Environmentalism in Singapore: Dead or Alive?
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Oriental Pied Hornbill in Toa Payoh!
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Snail's eye view
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Tiger Shrike swallows prey
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Drongo Cuckoo feeding on caterpillars
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Fresh dung!
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May Wong, Channel NewsAsia 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN: Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said on Tuesday there should be flexibility on what countries should commit to when tackling climate change, in order to reach a common ground.
Speaking to the Singapore media on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, he said although some reports have said the conference may end up in a serious deadlock, it is not time to give up on the negotiations.
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected to attend the conference on Thursday.
Ministers and senior officials have been engaged in long discussions to try and reach an agreement to curb global warming. But things have not been easy as there have been disagreements on what developed nations and developing nations should do.
Despite the disagreements, Dr Yaacob believes the negotiation process is inching forward.
"I wouldn't give up at this point in time. I think there is an urgency that we have to do something. Even during the consultation, some countries were prepared to give in... they're conceding - not much but they're saying, 'Ok, let's consider that'," he said.
"So we've reported the positions of the various countries and they would use our consultation material as the inputs towards the process. The idea is to at least have a document ready by tomorrow before the leaders arrive for the high-level segment."
On Singapore's aim to cut carbon-emissions growth by 16 per cent, below the projected 2020 levels, Dr Yaacob said many countries see that as a good effort.
He said: "They acknowledged the fact that Singapore is willing to put on the table what we're prepared to do and we're doing it unilaterally. Some have acknowledged it, some have asked if we're prepared to do more and as usual, I think the comments are positive rather than negative."
With world leaders already starting to arrive here in Copenhagen, the aim is to provide these decision-makers with a politically binding agreement on climate change, with the mandate that negotiations will continue over the next six or 12 months.
- CNA/so
PM Lee heads to UN Climate Change talks in Copenhagen, says MFA
S.Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 16 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 17 and 18.
This is at the invitation of the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Mr Lee will also have bilateral meetings with other Heads of Government and Heads of State on the sidelines of the Summit.
Singapore's delegation includes Senior Minister Prof S Jayakumar, Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, and other ministry officials. - CNA/vm
PM Lee joins in today
Chuang Peck Ming, Business Times 17 Dec 09;
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong is due to arrive here today to join some 116 other presidents and prime ministers in an unprecedented gathering of leaders to hammer out a deal on curbing global warming.
A brief statement issued yesterday by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that besides taking part in the two-day leaders' summit of the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's invitation, Mr Lee will also have bilateral meetings with other leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
The Singapore delegation to the conference also includes Senior Minister/Coordinating Minister for National Security S Jayakumar, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim and officials from ministries.
Singapore has pledged to cut carbon pollution by 16 per cent against projected business-as-usual levels by 2020. This 'stretch target' is based on the level of greenhouse gas emissions that Singapore would produce by 2020 if no proactive measures were taken, but relies on a legal deal being reached in Copenhagen.
Laurence Lien wants to help people contribute in meaningful ways
Wong Kim Hoh, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
FIRST, the good news.
More Singaporeans are stepping forward to help others, or to make a difference in their community or the world they live in.
According to the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), which conducts regular surveys on giving, the volunteerism rate has risen from a miserly 9.3 per cent in 2000 to 16.9 per cent last year.
'By any measure I think that's a success. But I think we can do a lot better,' says NVPC chief executive Laurence Lien, who was speaking to The Straits Times after celebrating International Volunteer Day two weeks ago.
Indeed, Singaporeans come off rather poorly when compared with Britain, which boasts a volunteerism rate of 50 per cent, or the United States, where it is 25 per cent.
Mr Lien, 39, acknowledges that it may not be fair to compare because different survey methodologies may have been used, but believes that Singapore should aspire for a volunteerism rate of 30 per cent.
'It's achievable because our survey shows that 35 per cent or about one-third of Singaporeans - including those who are currently volunteering - say they are likely to volunteer in the future,' he says.
There is just one snag - 'they are not finding the volunteer opportunities, or the right type of volunteer opportunities', says Mr Lien, who likens the situation to 'a labour market sort of mismatch'.
He explains: 'Many voluntary host organisations (VHOs) are looking for volunteers who can turn up the same day, same time, every week for the next year, two years and three years, whereas the volunteers who are living very hectic lives are saying: 'I can't make that sort of commitment'.'
It does not help that many volunteer organisations are not flexible and some are poorly organised when it comes to engaging and managing volunteers.
'This is, of course, a generalisation because there are a lot of agencies that do engage and manage volunteers very well but you do have a fair number too, that treat volunteers as cheap labour and a cheap resource and they don't invest in volunteers the same way they invest in paid staff.'
This is unwise as it triggers a vicious circle.
'When volunteers feel less satisfied with the experience, they become less reliable. And when that happens, volunteer organisations invest even less, which makes volunteers become even more disenchanted and they will leave volunteering.'
Mr Lien, who took over as NVPC head last year, has rolled out the Singapore Cares programme to tackle the problem.
It matches volunteers with non-profit organisations through an online portal.
The programme's philosophy is simple: to create new and flexible opportunities for Singaporeans to contribute.
This includes breaking the mindsets that many VHOs have: ad hoc programmes for ad hoc volunteers and regular projects for regular volunteers.
Singapore Cares - which was officially launched on Sept 6 - helps these companies structure regular projects using 'episodic' volunteers.
'We are actively rolling up our sleeves to create the projects, and then we organise it in such a way that there's quality control. We train the volunteer leaders and put the volunteers through orientation. It's all very structured,' he explains.
To sweeten the deal, the NVPC launched a two-year pilot programme last year that gives a grant for non-profit organisations to hire volunteer coordinators.
So far, it has disbursed the grant - valued at $60,000 each - to seven organisations.
'We want to demonstrate that if you invest, it's not just about money,' says Mr Lien.
'We are giving these outfits the volunteer management framework, and we will work with them. We hope to demonstrate that if you invest in volunteer management and your volunteers have a good experience, you will be able to retain them more, and your attrition rate will be much lower.'
The Singapore Cares database has more than 120 projects, and about 2,500 volunteers, of whom more than 1,000 are mobilised.
Mr Lien hopes to better these numbers, especially among the young. The volunteerism rate among Singaporeans aged between 15 and 24 is a very respectable 23 per cent. Unfortunately, many stop volunteering when they start working, probably because they find it 'hard to achieve work-life balance'.
That is why the NVPC has set its sight on companies to rectify the situation.
'We're not talking about companies making their employees volunteer. We're talking about companies making it easy, in fact, organising it for their employees, allowing them to have time off to volunteer,' he says.
Mr Lien believes corporate community involvement projects can be a win-win situation for the 'Net generation' - many of whom, he says, are interested in social causes - and their companies.
'If they go as a group, it will boost morale and team building. Instead of doing it on the beach or at the Outward Bound, do team building while you're volunteering and you can kill two birds with one stone,' says Mr Lien, who adds that the NVPC honours socially conscious employers with Corporate Citizen awards.
While he is generally upbeat about the state of volunteerism here, one trend makes him knit his brows.
Informal volunteering has been falling quite dramatically - from 36 per cent in 2004 to 18 per cent last year. Informal volunteering takes place outside structured programmes, such as taking an elderly neighbour to the doctor.
It is not, he points out, a Singapore phenomenon.
'It's a global trend for urbanised cities. There is a decline in the sense of community. You can attribute it to many different possibilities - the Internet, busy lives, the rise of the gated community.
'Some people now live in condominiums with private lift lobbies; they don't have to meet any neighbours going to the carpark.'
Mr Lien says we need to get back some of that community spirit.
'If our vision is to make volunteering a way of life, you need it to be ubiquitous. You need to make volunteering not just an activity that you can do only if it's structured through an organisation.'
The NVPC's solution is the vertical kampung project, which aims to bring volunteering back to the basics like looking after one's neighbour.
'We go to the ground to try to empower, to find volunteer or grassroots leaders who can work within the community, mobilise and organise on the ground and create more social capital and social trust.'
'Social capital is the foundation: It's creating friendships and getting people to meet because volunteering requires a certain amount of trust. And you have to build that first.'
For without it, Mr Lien says, volunteering may not even happen.
Q & A
Straits Times Forum 16 Dec 09;
Q According to the survey, people who volunteer more, donate more. Why is this so?
For a donor, you have to answer a few questions in your head first before you actually part with the gift. One question would be, what need is there in society? In Singapore, you often hear people ask, doesn't the Government take care of everything? So if your impression is that all needs are well taken care of, why donate?
If you've identified the cause, the second question is which organisation is serving this cause. When you're a volunteer, you have both questions answered already. You can see the needs for yourself. And if you continue volunteering with that organisation, you must believe in the work, and that it is worth donating money too. Increasingly, people want to see how the money is being spent and I think volunteers can clearly see that too.
Q The NVPC surveys indicate that while the rate of volunteerism among the young has increased, it has remained stagnant with the seniors, at about 25 per cent. How would you persuade them to volunteer?
Active ageing should be about catering to the social, emotional and spiritual well-being, not just the physical, financial and mental health. It shouldn't just be about exercising, dancing and learning something new, but also about the joys of giving. Often, nothing lifts the spirits more than being a gift to others.
Our seniors have so much to give back - not just time, but also their wisdom, values and experience. They can especially be such a great resource to our young. The third age is the right time for our seniors to start leaving their personal legacy behind.
Q Last year, a non-governmental organisation in Britain created a big debate when it offered tickets to a rock concert as an incentive for young people to volunteer. What are your thoughts on this?
I think it could be something that's okay to get people started but to keep it sustainable, people need to be intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically motivated.
If these people had never volunteered before, well maybe, because you want to encourage them to try out and maybe get hooked. But I wouldn't do it as a regular thing to keep the flames going. If it's a significant benefit, it's not volunteering any more, right? It's payment.
Q You have three young sons. How do you teach them the importance of volunteerism?
One is by modelling. Last semester, I was a volunteer reader in my eldest son's school. They have a reading programme every week, and I think five parents take on six kids each.
At NVPC, we also want to promote family volunteering. So for one Singapore Cares project, I took one of my sons to Pasir Ris beach for a clean-up. It's amazing how much dirt there was and the number of plastic bags we pulled out.
Tycoon's grandson
Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
MR LAURENCE Lien, 39, is the chief executive officer of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.
An Oxford Scholar, the grandson of the late banking tycoon and philanthropist Lien Ying Chow spent 14 years in the Administrative Service.
He was a high flier at the Ministry of Finance where, among other things, he was involved in formulating the new spending rule on reserves, and the code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds.
He also worked in the Home Affairs and Education ministries, as well as the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, where his portfolios ranged from ageing to pro-natal policies.
Mr Lien, who has a master's in business administration from the National University of Singapore, as well as a master's in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, also chairs the Lien Foundation.
He is married to a housewife and they have three sons, aged three, five and seven.
We can do better
Straits Times Forum 19 Dec 09;
I READ with interest Wednesday's interview with National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre chief executive Laurence Lien, 'Opening up opportunities to volunteer'.
Singapore has about 17 per cent participation in volunteerism, and this is still some way from what other countries with similar living standards have achieved. We can do better and must find ways to do so.
Some Singaporeans shun volunteer work, thinking such activities are for those who have no family commitments. Others have the notion that volunteerism is for senior citizens who have a lot of time to spare.
While younger Singaporeans fare better with a volunteerism rate of 23 per cent, it does not bode well for the future as most of them will stop when they enter the job market. They will be more concerned with climbing the corporate ladder in their endless pursuit of success.
With a rapidly ageing population, Singapore should do more to promote volunteerism, especially in social services. We must be prepared to commit ourselves to community work now and, at the same time, train more people for the future when 800,000 or 25 per cent of the population will be 60 and above by 2030.
I cannot agree more with Mr Lien, who believes companies can play a pivotal role by organising and giving their employees time off to engage in voluntary work.
Another important aspect is the need to train volunteers and match them with agencies in community work. Volunteers should not be treated as general workers used by social organisations. They need to be respected and recognised for their contribution.
They should be assigned jobs they enjoy doing, and use should be made of their experience and skills. A mismatched assignment will cause disenchantment and demoralise those involved. The end result? They quit.
There has been a steady increase in the number of companies involved in community service. With the support of their employees, a greater sense of caring and sharing will be inculcated.
This will spur Singapore to achieve a much higher participation rate in voluntary work in the near future.
Jeffrey Law
Singapore's next port of call may be rising in the west
Surveys underway in Tuas View Extension, which looks set to become next big port development
Ronnie Lim and Vincent Wee, Business Times 16 Dec 09;
(SINGAPORE) Tuas View Extension - the hockey stick-shaped piece of land at the westernmost tip of Singapore - looks set to become the country's next major port development.
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) is scheduled to start its own soil investigation and seismic surveys there anytime now, reinforcing market talk of a relocation in the medium to long term of Singapore's port operations in the city centre to the west.
Separately, Sembcorp Marine is this month also starting construction of the $750 million first phase of its new yard at a 206-ha site there, just as JTC Corporation is exploring developing a shared waterfront facility for marine and oil & gas firms at the location.
According to the MPA tender for a consultant to carry out the soil investigation and seismic study, the port authority is targeting for work to start in Novem-ber/December, with the contract period covering 14 months.
'There will be reclamation in that area, although not immediately after the soil investigation project,' it added.
The soil investigation will be carried out in the anchorages and JTC working area at Tuas View Extension, while a large portion of the seismic survey is within the anchorage, the tender document said.
'There are already a lot of ships anchored there as the water is deep, and the location looks ideal,' said one source who has heard of the possible shift of part of MPA's operations to the area.
Another industry official added that he had heard talk of the planned MPA move as far back as a couple of years ago.
From an economic viewpoint, a relocation of MPA's city-centre port operations will free the prime, not to mention expensive, land there for other commercial development.
When asked about the port move, an MPA spokesman would only say that 'there is no firm plan for Tuas View area at the moment. We will share details when ready'.
SembMarine just last month announced its plans to build a massive, integrated yard at Tuas View Extension to which it will relocate its present Jurong operations.
Development of its 73.3-ha first phase will be completed by 2013, with the entire new yard to be built over 12 years. It is understood that JTC is about to complete reclaiming land needed for the phase 2 development of SembMarine's yard.
Earlier in June, JTC said that given the shortage of industrial waterfront land, it was also looking at building a shared waterfront facility at Tuas View for small and medium enterprises to load and unload their goods, and by marine and offshore engineering companies for their manufacturing operations.
An update on this project is expected from JTC next month.
An industry source said that setting up an offshore supply base on the site would make sense.
There used to be a supply base at Shipyard Road in Jurong which has since closed, when all the offshore supply facilities here relocated to the Loyang Offshore Supply Base in the east. The west coast, however, is now under-served, especially with the growth of the offshore industry there.
Meanwhile, reflecting the buzz in the area, JTC has just called a tender for soil investigation for a proposed road at phase 3 of the Tuas View Extension site.
NUS researchers mapping out hottest, windiest part of town for future green developments
Grace Chua, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
RESEARCHERS from the National University of Singapore will attempt to map out where the hottest and windiest parts of Punggol are so that urban developers can plan where to locate future developments to make the town energy-efficient.
The study, a collaboration between the Housing Board and NUS' School of Design and Environment, is the first climatic study of an entire neighbourhood. Punggol was chosen because it is the newest town in Singapore.
The findings from the year-long project will be applied to both upcoming and existing developments in Punggol Town.
The $960,000 study, funded by the Ministry of National Development, HDB and NUS, will study three aspects of the area's climate using on-site measurements, computer simulations and a wind tunnel:
# Hot and cool spots:The mapping of such spots can help developers see where they should put in place cooling measures such as by planting greenery on a wall or on a roof.
# Wind conditions: The wind flow between and through buildings affects ventilation and will help builders decide where to put void decks and other ventilation-improving measures.
# Patterns of sun and shadow: These will help planners track cool, shady spots and the sunniest sites, where solar panels could be placed to harness clean energy.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
In the next four to five years, its findings may be translated into development or design changes, said Mr Alan Tan, deputy managing director for environmental sustainability research at HDB's Building Research Institute.
'Punggol is a new town, and there are a lot of opportunities to test new technologies in this town so as to achieve a sustainable living environment in future,' he said.
He said it was too early to tell which design measures would be implemented and how these would affect the cost of flats, adding that affordability was the ultimate goal.
A previous, smaller study of wind patterns and ventilation was done for the upcoming Treelodge@Punggol eco-precinct. Planners aligned the blocks so that they had the best ventilation.
Since 1998, 27,000 flats have been launched in Punggol, of which 17,300 have been completed.
NUS and multiple government agencies are also conducting a three-year study of sustainable development in Singapore, which began in September.
It includes a climatic map of Marina Bay.
Such climatic maps of temperature, shade and wind patterns can help in the design of sustainable towns, said Dr Malone-Lee Lai Choo, director of NUS' Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities at its School of Design and Environment.
'We often design to cut out the natural elements. But what we're trying to do now is to say, this is where natural ventilation comes in. We're trying to work with the climate.'
HDB, NUS plan climatic study in Punggol
Joyce Hooi, Business Times 16 Dec 09;
THE Housing Development Board (HDB) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) yesterday signed a collaboration agreement for the country's first township climatic study in Punggol Town.
Close to $960,000 has been set aside for the implementation of the project, which is jointly funded by the Ministry of National Development, HDB and NUS.
It is expected to be completed by end-2010.
'The signing today marks a deeper cooperation between HDB and NUS to carry out cutting-edge research for Punggol town. The results from the study will enable a more effective design for sustainability,' said Tay Kim Poh, chief executive officer of HDB.
'HDB residents can look forward to a sustainable living environment that capitalises on naturally ventilated buildings and optimises energy efficiency.'
This study of the climatic conditions for Punggol will lay the groundwork for superior wind flow and cross ventilation, energy efficient buildings, natural energy resources and tropical green architecture within a township.
Punggol, which is HDB's youngest town, has been earmarked to become Singapore's most eco-friendly town, as part of its billing as a waterfront town.
'As the vision of Punggol Town to become Singapore's most eco-friendly town continues to unfold, NUS is pleased to share our expertise in design and environmental sustainability, and contribute to its design and development,' said Barry Halliwell, NUS's deputy president for research and technology.
'The project will serve as an exemplary example to illustrate the creation of an energy-efficient and sustainable urban living environment through research-based township planning.'
The study will be led by Wong Nyuk Hien from the department of building at the NUS School of Design and Environment.
It will feature the use of software for a range of things, from the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software that will be used to map the landscape of Punggol Town, to the Ecotect software that will capture the solar radiation profile of Punggol Town in order to identify the best locations for solar panels.
The Punggol area has been the target of intensive development in recent years. Almost 44 per cent of new flats launched in Singapore in the last two years have been in Punggol.
HDB, NUS to embark on study for a greener Punggol
Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 15 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE: Introduce more green features in flats and develop design guidelines for sustainable and energy efficient HDB townships.
Those are what the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) are embarking on through Singapore's first Township Climatic Study in Punggol town.
The Sonic Detection and Ranging instrument, better known as SODAR, can measure wind speeds up to 300 metres high. The instrument will be placed near the 4.2-kilometre long Punggol Waterway to find out if the water there can help cool nearby buildings.
It is part of a study between the HDB and NUS to use Punggol as a prototype for a green and sustainable township.
HDB said it is still too early to tell what benefits flat-dwellers can enjoy from the study results.
Alan Tan, deputy MD, Building Research Institute, Housing and Development Board, said: "Punggol is a new town. And there are a lot of opportunities for us to test-bed new technologies. That's why this study is important for us to establish what are the key features or measures we should incorporate into this Punggol town."
Other simulation software will look at optimising existing natural resources like wind flow and cross ventilation to reduce the energy used to cool buildings.
The wind tunnel will use data from SODAR to simulate conditions in Punggol so that architects can determine how well-ventilated their designs are.
Associate Professor Wong Nyuk Hien, School of Design & Environment, National University of Singapore, said: "We are going to use a number of simulation tools so that we can understand the climatic environment in this Punggol area.
"We will then work closely with the HDB design team to see how we can improve the environment, for example, maybe we can propose introducing more greenery into those areas, maybe have a bigger spacing between the blocks."
The study will also look at the effects of sunlight and shadows from existing and new buildings.
The S$960,000 study is expected to be completed by end-2010. - CNA/vm
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
Ngee Ann student Jocelyn Tay and Dr Sun with samples of tiles made from glass. The next goal is to develop materials with the quality of marble, but cheaper. -- PHOTO: NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC
THOSE old glass dinner plates or wine bottles that normally end up in the dustbin could soon be remade into fancy floor and wall tiles in your home.
Researchers from Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Environmental and Water Technology Centre of Innovation have developed an eco-friendly way of converting discarded glass products into building materials with more than twice the strength of concrete.
With initial $70,000 seed funding sourced earlier this year, the researchers devised a method that involves mixing crushed glass with an inorganic binding agent that strengthens the bonding properties of glass particles, said lead researcher Sun Xiao Long.
The mixture is then poured into moulds to be shaped into floor tiles, insulation materials and concrete structures of various designs and colours - a pro-cess known as 'curing'. Placed in an oven at 100 deg C, the final product can be made in just six hours.
The research offers a more environmentally friendly way of using waste glass, which is currently either dumped as landfill waste or exported to countries such as Malaysia, where it is melted down at a scorching 1,600 deg C. This is not only energy-intensive, but also bad for the environment as it emits poisonous gases such as sulphur and nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere.
Last year, more than 57,000 tonnes of glass waste were generated in Singapore, yet, due to poor sorting, the current recycling rate is less than 20 per cent.
Said Mrs Tam Li Phin, director of Ngee Ann's Centre of Innovation: 'This project demonstrates that waste is actually a misplaced resource if it is dumped.
'The challenge this research tries to address is how we can recycle, while also being environmentally sustainable.'
She said the centre was in discussions with a number of potential investors to raise up to $500,000 to take the research to the next level.
Dr Sun said the centre hopes to commercialise the technology over the next two years by building a pilot plant equipped to produce building materials on a larger scale. He added that more research was needed to make the binding agent stronger and cheaper.
Ngee Ann has approached the Housing Board to explore the use of the recycled products in its housing projects.
The next target is to develop materials with the quality of marble - highly valued for its toughness and aesthetically pleasing appearance - but cheaper.
Turning waste glass into wall tiles
Zul Othman, Today Online 16 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE - In the near future, building materials, such as floor and wall tiles, insulation materials and concrete, could be fashioned from bits of waste glass at only a fraction of its current recycling cost.
After a year of research, a team from the Centre of Innovation in Environmental and Water Technology at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), believes it has come up with a greener alternative by converting waste glass into building materials by crushing and blending the glass with an eco-friendly binding agent.
This is significant, said centre director Tam Li Phin.
"If we can harness technology to innovate and produce new materials from waste, this will not only create new business opportunities for local enterprises but also promote sustainable living," added Mrs Tam.
Last year, more than 57,000 tonnes of waste glass was generated in Singapore.
Currently, waste glass is either dumped at the Pulau Semakau landfill or sold to recycling companies overseas where the glass is re-melted at temperatures of 1,600°C.
Not only is this method expensive, it also consumes a lot of energy and generates massive amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases.
The NP team said they are able to produce the building materials from glass that has been re-melted at only 100°C.
The Centre of Innovation's Dr Sun Xiaolong said the method is not only cheaper, but waste glass can also be used to create "money-spinning products" for use by the construction industry, thus reducing the "over-reliance on the supply of sand and cement from other countries".
The centre is in discussions with "several key industry" players to form a consortium to develop and market the green building product - as well as explore its potential for public housing
Today Online 16 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE - Soon, you could own an ultra-low-power or even self-powered laptop, PDA or mobile phone.
Such devices are made possible by cutting-edge technologies that help optimise energy use in everything from electronic devices to space shuttles. Capitalising on such technologies will be the new $50 million integrated circuit (IC) research design centre launched yesterday.
Called Virtus - Latin for excellence - it aims to be a "world class" design house focusing on ultra-low-power green microchips and circuits for applications in medical technology, clean technology and consumer electronics.
The centre is jointly funded by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) and will collaborate with world-renowned universities, companies and research institutions.
One key partner is Agilent Technologies and it is contributing its industry-leading suite of simulation software worth some $28 million to Virtus.
The simulation software means the centre can speed up the process of commercialisation of ICs for use in areas such as mobile phones and space shuttles noted Mr Rob Young, general manager of Agilent Technologies Singapore.
Virtus is located at NTU and expected to be operational in the next quarter. It will boast a team of "at least 20 top notch scientists and researchers within the next five years", said NTU in its press release.
It also aims to train 100 postgraduate students and researchers within this period.
"Virtus research areas are well-aligned with the growth areas of green electronics and bioelectronics," said Mr Damian Chan, director of the Electronics Cluster Group at EDB.
With the global shortage of IC design engineers, Singapore wants to differentiate itself by building up capabilities in this area: There are some 1,100 design engineers specifically focusing on IC design here.
The setting up of Virtus signals "the need for Singapore to groom more locally based IC design houses to fuel and further foster the growth of the semiconductor ecosystem in Singapore", said Professor Kam Chan Hin, chair of NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
"(Its) establishment is of strategic national interest and promises potentially high economic yield".
No battery needed for chip thrills
New NTU lab to look for ways to tap energy from the environment instead
Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
CREATING computer chips that do away with batteries for their source of power is just one challenge that a new $50 million integrated chip design centre at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) wants to take on.
When it opens early next year, the 1,000 sq m Integrated Circuit Design Centre of Excellence will have 20 full-time scientists researching new ways to harvest energy from the environment.
Their research could yield a new generation of self-sustaining electronic devices, like mobile phones that draw power from radio waves around them and surgical implants that never have to be replaced, within the next five to 10 years, said Professor Yeo Kiat Seng, the centre's interim director.
Unlike digital chips that can differentiate only between on and off signals, analog chips can process variable signals like temperature and electrical currents.
Because of this, analog power management chips that ensure other chips in an electronic device get an uninterrupted supply of electrical power to perform without hiccups are key to reducing a device's power consumption, said Prof Yeo.
But an analog chip's impact extends far beyond its contribution to a greener world, said Economic Development Board director for electronics Damian Chan, guest of honour for the launch event at Suntec convention centre yesterday.
He said: 'As how we experience the world through sound and sight is analog in nature, analog integrated chips essentially serve as the windows...of digital devices to the external world. Despite the trend towards digitisation, analog integrated chips remain critical and increasingly so.'
Apart from having its own researchers, NTU - ranked the world's No. 16 in the field of integrated chip design by the Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers - has also inked deals with other research and development centres like the Technical University of Munich as well as industry partners like German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies, said Prof Yeo.
Yesterday, it firmed ties with American instrumentation giant Agilent Technologies, which is donating a $28 million chip design simulation suite to the centre. The simulation suite, Agilent's biggest donation to any educational institution here to date, will allow the centre's staff to test the viability of chips virtually, instead of having to produce actual physical prototypes, said Agilent's general manager for Singapore Rob Young.
The electronics sector is a key component of Singapore's economy, contributing $14 billion or 5.7 per cent of the Republic's gross domestic product last year. It provides employment to 92,000 workers, including 1,100 integrated design engineers.
The Government announced last week that it is investing in four key growth
areas for Singapore's electronics sector, one being green electronics.
Efforts include convincing industry players like STMicroelectronics to invest additional resources in the sector, and making sure Singapore has a good supply of technical experts - like the 50 postgraduate students the centre will produce over the next five years - so that firms keen to invest will have a ready pool of manpower to staff their facilities.
New S$50m centre to focus on developing green microchips
Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia 15 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE: A new integrated circuit design research centre has been launched to position Singapore for new growth areas in the electronics industry.
The S$50 million centre aims to be a world-class integrated circuit design house.
It will focus on ultra low power green microchips and circuits used in laptops and mobile phones. They can also be used in medical technology and clean technology.
The centre, called VIRTUS, is jointly funded by the Nanyang Technological University and the Economic Development Board. It will be located at NTU and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2010.
VIRTUS will also collaborate with renowned universities, top research institutions and well-known companies for research and development in IC design and technology.
It also aims to train more than 100 postgraduate students and researchers in the next five years.
The project is in line with Singapore's plans to develop new growth areas in the electronics sector. These new growth segments are projected to triple their contribution to form about a third of Singapore's electronics output by 2020.
Damian Chan, director, Electronics, Singapore Economic Development Board, said: "IC design is a key enabling capability and an area to drive the growth of electronics and semi-conductor manufacturing and R&D in Singapore.
"It is also an important area to drive some of our new growth areas in electronics, especially bioelectronics and green electronics."
There are also many expected economic spinoffs from investing in these areas.
Professor Kam Chin Han, chair, School of Electrical & Electronic, Engineering, NTU, said: "IC design area is all about innovation because your design comes out, you get intellectual property, you commercialise it, you spin it off, and companies license it and they manufacture it. So it's a very big impact on the whole industry."
Separately, Agilent Technologies will also contribute simulation software worth some S$28 million to VIRTUS, under a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday with NTU. - CNA/vm
Nirmal Ghosh, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN: Journalists can make a major impact in changing people's perspective and lifestyle when it comes to climate change, the head of the United Nations' panel of climate scientists said.
'If we want action, it has to come from the personal commitment of every individual to solving this problem and reducing our carbon footprint, adapting to the impacts of climate change,' said Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
'This is where journalism and journalists can make a major impact in bringing about a total change in perspective and a change in behaviour and lifestyle on the part of individuals.
'Once we do that, the leaders of the world will have no choice but to listen to us.'
Dr Pachauri was speaking to an audience of 500 at the Earth Journalism Awards ceremony on Monday night, held on the sidelines of the UN climate change summit in the Danish capital.
The awards honoured the world's best in climate change reporting. Straits Times journalist Jessica Cheam, 26, was one of the 15 winners, chosen from 900 journalists in 142 countries.
Her package of stories on the changing face of the energy industry, which was published in The Straits Times in February, was written for a wide audience but also included local voices and facts, the citation noted.
The other winners were from the United States, Australia, Brazil, Macedonia Republic, Kenya, Eritrea, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea.
Speaking after the awards, Ms Cheam noted that a growing number of journalists were reporting on climate change.
She said: 'I find it quite a privilege to be reporting on it, because you really feel like what you write is making a difference.'
Straits Times Forum 16 Dec 09;
PUB, the national water agency, thanks Mr Chin Kee Thou for his feedback on parking at MacRitchie Reservoir Park ("Keep parking free at MacRitchie for first two hours", last Saturday).
There are more visitors to the park with the recent addition of new facilities at MacRitchie Reservoir. The demand for carpark spaces has increased significantly, especially during peak hours, weekends and public holidays, and the situation is aggravated by non-park users who leave their vehicles at the carpark and go off to other places.
Charged parking at MacRitchie Reservoir enables us to manage the demand for carpark spaces more effectively, encourage car pooling and discourage non-park users from occupying spaces meant for visitors of MacRitchie Reservoir. This will allow more members of the public to enjoy the new amenities at MacRitchie Reservoir Park.
Similar to carparks at other parks, parking rates at MacRitchie Reservoir are kept reasonable. Vehicle owners will enjoy per-minute charging at two cents and a 15-minute grace period. Parking will also be free for the first hour when the carpark is less congested between 11am and 5pm. For visitors planning to take long hikes such as the Treetop Walk or nature trails, free parking is available at the Venus Drive carpark as well.
PUB endeavours to make our reservoir park a pleasant and enjoyable place for all, and will continue to monitor the situation and review the charges if necessary. For feedback, please contact PUB's 24-hour call centre on 1800-284-6600.
Tan Nguan Sen
Director, Catchment and Waterways
PUB, the national water agency
Keep parking free at MacRitchie for first two hours
Straits Times Forum 16 Dec 09;
A PARKING toll gantry has been installed at the currently toll-free carpark at MacRitchie Reservoir Park, a favourite haunt of many elderly park users for their exercise routine.
As most users are retirees, I hope the authorities will consider two hours of free parking to allow them to continue to visit the park for their healthy routine.
To make up for the loss, impose a higher-than-normal rate for subsequent hours.
Chin Kee Thou
Antara 16 Dec 09;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Australian government has renewed its commitment to make sure that the Montara oilspil is handled openly and transparently by the establishment of an Investigation Commission.
According to the Australia embassy in Jakarta Tuesday, the commission will investigate into the oilspil, including its cause, impact and responses, and make a recommendation on measures, if needed, to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
The commission will handover its report to the Australian government by the end of April 2010. The priority of the Australian government since the beginning of the leak was to overcome the spil and minimize its impact with the support of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) which coordinates responses to cleaning Australia from the incident.
Continued control by AMSA had stopped the oilspil into the ocean from the Montara well plantformon November 3. And aerial control had stopped since November 28.
Since the safeguarding of the oil well was started, Australia`s domestic response operations were stopped on December 3. And to make sure that all the environmental impact of the oilspil had been fully understood and handled in the coming years, a firm and scientific control plan had been agreed on between the Australian government and the company responsible for the oil well platform.
Discussion are still underway between the Australian and Indonesian governments on cotrol of the impact of the oilspil, if any, in Indonesian territorial wateres.
An Australian government delegation visited Indonesia on November 10 to explain matters relating to the oilspil to Indonesian authorities including clearing operations and environmental matters relating to the oilspil.
The Australia government is committed to consistently act on the basis of international law and bilateral relations in giving responses over the mishap.
The Australian government was fully aware of a report from East Nusa Tenggara on a
positive oil test in the coastal area. Australia will discuss the report with the Indonesian government and make a sample test for comparison with a sample from the Montara oil or from oil which used to circulate in Indonesia`s eastern waters.
In the meantime, earlier seaweed farmers in the waters of Rote Ndao and Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara, said they were harmed by the Montara oil company which had caused the oilspil coming from the Timor Sea.(*)
Fidelis E Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 16 Dec 09;
Following a PT Pertamina pipeline accident last week that left one dead in South Sumatra, Indonesia's leading green group on Monday urged the local government to conduct a thorough investigation of its impact on the environment in the area.
“Our area is very prone to this kind of incident and this is not the first time it has happened here. So, it is very important for the [local] government to make an assessment of the environmental damage as stipulated by the Environment Law,” said Anwar Sadat, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
The explosion on Wednesday in Lembak Tapus village, Muara Enim district, killed 12-year-old Febi Pantio and injured seven other teenagers who were playing near an oil pipeline managed by the state oil and gas firm.
Three of the victims were still in hospital with burn injuries.
The 2009 Law on the Environment requires local governments to conduct an audit on activities that have high environmental risks and also on entrepreneurs believed not to be in violation of environmental regulations.
Anwar said there should be more concrete action from the government concerning environmental damage because there had been too little consideration of such a vital issue.
“Up until now, there were still no discussions on how to repair the ecological damage, even though the law also states that whoever damages the environment should consider restoration efforts,” he said.
Anwar added that the only solid action being taken by local governments now was to improve the amount of available drinking water.
The government also needs to clarify what victims of environmental accidents are entitled to receive in compensation, both from the government and the company responsible, he said.
Ahmad Najib, head of the South Sumatra Environmental Office, said he was still waiting for the official report on the Pertamina accident from the head of the district.
“We can help by providing technical assistance, for instance with laboratory tests, but based on the law, if it occurred at the district level, we should wait for their decisions,” Ahmad said.
The investigation was being conducted by local government officials and the police, he added.
He said his office could recommend only administrative sanctions over the possibility of mismanagement having caused damage to the environmental or loss of life.
“We are concerned about restoring environmental conditions, which is why we will be delivering the administrative sanctions and warnings to the company,” he said.
Anwar said the law gave the environment office the same rights to investigate as the police and local government.
“However, concerning the enforcement of the law, or the criminal code, we will leave that in the hands of the police and the local government.”
(AFP) Google News 15 Dec 09;
LEGASPI, Philippines — Tens of thousands of villagers in the Philippines fled their homes on Tuesday as one of the nation's most active volcanoes spewed lava and sent ash plumes high into the sky, authorities said.
Soldiers and police marshalled the evacuation from the so-called "danger zone" around the foothills of Mayon volcano, amid concerns a big eruption could occur at any moment.
"After the series of ash puffs and ash explosions of 1,000 metres (high), we cannot rule out a major explosion," Cedric Daep, the head of the disaster relief operations in the region, told reporters.
Daep said the authorities aimed to evacuate nearly 50,000 people from villages within eight kilometres (five miles) of the volcano by Thursday.
Albay provincial governor Joey Salceda said that nearly 21,000 people had been evacuated by nightfall on Tuesday.
"Zero casualties is still the goal of our province," he told the ABS-CBN network, explaining the huge evacuation well before any eruption.
Some of the residents of the farming villages were carried out on military trucks, while others walked out carrying boxes of belongings on their heads.
Salceda said he wanted a "state of imminent disaster" to be declared over the province so special disaster funds could be released to help pay for the evacuation.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level for Mayon to three on Monday after lava was seen spewing from the crater, and evacuations began immediately.
Level three means an eruption is likely in the very near future. The scale runs from one to five, with five meaning an eruption is occurring.
However the volcanology institute also said Mayon could yet calm down without an eruption.
Mayon, which sits above a farming area about 330 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Manila, has erupted 48 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives.
After the most recent eruption in August 2006, huge deposits of volcanic ash were left on its slopes. When typhoon Durian hit the same area in December of that year, it caused a landslide of volcanic ash that killed over 1,000 people.
In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as the lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
However the 2,460-metre (8,070-feet) volcano remains a popular tourist attraction, and is famous for its perfect cone.
The Philippines is part of the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" that is known for its volcanic activity. The Philippine volcanology institute lists 22 active volcanoes in the country.
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo north of Manila in June 1991 was the world's most violent volcanic eruption of the last century, spewing out ash that spread around the globe and caused volcanic mudflows that buried whole towns.
Over 800 died as a result of that eruption.
20,000 evacuated as Philippine volcano oozes lava
Jim Gomez Associated Press Google News 15 Dec 09;
MANILA, Philippines — Authorities moved thousands of villagers from harm's way near the Philippines' most active volcano Tuesday after it oozed lava and shot plumes of ash, and said they probably would spend a bleak Christmas in an evacuation center.
State volcanologists raised the alert level on the cone-shaped, 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) Mayon volcano overnight to two steps below a major eruption after ash explosions and dark orange lava fragments glowing in the dark trickled down the mountain slope.
Nearly 50,000 people live in a five-mile (eight-kilometer) radius around the mountain, and authorities began moving thousands of them in case it erupts, Albay provincial Gov. Joey Salceda said.
More than 20,000 people were evacuated to safety by nightfall Tuesday, Salceda said, adding he has placed central Albay province, where Mayon is located, under a "state of imminent disaster," which will make it easier for him to draw and use emergency funds.
"Whatever the volcano does, our target is zero casualty," Salceda told The Associated Press.
Albay province lies about 210 miles (340 kilometers) southeast of Manila.
Salceda said he had decided to cancel a trip to Copenhagen, where he was to attend the U.N. climate conference to discuss his province's experience with typhoons and other natural disasters.
He said he would appeal for foreign aid to deal with the expected influx of displaced villagers to emergency shelters.
The first of 20 vehicles, including army trucks, were sent to villages to take residents to schools and other temporary housing, provincial emergency management official Jukes Nunez said.
"It's 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centers, and if Mayon's activity won't ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes," Nunez said. "It's difficult and sad, especially for children."
Although the alarm has been sounded, life throbbed normally in many laid-back farming villages near the restive volcano. Throngs of farmers flocked to the town hall in Guinobatan, which lies near the danger zone, for a Christmas party, then headed home bearing gifts.
Village leader Romeo Opiana said the 249 residents in his farming community of Maninila, near the volcano, readied packs of clothes but no one had left. An army truck was parked nearby, ready to haul people if the threat grows.
"We're ready, but we're not really alarmed," said Opiana, 66. He could not remember how many times he had seen Mayon's eruptions since childhood.
Magma had been rising at the volcano over the past two weeks and began to ooze out of its crater Monday night, but it could get worse in coming days, said Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
"It's already erupting," Solidum told the AP. He said the volcano had so far only gently coughed out red-hot lava, which had flowed half a mile (half a kilometer) down from the crater.
Some classes were suspended indefinitely near the danger zone. Officials will find a way to squeeze in classes in school buildings to be used as shelters, Salceda said.
Residents in Albay are used to moving away from Mayon, which spewed ash last month and prompted the evacuation of some villages.
About 30,000 people were moved when it last erupted in 2006. Typhoon-triggered mudslides near the mountain later that year buried entire villages, killing more than 1,000 people.
Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.
The Philippines lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. About 22 out of 37 volcanos in the archipelago are active.
Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.
A key challenge is to curb emissions growth without sacrificing development
Anggito Abimanyu, Business Times 16 Dec 09;
OVER the last half of 2009, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced a number of major natural disasters which have had a devastating impact on numerous regional economies and the lives of millions of people. Take, for example, the shifts in weather patterns that have resulted in more frequent typhoons and extremes of climate such as flooding, drought and landslides around Asia-Pacific.
Now more than ever, there is an urgency to speed up measures to mitigate their impact as we are increasingly confronted by the stark realities of the impact of climate change on our everyday lives.
As an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia has also been subjected to its share of natural disasters at enormous economic costs. We recognised the need for action back in 2007 when our government played an active role in continuing the efforts to mitigate climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Our efforts over the past two years have been focused on continuing and building on this momentum. At the last G-20 Forum meeting in the United States, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated that with Indonesia's new climate change action plan, the country could reduce emissions by 26 per cent in BAU (business-as-usual) conditions by 2020, and up to 41 per cent with international support.
Given the impact of climate change on Indonesia's pursuit of sustainable development, it is imperative for the country to have a comprehensive action plan. Central to Indonesia's climate change agenda is the economic policy of the country. Indonesian government representatives, including the Ministry of Finance (MOF), have been playing an active role in discussions with European ambassadors both in Jakarta and at the UN's Climate Change plenary sessions held in Barcelona.
Our focus has been on funding and targets related to emission cuts - we are one of the first developing countries to have announced a target on emissions reductions so our stake in ensuring the continuation of discussions and agreement between different parties is high. Prior to that, the recently concluded Asean Leaders Summit provided an opportunity for President Yudhoyono to brief the 10-member Asean on the results of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburg with particular reference to climate change.
Indonesia was the only Asean member state present at the G-20 developing and developed nations' meeting. In a statement released during the 15th Asean summit, Indonesia and Asean leaders pledged to 'work together and with other countries to contribute to this year's Copenhagen Summit so that it results in a mutually meaningful outcome for both developed and developing countries'.
Indonesia's climate challenges are no different from those of other developing or developed countries and economic policies are instrumental in how we respond.
While the global financial situation has made it harder to shift public financing to climate-related projects, it has necessitated reforms indirectly resulting in opportunities related to economic policy. More importantly, it provides a momentum going forward to introduce a new framework where economic decisions take into consideration the sustainability of resources and the environment, replacing the BAU approach associated with economic development.
A key challenge for Indonesia is to curb the growth in emissions without sacrificing economic growth and development. Indonesia needs to reduce the carbon content of our energy, and at the same time explore using our large sources of low-carbon energy such as geothermal power. We also need to conserve our forests and improve land management, thereby saving large amounts of carbon emissions.
Indonesia recognises the significant opportunities associated with international carbon financing and is one of 30 developing nations participating in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation membership under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. This is a partnership that could benefit from the first financial mechanism to pay countries for saving their tropical forests.
The World Bank estimates Indonesia could earn between US$400 million and US$2 billion a year in a forest carbon market where industrialised nations can offset some of their carbon emissions by buying credits from countries such as Indonesia.
After this month's climate change conference in Copenhagen, the key question that will confront all policymakers around the world revolves around the financing issue. Financing is crucial to these emissions issues and we need to look not just overseas, but also locally to make changes to fiscal policies and institutional frameworks.
Just recently, we announced Indonesia's Green Paper, which delivers both short and long-term options for climate mitigation in the country. Initiated by the MOF, this definitive study on the economics of climate change and policy options provides recommendations to secure financing via introduction of emissions pricing, as well as by using public carbon finance to support institutional reform and provide much-needed upfront financing for mitigation initiatives.
The new government of Indonesia has a mandate to carry out this programme over the next five years. The MOF will play its role in supporting Indonesia's pursuit and implementation of its national action plan on climate change as outlined by the President. This will primarily be achieved through fiscal policy that encourages usage of renewable and alternative energy resources, facilitates greater public and private partnership through co-financing, and continues ongoing economic reform initiatives that will improve Indonesia's investment and business climate.
Given the scientific evidence of accelerating climate change, the cost to adapt to global warming will be expensive, even for developed countries. Any delays will have immediate impact, especially on less developed countries whose economies are not financially prepared. Therefore, it is imperative for all countries attending the UN Copenhagen Conference to endorse, at the very least, an agreement that comprises global targets for emission cuts.
The main issues of climate change are emissions and finance, so governments from both developed and developing nations need to work together and be fully involved in the global decision-making process, now and following on from Copenhagen.
The writer has been the head of the Fiscal Policy Office, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia since 2006. He holds a PhD in environmental economics from the University of Pennsylvania
Alister Doyle, Reuters 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Up to a fifth of all species of animals and plants risk extinction even if the world manages to limit global warming to levels widely viewed as safe, the head of the Convention on Biological Diversity said.
Ahmed Djoghlaf also told Reuters on the sidelines of December 7-18 talks on climate change in Copenhagen that every nation in the world was set to fail to meet a target of slowing the loss of species by 2010.
The Copenhagen talks are considering adopting a goal of limiting global warming to a 2 degree Celsius rise over pre-industrial times, a target agreed in July by industrialized nations and other leading economies including China and India.
"For each degree centigrade of warmer temperature, it is predicted that 10 percent of all known species will disappear," Djoghlaf told Reuters.
"Therefore this idea of stabilizing the temperature at no more than 2 Celsius...will lead to the disappearance of 20 percent of known species," he said. "Climate change is contributing to the loss of biodiversity."
He said scientists have recorded more than 2 million species, from apples to zebras, but there may be more than 15-30 million. World temperatures have already risen by about 0.7 degrees Celsius since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
"We continue to lose biodiversity at unprecedented rates and this has been seriously compounded by climate change but also by land use, urbanization," and other factors, Djoghlaf said.
A report this week said climate change will disrupt habitats for many creatures other than polar bears whose Arctic home is thawing.
It named another 10 other species vulnerable to climate change -- beluga whale, clownfish, leatherback turtle, emperor penguin, quiver tree, ringed seal, salmon, staghorn coral, Arctic fox and koala.
Djoghlaf said reports from more than 100 of 193 countries that are part of the Convention showed that none had managed to reach a goal set in 2002 of significantly slowing the loss of biodiversity by 2010.
"Of the 100 countries that have reported not a single country has claimed to have done it," he said.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
UNEP 15 Dec 09;
Bangkok/Ha Noi, 15 December 2009 Climate change will have serious consequences for Viet Nam's Mekong and Red River Deltas - two key rice and agricultural producing areas in the country - unless global warming is addressed.
The Red River Delta, particularly Quang Ninh province, and the Mekong River Delta are densely populated areas and home to over 40 percent of the country's population.
Both have emerged as the most vulnerable areas in the Viet Nam Climate Change Assessment Report. The Report has been compiled by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
"These two Deltas play an important role in the economic health of the country and in the livelihoods of the people who live there. More than one-third of the Mekong Delta, where 17 million people live and nearly half the country's rice is grown, could be submerged if sea levels rise by one metre. Even under a low emission growth scenario, a fifth of the delta could be flooded," said Dr. Young Woo Park, UNEP's Regional Director for the Asia-Pacific Region.
Viet Nam is considered one of countries in the world which will be most severely impacted by climate change. Over the last 50 years, the country has been experiencing increases in temperatures ranging from 0.05 - 0.20 Celsius per decade, rainfall patterns have also changed, with increasing rainfall in the northern region and decreasing rainfall in the southern region, and sea levels have risen between 2-4 centimeters per decade.
Projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that Viet Nam will be one of the 12 countries most affected by sea-level rise. With a rise in sea-level of 1-metre, it is anticipated that more than 12 percent of the land will be lost, affecting up to 17 million people. A 2-metre rise in sea level would see land lost increase to 16 percent and could cost up to a third of the country's GDP.
In addition, a sea-level rise could have other important economic impacts along the coastline:
-Expenditures on the maintenance, repair and operation of existing infrastructure are likely to increase;
-Run-off regimes of major rivers where hydropower stations are built would change, affecting water regulation mechanisms and hence the power generation capacity;
-Inundation of lowland areas would increase energy requirements for drainage pumping.
The country has developed a number of mitigation and adaptation policies to address the issue that includes more efficient and economical use of energy, including renewable, the protection of its forest resources, and the introduction of new farming techniques and technologies.
These measures include conserving and restoring existing forests, planting five million hectares of forest on marginal and degraded land, prevention of forest fires and burning of crop residues, the selection of short-duration, high-yield rice varieties, improvement of irrigation-drainage management in rice fields, and research and development of small and micro hydro-power plants.
Copies of the report can be downloaded at: www.roap.unep.org
UNEP 11 Dec 09;
Copenhagen, 11 December 2009 Energy-efficient buildings could significantly contribute to reducing the risks of climate change, said a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today. The study entitled "Buildings and Climate Change - Summary for Decision Makers" called for buildings to be included in any declaration on emissions reductions coming out of December's COP15 meeting in Copenhagen.
According to the UNEP report, the huge potential of the building sector for combating climate change remains virtually untapped.
"In countries such as China, where new construction over the next ten years will equal the size of all existing buildings in the United States, realizing this potential from the start is imperative for reaching any climate mitigation goals," said Under-Secretary General and UNEP's Executive Director Achim Steiner. "Failure to do so will literally mean that we build ourselves into a high-emissions future, where we will continue wasting large amounts of money and energy on buildings unnecessarily," he added.
The report, produced by UNEP's Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (SBCI), a think tank and partnership between the United Nations and leading companies and organizations in the building sector, presents results from almost three years of research and collaboration with leading experts around the world.
Buildings contribute to well over one third of global energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions, but also have a huge potential to achieve drastic emission reductions at virtually no cost. For example, landmark structures such as New York City's Empire State Building, at 102 stories and 242,000 square meters, is set to reduce its current emissions by 38 percent by 2013 through a US$20 million retrofit, resulting in annual savings of US$4.4 million.
According to the report, the current climate footprint from buildings is equivalent to 8.6 billion tons of CO2 a year and is predicted to almost double to 15.6 billion tons of CO2 by 2030. In addition, the pressure to develop new buildings - as a result of population growth, urbanization and modernization - will lead to an almost doubling of existing building stock in developing countries by 2050.
The report highlights the opportunity lying within buildings to deliver cuts in greenhouse gas emissions through proven policies, technologies and knowledge that already exist to deliver the cuts needed.
For example, in South Africa the building sector already accounts for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions and investment in new buildings is expected to grow at around 2% per year between 2008 and 2050, resulting in a doubling of total building stock by 2050. If left unchecked, this would result in a twofold increase in greenhouse gas emissions. However, using improved building designs, technologies, and policy instruments, energy efficiency of up to 50% can be obtained in new buildings in the commercial sector, and up to 40% in the residential sector.
The report noted that the building industry is also committed to action and in many countries is already playing a leading role; and significant co-benefits, including employment, will be created by policies that encourage energy efficient and low-emission buildings.
SBCI members' recent Call to Action urges policy makers at the global meeting to support the inclusion of measures in a Copenhagen treaty to enable the sector to harness its emission reduction potential. The call is matched with commitments from the sector to act and react on such policies.
The report summarizes experiences from emission reduction policies for buildings tested in more than 80 countries around the world.
"Imagine what a consistent and internationally supported program could do to modernize the global building stock - new and existing buildings - not only in terms of drastic reductions of emissions, but in terms of improving the living conditions for poor people in all countries, generating new green jobs, and supporting technology transfer and financing," said Mr. Steiner.
The new report is accompanied by the first globally consistent Common Carbon Metric for Buildings which provides a common language for measuring greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency of buildings. The Common Metric is a result of SBCI's coordinated cooperation of experts and organizations, including International Energy Agency, International Standardization organization, World Green Building Council, International Initiative for the Sustainable Built Environment and Sustainable Buildings Alliance as well as private sector companies and associations. (http://www.unepsbci.org/SBCIEvents/Copenhagen_2009)
"Until now international cooperation on sustainable buildings, and in particular climate mitigation in the building sector has been hampered by lack of a consistent and verifiable methodology to measure the climate footprint from buildings," explained Stéphane Pouffary, from ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie) and chair for SBCI's Think Tank on Climate Change
"This new metric opens up an entirely new arena for climate negotiators to develop international mechanisms to support the building sector realizing its full emission reduction potential," he added.
The UNEP report and Common Carbon metric are being presented at a side event in Copenhagen today (Friday 11 Dec), organized by UNEP's partners: The Finland-led Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Buildings and Construction, and UNEP's Finance Initiative, both global efforts working in tandem with SCBI.
The UNEP report encourages policy makers to take action in four key areas:
. Prioritize the building sector as a means of achieving national GHG emission reduction targets;
. Recognise energy efficiency and the GHG emission reduction programmes as a National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA);
. Reform the Clean Development Mechanism to support investment in energy efficient building programmes in developing countries;
. Develop base-lines for building-related GHG emissions using a consistent international approach to performance monitoring and reporting.
Launching the new report and the Common Carbon metric system, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner noted: "If targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction are to be met, decision-makers have to tackle emissions from the building sector. They need to make the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings a cornerstone of every national climate change strategy."
"Today, UNEP SBCI and partners are providing the evidence needed, along with an invaluable tool for guiding effective decision-making to help reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions," he added.
The report and Common Carbon Metric system are available to download from www.unepsbci.org
Arthur Max, Associated Press Yahoo News 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN – The success of the U.N. climate conference hung in the balance Tuesday as China and the U.S. deadlocked over whether Beijing will allow the world to check its books and verify promised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Princes, presidents and premiers crowded into a vast hall for the formal opening of the largest summit ever held on climate change, but attention was on the leaders of the world's two largest polluters — President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao — who plan to arrive for the final days of talks on a framework to control heat-trapping gases.
Negotiators who have been working for 10 days floated new draft documents on lesser issues. But they left open the vexing questions of emissions targets for industrial countries, billions of dollars a year in funding for poor countries to contend with global warming, and verifying the actions of emerging powers like China to ensure they keep their promises.
"In these very hours, we are balancing between success and failure," said conference president Connie Hedegaard of Denmark. Success is possible, she said, "but I must also warn you: We can fail — probably without anyone really wanting it so, but because we spent too much time on posturing, on repeating positions, on formalities."
The rest of the 115 leaders were expected to arrive before Friday's summit finale to sign a political outline of a global warming treaty that would set limits on carbon dioxide pollution by the United States, China, India as well as extending emissions targets for the 37 countries regulated under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
"There is no understatement that with your signatures you will write our future," Britain's Prince Charles told the conference.
As the conference headed into the final stretch, delegates were disheartened that so many large and small issues remained unresolved, with prospects for a meaningful agreement receding.
Prodipto Ghosh, a member of the Indian delegation, said the negotiations were "not going good" and that fundamental differences between rich and poor nations would be "difficult to bridge" by the end of the week.
Experienced negotiators recall many previous conferences where the deal was done in the final overnight session, against all odds.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was coming Thursday to hold a round of private consultations in preparation for Obama's arrival a day later, said an official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been formally announced.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was positive about a deal but also expressed frustration with the progress to date.
"I'm afraid that negotiations have been too slow," Ban said. "I think all the countries can and must do more."
Delegates were nearing a deal to protect tropical forests, although several substantive issues remained unresolved, including targets for reducing deforestation and money to pay for conservation plans and how that money would be raised, according to the latest draft of a text seen by The Associated Press.
The program called REDD, for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, would be financed either by richer nations' taxpayers or by a carbon-trading mechanism — a system in which each country would have an emissions ceiling, and those who undershoot it can sell their remainder to over-polluters.
Political and entertainment celebrities crowded onto the Copenhagen stage, followed by a trail of cameras: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Al Gore and actor-activist Darryl Hannah. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe came, exempted from a European travel ban because he was attending an international conference. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived, saying he could act as a broker in the talks.
Yvo de Boer, the top U.N. climate official who presides over the two-week affair, gave his daily news conference with an orange-and-white life preserver leaning against his podium and joked that he hoped the world wouldn't need it.
The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats at the talks, Todd Stern and Xie Zhenhua, held yet another in a series of private meetings, but neither side indicated any break in the stalemate on the verification issue.
An Asian diplomat who speaks often with both sides said China and the U.S. have made verification a red-line issue and said he feared it could cause a deal to collapse. Neither said has made any serious concessions, the diplomat told the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of compromising his negotiating ability.
China promised last month to slow its carbon emissions, but stressed the move would be voluntary without international assistance or financing — reflecting its reluctance to commit to internationally verifiable standards.
Washington welcomed Beijing's pledge to nearly halve the ratio of pollution to economic output in the next decade but said China should put that target in an international agreement and open it to fact-checking.
"There ought to be some measure of international consultation or review or dialogue," Stern said. Other countries want to "understand the assumptions behind the numbers."
Yu Qungtain, Xie's deputy at the talks, rebuffed any verification demand that goes beyond previous agreements. "We cannot agree," he said.
The Asian diplomat said China is concerned that verification could lead to penalties for failing to meet its commitments. But he also said the United States was pushing for binding commitments from developing countries that they cannot accept.
"The U.S. is trying all sorts of verbal formulations," said David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
China already subjects some data for review under other agreements: it allows the World Bank to check its economic figures and the International Energy Agency to go over its energy output, said Doniger, a former climate negotiator. A new climate agreement might lead to even more intrusive inspections, however.
Doniger saw a possible solution to the dispute in a trade-off in which China would agree to have its figures reviewed in exchange for a firm U.S. offer on financing for developing countries to help them deal with rising seas, drought and other results of global warming. The U.S. has said it cannot put a figure on the table until Congress legislates a climate and energy package, expected in the first half of 2010.
China is grouped with developing nations at the talks, but the U.S. doesn't consider China to be in need of climate-change aid.
The U.S. also has a weapon it has not yet used in the negotiations: the threat to tax Chinese-made goods deemed to be cheaper because they are made with higher carbon emissions than similar U.S. goods — known as "border adjustments."
Yu said the tactic amounted to trade protectionism using climate change as an excuse, and was unacceptable. On protectionist issues, he said, "no one will benefit. We will all lose."
___
Associated Press reporters Dina Cappiello in Washington and Cara Anna in Beijing contributed to this report.
'Seal a deal', climate talks told
Richard Black BBC News 15 Dec 09;
Three days of action from ministers are needed to "seal a deal" at the climate talks in Copenhagen, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Speaking at the opening of the high-level segment, he told delegates they had the chance to change history.
But governments remain deadlocked on many key issues, including the size of emission targets, finance, and verification of emission curbs.
Demonstrations are expected on Wednesday as ministers convene.
Campaign groups are talking of mounting actions inside and outside the conference centre.
There is anger about the glacial progress of some segments of the talks and about logistical problems that have seen most people from NGOs unable to enter the venue.
UK Climate Secretary Ed Miliband acknowledged that talks "could still fail".
'Decisive moment'
Mr Ban told delegates there was still an "enormous amount of work to be done" if a deal was to be achieved.
"For three years, I have sought to bring world leaders to the table," he said.
"No-one will get everything they want; but if we work together, then everyone will get what they need."
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told ministers they must make this conference "a decisive moment of change".
"Climate change is higher on the agenda than ever before," he said.
"And so it should be; the grim projections from science grow more alarming each day and already many face the dire consequences of global warming."
Different visions of what the science implies are, though, the cause of one of the most fundamental fault lines running between delegations here - what figure should be adopted as the target for limiting the global average temperature rise since pre-industrial times.
Mr Ban came under fire from developing countries after asserting in a BBC interview that a deal here must "put us on the path of limiting global temperature rise within 2C".
Small island states, and other countries that consider themselves vulnerable to climate impacts, have been demanding a lower target of 1.5C and the issue is still under negotiation.
"It is simply a true fact - if temperatures get to 2C, that spells disaster and almost doom to our countries," said Bruno Sekoli of the Lesotho delegation, which chairs the bloc of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Bolivia's ambassador, Pablo Solon, added: "This is the Secretary General; he can't take sides on an issue like this."
Britain's Prince Charles, who also addressed the opening of the high-level segment of the conference, said the planet had "reached a crisis" which society had just seven years to solve.
"With issues of such magnitude," he said, "it is easy to focus solely on the challenges, the worst-case scenarios, the 'what-ifs' of failure.
"But take a moment to consider the opportunities if we succeed... a healthier, safer and more sustainable, economically robust world."
Stumbling blocks
Elsewhere in the conference, discussions continued - mainly behind closed doors - on some of the issues that continue to divide governments two years after the process towards a new global climate deal started and just three days before it is due to conclude.
Mr Miliband, who co-chaired talks on finance, said there had been acknowledgement of the need for "significantly scaled-up public funding".
Developing countries have demanded that a majority, if not all, of the money they will receive in future for clean development and climate adaptation should come from public funds; but developed nations have been equally keen that a substantial share - perhaps the majority - should come from levies on the prospective global carbon market.
Another of the discussion groups, on emission pledges by developing countries, made little progress.
A senior source told the BBC that the main stumbling block was US insistence that commitments should be legally binding.
China in particular is adamant that such plans must be voluntary and that emission curbs should not be subject to international verification - something that many members of the US Senate are said to regard as key if they are to back any agreement here.
US chief negotiator Todd Stern said he did not expect the US to increase its current offer of cutting emissions by about 3% from 1990 levels by 2020.
"I am not anticipating any change in the mitigation commitment," he told reporters.
The US announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to attend the final two days of the summit, in addition to President Barack Obama.
Walk-outs
Around the conference centre, campaign groups gave advance notice of actions expected inside and outside the venue on Wednesday.
Having allowed three times more people to register than the centre can hold, the UN climate convention and the Danish hosts have limited numbers of NGOs to 7,000 on Wednesday, falling to 1,000 on Thursday and just 90 on Friday when heads of state and government are scheduled to attend.
Activists are planning a series of morning marches outside the centre, with some groups attempting unauthorised entry.
A walkout - possibly involving government delegates - is anticipated, and there are also plans for a "sleep-in" on Wednesday night.
Organisers say the actions are intended to be non-violent.
Eyes of the world are on you, UN chief tells climate summit
Chris Otton Yahoo News 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders Tuesday at a "defining moment in history" to put aside selfish national interest and answer a global clamour to halt the juggernaut of climate change.
With just over three days left to broker one of the most ambitious, yet also fiendishly complex, deals in human history, conference chair Denmark appealed for all sides to embrace the spirit of compromise.
But China and the United States -- the world's two biggest carbon polluters -- brushed aside European calls for concessions on emissions reductions, the thorniest issue of all.
The summit aims at sealing national pledges to curb the heat-trapping carbon gases wreaking havoc with Earth's climate system, and set up a mechanism to provide billions of dollars for poor countries facing worsening drought, flood, storms and rising seas.
Crowned on Friday by a meeting of some 120 heads of state and government, the outline political deal would be fleshed out next year in further talks, culminating in a treaty that would take effect from 2013. Related article: UN system to cut its carbon footprint
But former US vice president and environmental activist Al Gore, voicing widely held fears that Copenhagen might yield only a partial success, called for world leaders to meet in Mexico City in July to complete the process.
Ban, speaking at the formal start of the full ministerial session known as the high level segment, spoke of a "defining moment in history.
"We know what we must do. We know what the world expects. Our job here and now is to seal the deal, a deal in our common interest."
Talks were moving too slowly, he warned.
"If they want to leave all these issues to the leaders, it may be very difficult for them to agree in just one or two days," he later told reporters.
The talks' chairwoman, Denmark's Connie Hedegaard, said success was still within reach.
But she added: "We can't risk failure. No one here can carry that responsibility. That means that the keyword for the next two days must be compromise."
But both China and the United States appeared in little mood to move on the key issue of emissions.
US President Barack Obama has offered to cut US carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 over a 2005 benchmark, a figure that aligns with legislation put before the US Congress.
The offer by the United States, the world's second biggest polluter after China, has been widely criticised by other parties as inadequate.
"I am not anticipating any change in the mitigation commitment," said US chief delegate Todd Stern, explaining that it was tied to legislation currently before Congress.
Beijing's climate ambassador said China's voluntary plan for braking the forecast growth in its emissions was not open to negotiation.
"We announced those targets, we don't intend to put them up for discussion," Yu Qingtai told reporters.
Europe, which has already pledged to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020 in comparison with 1990 and offered to go to 30 percent if others follow suit, said the big polluters had to relent.
"There are two countries in the world representing half the emissions of the world, and that's the United States and China," said Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, representing the 27-nation European Union.
European powerhouse Germany likewise pointed the finger. Related Article: Merkel 'nervous' climate talks could fail
"Both want to keep every option open up to the last hours of the conference ... We don't have much time left," said its environment minister Norbert Roettgen.
The European Union's new president Herman Van Rompuy also urged other nations to follow Europe's lead, telling reporters in Lisbon, "We have to deal with other urgent questions. The most important of course is climate change."
EU leaders last week agreed a package of 7.2 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars) in aid to help developing countries tackle global warming.
But the Group of 77 developing nations -- actually a caucus of 130 states that includes China -- said the proposal failed to address the issue of setting up long-term financing mechanisms.
In Copenhagen meanwhile, reflecting deadlock, a new draft text gave no figures for a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a peak for emissions, an intended limit to warming, nor on financing for poor countries exposed to climate change. Related article: Long queues, restrictions spark anger at UN climate talks
These core questions were farmed out to small parties of ministers, charged with brokering a consensus by Friday.
The summit is billed as one of the most important gatherings of the post-World War II era.
Mark Lynas: 'At this rate, Copenhagen will be a disaster'
Mark Lynas, The Independent 15 Dec 09;
The battle lines are drawn. The armies are lined up. The guns are loaded. But here in Copenhagen, a phony war is underway.
For the past two days, negotiators have been bogged down in minor technical details and endless delays. For hours plenary meetings have been taken up by countries complaining about the process. Then finally solutions are agreed, and everyone files out to the relevant gatherings – only to find them cancelled on arrival. All of Monday disappeared down that hole.
Today, it looked like some real work was getting done. But with just hours left before the ‘high-level’ segment (with ministers, and – increasingly – heads of state themselves) begins, several different texts were in circulation, all laden with square brackets (indicating disagreement) around even minor issues of contention that should have been resolved last week.
At this rate, Copenhagen will not only fail, it will be a disaster.
Of course, these conferences – especially high-stakes ones like this – never end that way. Some face-saving arrangement is always cobbled together. But the question now is when the phony war will erupt into open hostilities – and whether heads of state will be able to resolve them in the time they have left.
The biggest question, one which has bedevilled climate negotiations for more than a decade, is finally reaching crunch point – about whether developing countries, which were exempted from taking on carbon emissions targets by Kyoto, will finally agree on binding measures to rein in their future emissions.
Everyone agrees that industrialised countries should act first; that much was agreed as far back as 1995. And some can claim to have done so, in Europe at least. But the Bush Administration lost us a decade, and time has now run out: science demands that for temperature rises to be limited to 1.5 degrees, and carbon concentrations eventually returned to 350 parts per million, global emissions must peak by 2015.
It is no accident that both India and China oppose any mention in the negotiating text of this global peaking year, or of an eventual target for atmospheric carbon levels of 350ppm. They know that accepting these limits necessarily implies that their era of high-carbon growth is over. For these science-based targets to be met, India cannot burn all its coal. Nor can China. Nor can South Africa. They must shift to low-carbon growth, and they must start that shift now.
In fairness, no-one is arguing that developing countries should take on mandatory Kyoto-style reductions right now. Instead the debate is around how far their future emissions must depart from the ‘business-as-usual’ baseline. The small island states – who stand to lose most as sea levels rise – now argue that developing countries should aim for 15-30% below baseline by 2020. China and India say they will never accept this.
The United States is also central here. America will never ratify Kyoto – everyone knows this. But the Obama administration has come here offering serious targets, of initial 17 per cent cuts below 2005 levels by 2020. It could deepen this ambition, but Obama faces a tough (if not impossible) battle to get any climate plan through the Senate, and the administration also knows that it is politically toxic domestically to take on any improved target unless China does likewise.
These are the two main belligerents facing each other over the trenches here at Copenhagen. In the next day or two the cannons will open fire. When the dust dies down, we will see whether we still have a habitable climate left.
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