Malaysia has similarly been collaborating with Riau's provincial authorities.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, who made these points yesterday during a debate on the hot button issue of the haze, indicated that such cooperation could be replicated if the authorities in other provinces found it useful. Which is why next month's meeting here of the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze will include officials from other fire-prone provinces. While here, they will hear about the experiences of Jambi and Riau, and best practices can be shared.

'I think one of the better ways to achieve the desired outcome is to get local regional heads to decide (that) if Jambi can do it with Singapore... perhaps they can also do it,' he said.

Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) had asked him about what was being done regionally to address the worsening haze situation. She also wanted to know if Indonesia had been 'too slow in taking action to combat the haze issue'.

Dr Yaacob said his Indonesian counterpart Rachmat Witoelar assured fellow Asean members at last month's meeting of the Steering Committee that Jakarta was doing its best to tackle the fires. 'We are playing our part. They (Indonesia) have promised they will meet their targets. Whether they are slow or not is something we have to continue to monitor,' Dr Yaacob added.

Under a national action plan enacted two years ago, Indonesia committed itself to reducing hot spots by 50 per cent by this year.

The acrid pall arising from fires set to clear fields and forests have blown this way for much of the past decade, bringing economic, health and tourism costs.

Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim asked if it was necessary for Indonesia to ratify the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution before the haze problem could be tackled effectively. She also asked why slash and burn farming continued to be practised despite the environmental hazard it posed.

Dr Yaacob said the challenge lay in providing farmers with alternative methods for clearing land.

But with predictions of a stronger El Nino pattern this year - bringing hotter and drier weather - the haze took on added significance, he said.

The region should be open to international assistance where it lacks expertise and resources, he said.

'It will take strong political resolve by Indonesia to enforce their laws to prevent forest fires, and support from Asean as well as resources from the international community to successfully battle the haze problem.'

Regional ministers to meet in Singapore next month to discuss haze problem
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 15 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE : Regional environment ministers will meet in Singapore next month to discuss the haze problem.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim on Tuesday said international media scrutiny of the haze situation in Singapore would be inevitable during this month's F1 race and the November Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings.

He said Singapore has offered to help Indonesia combat its forest fires if the country needs assistance.

Southeast Asia is bracing itself for stronger El Nino conditions in the next few months. Dr Yaacob said this could worsen the dry conditions in the region and result in increased hotspots. That is why the regional ministerial meeting on transboundary haze has been brought forward to October 28.

One issue that remains unresolved is that both Indonesia and Philippines have yet to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution which was signed in 2002.

Dr Yaacob said: "Even though Indonesia has not ratified, we have moved forward because we realise that we have other challenges which cannot wait. When the haze outbreak in 2006 came about, we felt it was important for the five ASEAN countries to come together and deal with it collectively.

"Thus far, Singapore and Malaysia have made progress by collaborating with some of the local provinces. We acknowledge that Indonesia has been trying to implement measures to bring down the hotspots.

"As to whether or not their plan of action is on target will be up to Indonesia to review, but we believe that the Indonesian government remains sincere in combating haze, as it affects the health and quality of living of their citizens as well.

"Where the region lacks the expertise and resources, we should invite international participation to enhance our efforts. It will take strong political resolve by Indonesia to enforce their laws to prevent forest fires, support and cooperation within ASEAN, as well as resources from the international community, to successfully battle the transboundary haze problem."

Dr Yaacob stressed that Singapore is prepared to help Indonesia combat the haze problem by sharing best practices.

The 24-hour reading of the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), taken at 4pm on Tuesday, was at 55 - the highest so far this month and puts Singapore's air quality in the moderate range.

- CNA/ms/sc

Respiratory complaints on the rise in Palembang
Khairul Saleh, The Jakarta Post 14 Sep 09;

There has been an increase in the number of complaints from residents of Palembang, South Sumatra, over acute respiratory infection problems, following recent haze from forest fires that blanketed the city, say local health officials.

The Palembang Health Office says the number of sufferers has increased significantly between July and August.

During the first week of August, the number of sufferers rose by 1.7 percent from the previous month, to 7,831 people.

To prevent from more cases of respiratory problems, the local health office has been distributing face masks to motorists on the city’s main streets.

Health office head Gema Asiani said besides cases of respiratory ailments, residents had also complained about eye and skin irritations, as well as diarrhea caused by the dangerously high levels of particulates within the haze affecting their digestive systems.

Among the districts seeing a sharp increase in respiratory complaints were Bukit Kecil and West Ilir I and II, she said.

“Based on our studies with the local environment office, we believe the haze has affected [the city] beyond its limit,” Gema said.

“Therefore, there should be anticipatory measures to prevent more cases of respiratory problems.
“Residents suffering from these problems should visit community health centers for treatment.”

Gema said the haze likely came from forest fires in Palembang and neighboring areas, including Ogan Ilir and Banyuasin regencies, where hot spots have been detected.

The haze had also disrupted flights at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang.
The South Sumatra Environment Office says 617 hot spots were detected from Sept. 5-8, mostly
in peatland areas across the province.

Read more!

Rainy season to start late this year: Indonesian Meteorology Agency

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 09;

The Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology Agency has forecasted that the rainy season will start late in most parts of Indonesia this year.

Soeroso Hadiyanto, the deputy of the climatology division, said the rainy season would begin in November in many areas of the country.

"The rainy season will be late by about 10 to 30 days. It will start in September in some areas like Aceh and the middle of Sumatra," he said.

In October, the rainy season will start in most parts of West Java and some parts of Bali.

Some of the eastern parts of the country, including East Flores in East Nusa Tenggara and Merauke in Papua will see the beginning of rainy season in December.

Southern parts of Jakarta will see the rainy season in early November while the northern parts will experience it in late November or early December.

"The late rainy season is influenced by, among other things, the El Nino phenomenon and sea temperatures around Indonesia," Soeroso said, adding that last year, the wet season began in October in most areas of the country.

Read more!

Brunei May Have Found New Fish Species

Danial Norjidi BruDirect.com 16 Sep 09;

Bandar Seri Begawan - Has Brunei's Department of Fisheries stumbled upon a new species of fish?

"It's highly likely," said Syah Haji Mohd Ibrahim, Research and Development at the Fisheries Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.

"From a survey that we carried out last year and this year we actually found a fish that has not been identified worldwide it's a new species, and does not have a name to it yet.

"We sent it for identification to make sure and be 100 per cent certain, so we're still waiting for it, but the experts that came down said that the probabilities are quite high that no one has identified this species before.

"If it is indeed a new species, then we have the right to name it," he added.

All this goes to show that Brunei possesses what seems to be an amazing array of reefs full of potential in many different fields, particularly science and even eco-tourism.

The Department of Fisheries continues to ensure the conservation of Brunei's reefs, and their efforts in setting up artificial reefs in the 1990s are paying rich dividends now.

According to a diver, "Brunei has some absolutely beautiful coral reef', and "the Fisheries Department has done an amazing job to preserve it.

"It's amazing when you dive down and see the reefs Brunei have," said another. "Clear blue waters, corals. It's fantastic."

Another diver said, "I like the reefs in Brunei, particularly the rigs reefs. Brunei is a great place for divers."

Syah said, "Basically, you have two types of reefs. You have the coral reef and the artificial reef. Coral reef naturally grows there. Artificial reef is put there by man, and can come in the form of concrete, metal, rubber and a few other mixtures."

Syah also shared information about the different sites in Brunei where reefs could be found.

Surveyed sites include Champion Oil field, Silk Rock, Brunei Patches, Victoria Patches and many more.

The artificial reefs include shipwrecks such as the Bolkiah Wreck, Australian Wreck and American Wreck.

The artificial reefs also include platforms and old rigs, as well as the pyramid reef.

According to information found on the Department of Fisheries website, the Department of Fisheries built the first artificial reef in Brunei Darussalam in 1985 under the Fifth National Development Project. It was made up of large number of modules of tyres tied to provide a pyramidal configuration. A total of 20,000 used vehicle tyres were used and the project was completed in 1990.

Encouraged by the success of the tyre reef, the department embarked on another artificial reef programme in 1988. Based on a mutual agreement between the department and Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd (BSP), two redundant offshore oil platforms were placed on the seabed northwest of the original tyre reef at Two Fathom Rocks. This programme was the first in the Asian region where redundant oil platforms were made into intentionally built artificial rig reefs. A second "Rig Reef' made up of five redundant rig jackets was built at Two Fathom Rocks in 1994.

The programme continued in 1997 when the department constructed several artificial reefs made from galvanised pipes. The pipes were formed into pyramidal shape and deployed at several strategic locations.

"When you have artificial reefs, the coverage of corals on the reefs is mostly soft corals. You have a hard and soft coral; that's basically how you divide them," Syah said.

"Soft corals colonise really fast. Hard corals have a calcium carbonate skeleton and grow really slow. Some take a year to grow, some take 10 years.

"So when you deploy any artificial reef, most probably 90 per cent of the reef will be inhabited by soft corals. The problem with soft corals is that they do not contribute to the growth of the reef, they just colonise.

"Hard corals grow, and once they die they leave their intact skeletons behind, and this forms a base which is sturdy, so new coral larvae can grow and that is how reefs are formed," he added.

Syah also spoke of reef conservation and the importance of preserving Brunei's reefs.

According to the Department of Fisheries website, "Reef conservation is of immediate concern and this is an area where Brunei is setting an example by establishing protected areas and marine parks and establishing artificial reefs to encourage marine growth and regenerate the coastal waters."

When asked about the marine life in Brunei, Syah said: "In Brunei patches alone there are over 200 species of marine life."-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Read more!

DNA technology could help save endangered forest species

Jonathan Wootliff, The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 09;

New technology is providing some hope to those battling to stop Indonesia's massively devastating and hugely costly illegal logging activity.

In recent years, unlawful forest destruction has resulted in undermining the rule of law and deprived the state of substantial revenues. The World Bank estimates the illicit practice costs more than a staggering Rp 100 trillion each year.

It has serious economic and social implications for the poor and disadvantaged and the threat to ecosystems and biodiversity is enormous, with very little long-term advantage for anyone other than those who are responsible for the plunder and smuggling of timber.

There is no doubt that the use of endangered wood for elegant furniture, timber-lined walls and hardwood floors in the West is fueling this appalling trade, which is threatening to wipe out whole species of trees and precious rainforests, and the livelihoods of millions of Indonesians dependent on the forests for their survival.

Despite efforts from the government to stamp it out, the destruction of massive amounts of irreplaceable Indonesian rainforest appears to continue unabated.

Environmentalists have long been attempting to pressure the authorities to do more to stop illegal logging but a key challenge has always been tracking the origin of timber.

But now one organization has developed an innovative process for identifying exactly where each piece of wood comes from by using DNA technology.

Singapore-based Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DHTT) extracts DNA samples in the forest and builds databases. DNA tests then enable them to identify precisely which forest a piece of timber actually comes from.

In effect, this technology should put the prevention of use of illegally traded timber in the hands of customers.

Various measures are in place to curb illegal logging with a plethora of bodies having been established by civil society stakeholders and private sector representatives from timber-producing countries, in partnership with the World Bank.

The United States must take the credit for taking the first important step in addressing the illegal logging issue by extending the century-old wildlife protection law to include timber.

The so-called Lacey Act made it mandatory for an importer to declare the origin of their timber. If found guilty of illegal logging, the importer is subject to heavy fines.

But this law has proven tough to enforce with the timber industry being dependent on an old-fashioned paper-based system for traceability, which is prone to fraud.

DHTT's DNA database is the first step in creating a system to irrefutably prove the origin of timber, and this could be used to enforce the Lacey Act. A perfect example is the merbau species, a resilient red hardwood that is one of the most valuable timbers in Southeast Asia because of the exquisite hardwood flooring that can be produced from it. It can also be used in high-quality furniture production.

Merbau was once found in many parts of the world. Today, the only significant quantities of commercially produced merbau come from the Indonesian province of Papua, and in Papua New Guinea.

"Illegal logging and the associated rampant trade in merbau means that most areas where the timber used to be found have none left, and what there is left is also facing extinction," says Greenpeace China's Liu Bing.

Liu explains that at the current legal rate of logging, merbau will have mostly disappeared within a single felling cycle, which is 35 years. If you take illegal factors into account, merbau's extinction moves much closer.

In 2005, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and its Indonesian partner, Telapak, uncovered crime syndicates that were removing 300,000 cubic meters of stolen merbau logs every month.

Western manufacturers and retailers buy the timber from Indonesia suppliers who claim they are legally harvesting the merbau.

Greenpeace maintains that hardly any of the merbau being sold has been properly legally certified and that most of the wood flooring made from the species is the result of illegal logging.

China plays a major role in this complex trading web because it is where most of the wood flooring in the world is actually made before being re-exported to the West.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has established a joint team to try to stop illegal logging in provinces such as Riau, Kalimantan and Papua. But the success has been compromised by all-too-common rifts between government agencies.

Also, research undertaken by the EIA and Telapak has uncovered wide disregard in Malaysia and Singapore for Indonesian legislation aimed at stopping illegal loggers; the EIA believes the forest crisis is being made worse by countries such as these, which it accuses of "green-washing" illegally cut rainforest timber from neighbors such as Indonesia.

Let's hope that the deployment of DNA technology can seriously help to eliminate the hurdles that get in the way of halting the devastation caused by illegal logging.

Jonathan Wootliff is an independent sustainable development consultant specializing in the building of productive relationships between companies and NGOs. He can be contacted at jonathan@wootliff.com.

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Phuket coastal developments under scrutiny

Phuket Gazette 15 Sep 09;

PHUKET: Phuket governor Wichai Phraisa-ngob has backed concerns raised in an environmental impact assessment report that claims continued, unchecked development of Phuket coastal areas would destroy marine life and negatively impact local communities.

The governor’s comments came after the release of the report last week compiled by a panel of Phuket-based environmental experts, including scientists from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) and local professors.

The report recommended that provincial authorities carefully examine marina and other coastal development proposals to properly assess their impact on the environment before giving them the go-ahead.

We have learned that there are several marina and pier construction projects planned in the Koh Sireh area and along the east coast. If these projects are allowed to go ahead, they could destroy marine life, such as coral and sea grass and have negative impacts on nearby communities, said panel members during a meeting held with Governor Wichai at Provincial Hall on September 8.

Panel member Dr Nalinee Thongtham of the PMBC said that when developers request permission to build marinas and piers, they promise that locals will have access to the area and benefit from the development, but in reality, once the developments are complete, locals are not allowed into the areas and do not benefit from them in any way.

Governor Wichai agreed with the panel members and said that Phuket would end up looking like a ‘spider with legs going out into the sea’ and suffer in the long run if tougher restrictions were not placed on such projects.

“It will no longer be so easy for investors and developers to build marinas in Phuket without proper assessment beforehand of the impact they will have on the surrounding area and communities,” Governor Wichai said.

“New policies will encourage developers to expand on existing marinas and piers instead of constructing new ones. Future projects will be carefully examined for their environmental impact and they will have to benefit the local community,” he added.

Governor Wichai stressed that it was up to Phuketians to protect the island’s environment and consider the future implications if such developments went ahead.

From now on, any proposal to build a marina should include plans to build proper access roads and be properly assessed by professionals for its environmental impact.

“This is your house, not mine. I’ll be leaving soon, so you’ll have to look after its future by protecting the land,” he concluded.

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Scale of gorilla poaching exposed

Jody Bourton, BBC News 15 Sep 09;

An undercover investigation has found that up to two gorillas are killed and sold as bushmeat each week in Kouilou, a region of the Republic of Congo.

The apes' body parts are then taken downriver and passed on to traders who sell them in big-city markets.

Conducted by the conservation group Endangered Species International, the investigation helps expose the extent of gorilla poaching in the country.

It fears hundreds more gorillas may be taken each year outside the region.

The group began its investigation by going undercover, talking to sellers and traders at food markets in Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the Republic of Congo.

Over the course of a year, investigators visited the markets twice a month, recording the amount of bushmeat for sale.

"Gorilla meat is sold pre-cut and smoked for about $6 per 'hand-sized' piece. Actual gorilla hands are also available," says Mr Pierre Fidenci, president of Endangered Species International (ESI).

"Over time we got the confidence of the sellers and traders. They gave us the origin of the gorilla meat and it all comes from a single region."

The team then undertook an expedition to travel to the source of this meat, a forested area called Kouilou, which lies along the Kouilou River around 100 to 130km from Pointe Noire.

Using the same boats that ferry the gorilla meat downriver to the city, the investigators travelled upstream, taking photographs and recording interviews with villagers which revealed the extent of the gorilla poaching.

The investigators also undertook field surveys to ascertain the size of the population of wild western lowland gorillas living in the region.

"According to interviews and field surveys, we think we may have about 200 gorillas left in the area," says Mr Fidenci.

"But we estimate that 4% of the population is being killed each month, or 50% in a year. It is a lot."

The poachers particularly target adult gorillas of reproductive age which carry the most meat.

With such heavy hunting, the researchers believe gorillas could disappear from the region within a decade.

"During our mission we observed killing of gorillas in the wild. In less than one week and a half in one particular area we had two adult gorillas killed for their meat," Mr Fidenci says.

All the meat appears to be consumed in Pointe Noire rather than being exported.

"The gorilla meat goes to the nearest, biggest and most profitable place," says Mr Fidenci.

"Our study has disclosed the horrific scale of the endangered species market in the Republic of Congo, especially endangered gorillas sold as meat."

Overall, ESI estimates that at least 300 gorillas are sold to markets each year in the country.

Crosshead

Western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla ) are one of two subspecies of Western gorilla, the other being the Cross River gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla diehli ).

Western lowland gorillas are considered to be critically endangered, as their population has fallen by more than 80% in three generations.

Between 100,000 and 125,000 western lowland gorillas are thought to survive across their entire geographic range which spans several countries.

But the dense and remote forest habitat in which they live often makes it difficult to reliably estimate the population size.

Mr Fidenci hopes to go back to Kouilou to find out more about the remaining gorillas living there and to find a way to conserve them.

"We intend to stop the killing in the area by providing alternative income to locals and working with hunters not against them. We hope to conduct conservation awareness with educational programs with other NGOs and to create a gorilla nature reserve."

"We need to tackle the problem where it starts, right there where people and gorillas live."

Currently, little is done in the country to prevent the poaching of bushmeat, Mr Fidenci says.

"Enforcement does not exist. Even though there are existing laws which protect endangered wildlife against such activities."

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Beijing birth defects rise again

Jill McGivering, BBC News 15 Sep 09;

The birth defect rate rose again in the Chinese capital Beijing last year, mirroring increases elsewhere in the country, according to figures.

The city's birth defect rate has almost doubled in the last decade.

The causes of such defects are not clear, but there are concerns they could be related to heavy pollution.

A growing number of babies in China are being born with abnormalities - ranging from extra fingers and toes and cleft lips to congenital heart disease.

In Beijing last year, according to Chinese officials, the rate was 170 per 10,000 births. That is significantly higher than the global average.

This fits with other reports about sharp rises in birth defects across the country, in both rural and urban areas.

Some provinces with large coal and chemical industries seem to have some of the highest rates.

It is hard to know for sure what's causing these defects, but they are helping to fuel broader concern about the health impact of acute air, water and soil pollution in China.

Sensitive issue

An editorial in Tuesday's China Daily newspaper broadened the argument by pointing to modern urban lifestyles as another possible factor for the growth in birth defects.

As well as worrying about pollution, it said, individuals should also think twice about their busy, stressful schedules.

All this is politically sensitive for China.

More research is needed, for example, detailed mapping to see what correlation there is between different types of defect and pollution levels.

Improvements in health facilities, which give better monitoring of newborns and better diagnosis, may also account for part of the increase.

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Mafia sank boat with radioactive waste: official

Reuters 15 Sep 09;

ROME (AFP) – Italian authorities have discovered a ship that was sunk by the mafia off the coast of southern Italy with 120 barrels of radioactive waste on board, a local prosecutor said Monday.

The 110-metre (360-feet) long ship was found on Saturday 500 metres (1,640 feet) under water and around 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the coast of Calabria, Paola city prosecutor Bruno Giordano told AFP.

"For the moment, we do not know the origin of the waste, but it is probably from abroad. It is a first lead," he said.

The Cunsky is one of 32 vessels carrying toxic material that has been sunk by the mafia in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor's office in Reggio Calabria.

The location of the Cunsky was revealed by a Calabrese mafia turncoat, Francesco Fonti, who confessed to being behind the explosion that brought the ship down, officials said.

Sebastiano Venneri, vice president of the environmental group Legambiente, said former members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia have said that the crime syndicate was paid to sink ships with radioactive material for the last 20 years.

"An investigation on the origin of this waste is therefore necessary as soon as possible," Venneri told AFP.

Mafia 'sank nuclear waste ship'
Duncan Kennedy, BBC News 15 Sep 09;

A shipwreck that could contain nuclear waste is being investigated by authorities in Italy amid claims that it was deliberately sunk by the mafia.

An informant told a judge the ship was one of a number he blew up as part of an illegal operation to bypass rules on the disposal of toxic waste.

The sunken vessel has been found 30km (18 miles) off the south-west of Italy.

Murky pictures taken by a robot camera show the vessel intact and alongside it are a number of yellow barrels.

Labels on them say the contents are toxic.

The informant said the mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of nuclear waste disposal.

But he said that instead of getting rid of the material safely, he blew up the vessel out at sea, off the Calabrian coast.

He also says he was responsible for sinking two other ships containing toxic waste.

Experts are now examining samples taken from the wreck.

Other vessels

An official said that if the samples proved to be radioactive then a search for up to 30 other sunken vessels believed scuttled by the mafia would begin immediately.

For years there have been rumours that the mafia was sinking ships with nuclear and other waste on board, as part of a money-making racket.

The environmental campaign group Greenpeace and others have compiled lists over the past few decades of ships that have disappeared off the coast of Italy and Greece.

Processing waste is highly specialised and is supposed to be an industry where security is the top priority.

If tests show that there is nuclear material on the seabed it will prove that the mafia has moved into its dirtiest business yet.

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E-waste scrap rules urged

Alister Doyle, Reuters 15 Sep 09;

OSLO (Reuters) - A metric ton of old mobile phones contains metals worth $15,000, and the world needs better rules to tackle growing mountains of electronic waste in developing nations, a U.N.-backed alliance said on Tuesday.

"A lot of equipment simply ends up dumped," in poor nations, said Ruediger Kuehr, head of the secretariat of StEP (Solving the E-waste Problem) whose backers include U.N. agencies and companies such as Microsoft and Nokia.

"Processes and policies governing the re-use and recycling of electronic products need to be standardized worldwide to stem and reverse the growing problem of illegal and harmful e-waste," a StEP statement said.

Kuehr said that Bonn-based StEP, created in 2007, had gathered ideas at a 15-nation meeting this month about better ways to clean up and regulate exports.

A ton of used mobile phones, or about 6,000 handsets, contained about 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) of silver, 340 grams of gold, 140 grams of palladium and 130 kg of copper, StEP said. A phone battery contains another 3.5 grams of copper.

"Combined value: over $15,000 at today's prices," it said.

A lot of electronic waste was shipped to developing nations under loopholes allowing exports of computers or television sets for re-use abroad, Kuehr told Reuters by telephone. But much of the exports were scrap that was illegally exported.

DIOXINS

"All too often, e-scrap in developing nations is incinerated to recover metals," StEP said. That was cheap and could be lucrative, but emitted toxins including heavy metals and dioxins.

"Recycling -- if properly done -- is costly," Kuehr said. He said there were at least 700 containers of waste equipment waiting in ports in west Africa, part of a mountain of some 40 to 50 million tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment produced every year.

"And another problem is that equipment sent to developing nations for re-use will one day become obsolete and will need recycling," he said. Almost no developing nations have modern waste plants.

The European Union, for instance, bans exports of electronic waste to countries that cannot dispose of scrap to EU standards. Even so, the world needs to find ways to enable poor nations to benefit from old equipment.

"Millions of old devices in North America and Europe could easily double their typical three- or four-year 'first life' by being put to use in classrooms and small business offices" in poor nations, said Ramzy Kahhat of Arizona State University.

He suggested a deposit to discourage consumers from keeping old gear in a basement or garage.

And some nations manage to recycle, Kahhat said. About 85 percent of used computers imported to Peru were put back into use. But 80 percent of devices imported for re-use to Nigeria, Pakistan and Ghana were simply scrapped.

In China alone, an estimated two million people were involved in informal e-waste collection, re-use and recycling.

"Though China has banned e-waste imports, it is still one of the world's major dumping grounds for e-waste from other countries," the statement said.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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Shell halts mining as activists protest oil sands

Reuters 15 Sep 09;

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc has suspended production at its Canadian oil sands mine after environmental activists blockaded a massive dump truck and mining shovel to protest the impact of oil sands development, the company said on Tuesday.

Greenpeace said 25 of its activists locked down the oil sands mining equipment at the Albian Sands Muskeg River mine in northern Alberta on Tuesday morning, a day before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

Shell, which owns 60 percent of the 155,000 barrel a day operation, said it temporarily shut down mining to ensure that the activists and its staff do not get hurt.

"Shell's No. 1 concern is their safety and our preference is for a negotiated end to this demonstration," the company said in a statement. "We have invited the group into our administrative building to sit down with management to discuss their concerns."

It said Greenpeace has not tried to contact Shell to discuss the environmental initiatives it is employing in the operation.

Greenpeace said it staged the protest to highlight what it said were "the climate crimes of tar sands development -- rising energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and boreal forest destruction".

The mine's other owners are Chevron Corp and Marathon Oil Corp, with 20 percent each.

Elsewhere, activists hung a 70-foot (21-meter) banner above Niagara Falls on the Canada-United States border showing arrows that point forward to a "clean energy future" and backward to "tar sands oil".

(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Peter Galloway)

Greenpeace ends protest at Shell oil sands mine
Jeffrey Jones, Reuters 16 Sep 09;

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Greenpeace activists who occupied mining equipment at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Canadian oil sands project ended their protest on Wednesday after 1-1/2 days and were escorted away without facing charges, the environmental group said.

Shell said production at the Muskeg River mine, one of four oil sands projects in northern Alberta, operated at normal rates throughout the day as the demonstrators worked to spread their message that developing the oil sands hampers the fight against global warming.

The protest, which began with 25 activists and ended with 15, coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday.

Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said the group was allowed to leave the mine after leaders spoke with company officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The Harper-Obama meeting did not produce the results that climate change activists hoped for.

"We haven't seen nearly enough concrete commitments from the Harper-Obama meeting that they will move quickly to help the world avert catastrophic climate change," Hudema said.

The activists entered the mine, located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, on Tuesday and locked down a massive dump truck and mining shovel. The company temporarily suspended production at the 155,000 barrel a day site, but resumed operations late in the day.

Hudema said there was a "cordial atmosphere" between demonstrators and Shell staff at the mine, and both sides stressed they had taken care to ensure the safety of everyone.

Shell said it is working hard to improve its environmental performance by developing a carbon capture and storage project for its oil sands operations, and by advocating a Canadian and international carbon cap and trade policy.

The Muskeg River mine's other owners are Chevron Corp and Marathon Oil Corp, with 20 percent each. It is one of four major oil sands mining operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

(Additional reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Peter Galloway and Rob Wilson)

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Economists just want you to be happy

The Thin Green Line SFGate 15 Sep 09;

The Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has authored an important new study proposing new, and ultimately more accurate, ways of measuring a country's wealth.

The very formulas for measuring growth and prosperity turn out to be biased such that environmental protections will always look like short-term caps on growth, when, ultimately long-term growth and survival depend on preserving our natural resources.

GDP has long been an inaccurate measure of a country's prosperity: It can make countries like Malaysia which are tearing through their natural resources look wealthy, when in fact, they're enjoying a short-lived bubble. The American model, as we're seeing now, of buying on credit turns out to be unsustainable in its own way. Stiglitz explains:

In the years preceding the crisis, many in Europe, focusing on America's higher rates of GDP growth, were drawn to the US model. Had they focused on metrics such as median income — providing a better picture of what is happening to most Americans — or made corrections for the increased indebtedness of households and the country as a whole, their enthusiasm might have been more muted.

If the proposed models get wide use, they will take pressure off developing countries to ravage their environments, as China continues to do, in order to achieve the growth which is fetishized by international bodies.

The new models would also bring good things on a more personal level. The GDP works like an average, rather than a median, and doesn't have any gauge for income disparity. And, as it turns out income disparity matters: Countries with a smaller gap between rich and poor generally have better health outcomes and higher happiness ratings. The U.S. ranks poorly on the first and so-so on the second. The principal is that, confronted with people who have so much more than you do, you will experience stress and dissatisfaction.

The new study would also credit leisure time. As my friend Luke says, the only measure of rising standard of living is how much less we have to work to reach the same point. By Luke's Rule, the U.S. fares quite poorly. Indeed, Stiglitz offers his own version of the rule: "Our economy is supposed to increase our well-being. It, too, is not an end in itself."

Perhaps not coincidentally, the study was commissioned by Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, where meals and vacations are famously long.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=47658#ixzz0RE6qZrXW

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Iraq seeks 30-year water plan to fight drought

Reuters 15 Sep 09;

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is studying offers from three foreign companies on putting together a strategic 30-year plan for managing its water resources during a lingering and damaging drought, the water resources ministry said on Tuesday.

Water resources director Oun Thiab Abdullah said 15 companies had originally been invited to make submissions for the $50 million project but only three -- a British, a Russian and an Italian consultancy -- showed interest.

The finalist would be selected in a month, he said.

The plan is intended to help the government set water resource policy for the next 30 years.

"This (study) is important because of the big changes suffered as a result of decreasing water resources," said Abdullah.

Iraq is mostly desert and its inhabitable areas are slaked by the Tigris, which comes down from Turkey, the Euphrates, also from Turkey but passing through Syria, and a network of smaller rivers from Iran, some of which feed the Tigris.

Several years of severe drought have savaged Iraq's war-battered and investment-starved farming sector, turning a country that once exported food throughout the region into one of the world's top wheat and rice importers.

In addition, hydroelectric dams in neighboring countries like Turkey have cut the flow of water down the main rivers, triggering angry protests by Iraqi officials.

The study under tender will guide the government on "how to use the limited water in the best way to confront this decrease and the environmental changes. It is a master plan for Iraq," Abdullah said.

(Reporting by Aseel Kami, Editing by Michael Christie)

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East Timor makes U.N. history with ozone treaty signing

Reuters 15 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Tiny East Timor on Wednesday signed a U.N. treaty to protect the Earth's fragile ozone layer, making it the first environmental pact to achieve backing from all 196 member states, the United Nations said.

The Montreal Protocol is designed to phase-out man-made chemicals that damage the planet's ozone layer, which shields life from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer, cataracts and reduce plant yields.

The pact has been so successful that the U.N. says 97 per cent of all ozone-depleting substances controlled by the 1987 protocol have been phased out.

Substances being phased out have been widely used in refrigerators, air-conditioners, fire extinguishers as well as solvents for cleaning electronic equipment and include chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, halons and methyl bromide.

East Timor, formerly part of Indonesia and just to the north of Australia, is one of the world's youngest nations.

The director of the U.N. Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said without the pact, levels of ozone-depleting substances would have increased tenfold by 2050.

This in turn could have led to up to 20 million more cases of skin cancer and 130 million more cataract cases.

Some of the same gases also contribute to climate change.

"By some estimates, the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances has since 1990 contributed a delay in global warming of some seven to 12 years underlining that a dollar spent on ozone has paid handsomely across other environmental challenges," Steiner said in a statement.

The U.N. says global observations have verified that atmospheric levels of key ozone-depleting substances are going down.

By implementing the protocol's rules the ozone layer should return to pre-1980 levels by 2050 to 2075, it says.

(Reporting by David Fogarty; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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Surviving Kyoto's 'do or die' summit

Gracelia Chichilnisky, BBC Green Room 15 Sep 09;

Global warming is the first truly global problem that needs all nations to work together in order to limit its impact, says carbon markets expert Graciela Chichilnisky. In this week's Green Room, she highlights a way forward that could suit all nations at the "do or die" summit in Copenhagen.

A global summit in Copenhagen in December will decide the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the only international agreement we have ever had to combat the dangers of climate change.

But the protocol expires in 2012 and, like Cinderella, it will become a pumpkin as the clock strikes 12.

The Danish capital city is the last stop on the rollercoaster ride of hope and despair since the protocol was signed by 160 nations in 1997.

Partial attempts to move negotiations forward limped from failure to failure in recent years.

The world's two largest emitters - the US and China - cannot agree on limits, and the outlook looks bleak.

Yet, as an insider in the Kyoto process with 25 years of UN experience, I can read the smoke signals. I believe that Kyoto is worth saving, and it can be saved.

The failures so far are meaningless because nothing at the UN happens until the 11th hour, when we are forced to reach a decision.

Every nation has an incentive to procrastinate: no nation wants to reduce carbon emissions on its own.

Global warming is the first true global problem we have ever faced and we need every nation to participate or else there is no solution.

By burning its own fossil fuels, Africa could unwillingly cause trillions of dollars worth of damage to the US when sea levels rise and polar caps melt. There is nowhere to hide.

The main event

But UN negotiators are sophisticated diplomats who will not break cover. Without compulsion to agree, there will be no agreement.

The Berlin Mandate in 1995 committed the world to an agreement, and the Kyoto Protocol was born in 1997.

In 2007, the Bali gathering concluded that this year's meeting in Copenhagen would resolve the problem of Kyoto post-2012. So, in this context, Copenhagen is "do or die".

As nations get ready for the Danish showdown, the pieces are falling into place for a major confrontation between the two largest emitters, the US and China.

This is where the environment meets geopolitics.

The two nations alone could cause catastrophe for the world. The US does not want to limit its emissions unless China does, but developing nations are not required to reduce emissions without compensation.

They need energy to stave off poverty, and 89% of the world's energy comes from fossil fuels.

More than 50% of the people in the world live on less than $2 (£1.20) per day, and in excess of 1.3bn people are at the edge of survival with $1 (£0.60) per day.

Developing nations house 80% of humankind but produce only 40% of the world's emissions, while 60% of global emissions originate from the rich nations that house 20% of the world's population.

The stand-off between the US and China is reminiscent of the Cold War between Russia and the US in the middle of the 20th Century.

Russia and the US both refused to limit their nuclear arsenal unless the other did first.

The times are different, the weapons are different, but the situation is the same.

Into Africa

The carbon market that I designed and crafted into the Kyoto Protocol is key, because $60bn (£36bn) in carbon credits is traded each year in the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS).

Developing nations do not trade in the carbon market because they have no limits on emissions, but they use the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which compensates (with carbon credits) private investments from industrial nations that reduce emissions.

This has led to more than $23bn (£14bn) in successful, productive and clean transfers.

So far, more than 60% of all CDM funding has gone to China, because the CDM is designed to reduce emissions and China - as the largest emitter - has most to reduce.

Africa is responsible for only 3% of the world's emissions and therefore has little to reduce; the continent has obtained little CDM funding. This needs to change.

How can we reach a consensus between industrialised and developing nations?

There is a formula that uses the protocol's own structure and updates it to overcome the impasse.

It involves financial and technical assistance, as highlighted at July's G8 summit, which has been officially supported by the Chinese delegation.

The financial part is a modest extension of the carbon market - engineered so that both sides get what they want.

For example, the US can buy an option to reduce Chinese emissions, thus obtaining what it wants, while providing "compensation" to China as is required by the UN climate convention for developing nations.

At the same time, the Chinese can secure a minimum price for the credits, ensuring that they would not be selling economic growth for a pittance.

This one-two punch reduces the overall monetary exchange while giving each party what they want; it can be a modest extension of the carbon market and sold in secondary markets to provide liquidity and stability for the carbon market.

Compensation can take the form of export credits for technology that makes emissions reduction possible; a modest extension of the CDM can certify new technologies that produce energy while reducing carbon from the atmosphere.

When used in Africa, the technologies can help the region reduce more carbon than it emits, meaning the continent can attract significant CDM funding that was not possible until now.

For rich nations, this involves $43 trillion (£26 trillion) in energy infrastructure - the right size to stimulate today's world economy -creating technology jobs, increasing exports and stimulating trade.

Copenhagen is the "do or die" mission for the climate negotiations. The price of failure could be catastrophic but there is a solution available.

Will the international community step up to the plate and save Kyoto?

Professor Graciela Chichilnisky is Unesco professor of mathematics and economics at Columbia University, New York, and has worked extensively in the Kyoto Protocol process, creating and designing the carbon market

She is also co-author of the book Saving Kyoto, which is published by New Holland

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

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Climate change will damage your health

World's doctors unite in challenge to politicians over 'biggest health threat of this century'
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 16 Sep 09;

Human society faces a global health catastrophe if climate change is not effectively tackled at the UN conference in Copenhagen in December, leading doctors from around the world warn today.

Calling on medical practitioners everywhere to put pressure on politicians in advance of the meeting, the doctors say that the world's poorest people will be hit first by the health effects of global warming, but add that "no one will be spared".

Their stark challenge to governments follows a report in May which said climate change would represent "the biggest global health threat of the 21st century".

Malaria, dengue fever and other tropical diseases would increase, the study predicted, spelling out how rising temperatures will cause health crises in half a dozen areas: there will be increased problems with food supplies, clean water and sanitation, especially in developing countries. Meanwhile, the migration of peoples will combine with extreme weather events such as hurricanes and severe floods to make for disastrous conditions in human settlements.

The doctors make their appeal as momentum begins to build for the UN conference, which will be held in the Danish capital from 7-18 December, and which will see the world community attempt to draw up a comprehensive new climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol. Its crucial objective will be drastic worldwide cuts in the emissions of industrial gases such as carbon dioxide which are causing the atmosphere to warm.

On Tuesday, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is convening a climate change summit of world leaders in New York, including Gordon Brown and President Obama, to try to give some impetus to the tortuous pre-conference negotiating process – the draft text of 200 pages already contains 2,000 "square brackets": that is, points where the 190 countries taking part disagree.

The doctors' challenge to politicians to sort this out comes in a letter published simultaneously in Britain's two principal health journals, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet.

In the letter, Professor Ian Gilmore, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, joins 17 other national doctors' leaders from the US to Australia in saying: "There is a real danger that politicians [at Copenhagen] will be indecisive, especially in such turbulent economic times as these. Should their response be weak, the results for international health could be catastrophic."

They go on: "Doctors are still seen as respected and independent, largely trusted by their patients and the societies in which they practise ... As leaders of physicians across many countries, we call on doctors to demand that their politicians listen to the clear facts that have been identified in relation to climate change and act now to implement strategies that will benefit the health of communities worldwide."

The letter follows the report on the health effects of global warming which was launched jointly last May by The Lancet and University College London (UCL), and which squarely labelled climate change as the 21st century's biggest global health threat.

That report's lead author, Professor Anthony Costello, director of UCL's Institute for Global Health, said at the time: "The big message of this report is that climate change is a health issue affecting billions of people, not just an environmental issue about polar bears and deforestation. The impacts will be felt not just in the UK, but all around the world – and not just in some distant future but in our lifetimes and those of our children."

Today's letter is accompanied by an editorial written by two of Britain's most senior figures in the area of health and development: Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of the UCL International Institute for Society and Health, and Lord Jay of Ewelme, who as Sir Michael Jay was head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and is now chair of Merlin, (Medical Emergency Relief, International), the UK charity which provides healthcare and medical relief for vulnerable people caught up in natural disasters, conflicts and major disease outbreaks.

The two men write: "A successful outcome at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December is vital for our future as a species, and for our civilisation." And they echo the writers of the letter in asserting: "Failure to agree radical reductions in emissions would spell a global health catastrophe."

They point out that there is now wide consensus that global temperatures are rising and that human actions are responsible; that there is a need to cut carbon emissions by at least 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change; and that the economic argument that taking action now rather than later will be cheaper has also been widely accepted since the Stern report in 2006. Furthermore, they say, the election of President Obama has shifted policy in the US from seeking to block an agreement to seeking to find one.

They go on: "So the chances of success should be good but the politics are tough. The most vocal arguments are about equity: the rich world caused the problem so why should the poor world pay to put it right? Can the rich world do enough through its own actions and through its financial and technological support for the poor to persuade the poor to join in a global agreement?"

Doctors warn on climate failure
Richard Black, BBC News 15 Sep 09;

Failure to agree a new UN climate deal in December will bring a "global health catastrophe", say 18 of the world's professional medical organisations.

Writing in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal, they urge doctors to "take a lead" on the climate issue.

In a separate editorial, the journals say that people in poor tropical nations will suffer the worst impacts.

They argue that curbing climate change would have other benefits such as more healthy diets and cleaner air.

December's UN summit, to be held in Copenhagen, is due to agree a new global climate treaty to supplant the Kyoto Protocol.

But preparatory talks have been plagued by lack of agreement on how much to cut greenhouse gas emissions and how to finance climate protection for the poorest countries.

"There is a real danger that politicians will be indecisive, especially in such turbulent economic times as these," according to the letter signed by leaders of 18 colleges of medicine and other medical disciplines across the world.

"Should their response be weak, the results for international health could be catastrophic."

Rising risk

Earlier in the year, The Lancet, together with University College London (UCL), published a major review on the health impacts of climate change.

Some of the headline findings were that rising temperatures are likely to increase transmission of many infectious diseases, reduce supplies of food and clean water in developing countries, and raise the number of people dying from heat-related conditions in temperate regions.

But it also acknowledged some huge gaps in research - for example, that "almost no reliable data for heatwave-induced mortality exist in Africa or south Asia".

Nevertheless, the main conclusion was that in a world likely to have three billion new inhabitants by the second half of this century: "Effects of climate change on health will affect most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk".

The current Lancet and BMJ editorial that accompanies the letter from doctors' organisations argues that climate change strengthens the cases that health and development charities are already championing.

"Even without climate change, the case for clean power, electric cars, saving forests, energy efficiency, and new agriculture technology is strong.

"Climate change makes it unanswerable."

Written by Lord Michael Jay, who chairs the health charity Merlin, and Professor Michael Marmot of UCL, the editorial argues that there are plenty of "win-win solutions" available.

"A low-carbon economy will mean less pollution. A low carbon-diet (especially eating less meat) and more exercise will mean less cancer, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

"Opportunity, surely, not cost."

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World Bank urges rich states to act now on climate

Lesley Wroughton, Reuters 15 Sep 09;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's rich nations must make immediate and deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions or the steeply rising cost of climate change will fall disproportionately on poor countries, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

In a major report on the threat of climate change, the Bank's "World Development Report" said developing countries will bear 75 to 80 percent of the costs of damage caused by climate change and rich countries, the biggest CO2 emitters in the past, have a "moral" obligation to pay for them to adapt.

It said tackling climate change in developing countries need not compromise poverty-fighting measures and economic growth, but stressed that funding and technical support from rich countries will be essential.

The report comes amid tough global negotiations ahead of a meeting in Copenhagen in December on a new global climate accord to combat man-made climate change, to succeed the current Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.

Unlike in the Kyoto talks when frictions were between Europe and the United States, current talks have focused on differences between rich and rapidly developing countries.

"The countries of the world must act now, act together and act differently on climate change," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said.

"Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change -- a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are the least prepared. For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important," he added.

While the report did not take a specific position on Copenhagen, it said a deal will take a "credible commitment" by high-income countries to drastically cut their emissions.

It also said developing nations must do their part and keep down the overall costs of climate change by adopting policies that reduce emissions or their growth rate.

"Unless developing countries also start transforming their energy system as they grow, limiting warming to close to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels will not be achievable," it said.

It said annual energy-related CO2 emissions in middle-income economies have caught up with those of the rich, and the largest share of current emissions from deforestation and other land-use change comes from tropical countries.

The report said countries in Africa and South Asia could permanently lose as much as 4 to 5 percent of their gross domestic product if the earth's temperature increases 2 degrees Celsius as opposed to minimal losses in rich countries.

IMPACTING POVERTY GOALS

Rosina Bierbaum, one of the report's authors and Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, said climate change could disrupt U.N. goals to halve global poverty and hunger by 2015 because of the impact to agriculture and food prices.

The report estimated that by 2050 the world will need to feed 3 billion more people at a time when countries are dealing with a harsher climate, with more storms, droughts and floods.

Bierbaum told a news conference in Washington the cost of addressing climate change will be high but was still manageable if countries act now. The longer the delays, the harder it will be to alter infrastructures, economies and lifestyles.

The report said mitigation measures in developing countries to curb emissions could cost around $400 billion a year by 2030. Currently, mitigation finance averages around $8 billion a year.

In addition, annual investments that will help developing countries figure out how to live with climate change could cost around $75 billion. This compares to less than $1 billion a year currently available, the Bank said.

The World Bank said the global financial crisis should not be used as an excuse to delay action to address climate change because the future climate crisis is likely to be more damaging to the world economy.

"The economic downturn may delay the business-as-usual growth in emissions by a few years, but it is unlikely to fundamentally change that path over the long term," it said.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

Rich nations must lead global warming battle: World Bank
Yahoo News 15 Sep 09;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The World Bank on Tuesday called on rich countries to step up the battle against global warming, saying their assistance is essential to help developing countries reduce their carbon footprints.

Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries, the World Bank said in a report released ahead of the December international conference on climate change in Copenhagen.

"The countries of the world must act now, act together and act differently on climate change," said World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

"Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change -- a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are the least prepared. For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important," he said.

The report, "World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change," says that advanced countries, which produced most of the greenhouse gas emissions of the past, must act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change.

If developed countries act now, a "climate-smart" world is feasible and the costs to achieve it "will be high but still manageable," the Washington-based development lender said.

"A key way to do this is by ramping up funding for mitigation in developing countries, where most future growth in emissions will occur," it said.

Bank urges climate 'action now'
Richard Black, BBC News 15 Sep 09;

Climate change will be a serious barrier to growth in poorer nations and must be curbed, says the World Bank.

The bank's World Development Report (WDR) urges a rapid scaling-up of spending on clean energy research and protection for poorer countries.

Even a warming of 2C (3.6F) - the G8's target - could reduce GDP in poor nations, the report concludes.

The bank urges governments to conclude an "equitable deal" at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.

That "equitable deal" should involve industrialised countries paying for the damage that their historical emissions have caused and will cause in poorer parts of the world, it suggests.

"Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change - a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are the least prepared," said World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

"For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important."

Part of that deal, the report says, involves industrialised countries making rapid cuts in their greenhouse gas output, creating "emissions space" to allow for rising fossil fuel use in poorer societies.

Developing problem

The acceptance of "historical responsibility" found resonance among organisations that campaign for the relief of developing world poverty.

"A broad coalition from Bolivian President Evo Morales to the World Bank is united in saying that past emissions matter, and that rich countries have to confront this rather than avoid it," noted Tom Sherman, head of climate change with the charity ActionAid.

The report concludes that policy "cannot be framed as a choice between growth and climate change".

In fact, it says, "climate-smart policies are those that enhance development, reduce vulnerability and finance the transition to low-carbon economic growth".

The bank notes that some developing countries' outlay on coping with weather emergencies is already rising.

Poor countries in Africa and Asia could see their GDP fall by about 5% under a global warming of 2C - the target adopted by the G8 and a number of important developing countries during their summit in Italy in July.

"Grappling with climate shocks that are already hampering development will not be easy," said Rosina Bierbaum, co-director of the WDR and dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

"But promising new energy technologies can vastly reduce future greenhouse gas emissions and prevent catastrophic climate change."

Cash costs

The full financing package that the bank believes is likely to be needed annually by 2030 includes:

* $75bn to help poorer nations adapt to, or protect themselves against, climate impacts
* $400bn for mitigation - reducing emissions - in the developing world
* hundreds of billions for energy research and development

And the vast majority, it concludes, must come from nations that have already industrialised through intensive fossil fuel use.

The bank's explicit conclusions - that climate change has to be curbed to aid development, and that richer countries have to pay - will harden the case that developing countries are making for more cash in the lead up to Copenhagen.

It parts company with some observers who argue that climate change should only be addressed once societies have become rich enough to solve it painlessly: "Development will get harder, not easier, with climate change".

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