Best of our wild blogs: 14 Nov 10

No galloping but still lively at Sentosa
from God's wonderful creation

Dragonfly (42) - Pornothemis starrei
from Nature Photography - Singapore Odonata

White-crested Laughingthrush eating a peanut
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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NParks DIY trail guides: A walk in the woods

Get on trail of trees with downloadable maps from the National Parks Board
Tay Suan Chiang Sunday Times 14 Nov 10;

You have heard of DIY holidays - well, now there are DIY trails on tree appreciation.

The National Parks Board has launched guides complete with maps for four trails, Fort Canning Park, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Pulau Ubin and Changi, which you can download and take a walk on the wild side yourself.

The board has been organising guided tree appreciation walks in various parks around the island over the last six months, which have proven popular.

Its DIY guides are the next step.

They can be downloaded from the board's website at www.nparks.gov.sg/eguides

Each guide comes with a map showing the trail and important trees along the way are clearly marked. There are also pictures of the trees so users know what to look for. Short descriptions are also provided.

Mr Simon Longman, the board's director for streetscape, says: 'The DIY guides are an extension of our initiatives to reach out to the public to create an awareness and appreciation of trees.'

The guides are easy to use, even for someone like me, who can get lost even with a map in hand. Thankfully, I did not get lost on any of the trails and managed to spot all the trees. Here are some of the highlights of the trails.

Pulau Ubin Tree Trail

Rating: ****

Getting there: Take a bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal.

A one-way trip costs $2.50 for each person and an extra $2 for a bicycle. Boats will leave when there are 12 passengers but you can also top up the difference for the boat to leave at once. Bumboats run from sunrise to sunset.

Duration: About two hours by foot or 30 minutes on bicycle one way to complete the trail.

Kids who have their eyes constantly glued to the television or handheld games will find this trail an eye-opener.

The 3.5km trail begins at the Ubin-HSBC Volunteer Hub near the jetty and ends at the Chek Jawa Wetlands. Along the way, there are several fruit trees such as jackfruit, durian and banana, ending with two Heritage Trees, a term given to mature trees, near Chek Jawa.

Most of the trail is along the island's main roads, but near the end, there is a section which is off the beaten track. If you are walking, it is best to wear proper shoes.

The walk takes about two hours to complete including the time taken to admire the trees. There are signs near the trees so it is easy to know whether you are looking at the correct one.

Mr Ali Ibrahim, a conservation officer from the National Parks Board who came along with me, says that many of the fruit trees on the trail were planted by villagers.

I had no problems spotting the jackfruit and banana trees, as they were fruiting. Fruit picking is not encouraged as these trees belong to the villagers.

The durian trees were harder to spot as their season is over. But there is a sign near the tree, so I did not miss it.

Along the way, I walked past some rubber trees, remnants of an old rubber plantation. It was new to me that there used to be such a plantation on Pulau Ubin.

Unlike the other trails, which focused mostly on trees, this one gives visitors a glimpse into kampung life.

I make a stop at the village head's two-storey wooden house where Mr Lim Chu Zi and his wife, Madam Chen Xiu Zhen, have been living in for more than 70 years.

There is also another kampung house along the trail, but it is empty.

It is a long walk to the last two trees, the Common Pulai and the Perepat, but it is worth putting up with the heat, humidity and mosquitoes to see them.

The Common Pulai is 35m tall and its canopy can be seen from the jetty. I feel dwarfed standing underneath it, looking up.

Is this trail worth doing? Yes, especially if you are headed to the Chek Jawa Wetlands, as the trail is the same route.

What is not so worth it for me was the $20 parking fine when I returned to my car at the Changi Village carpark.

Trees of the Fort walking trail

Rating: **** 1/2

Getting there: The nearest MRT stations to Fort Canning Park are City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Bras Basah. If you are driving, park at carpark B which is nearest to the Fort Canning Centre.

Duration: About an hour on foot

Fort Canning Park is a 10-minute walk from my home, but I can count the number of times I have been there on one hand. But after trying out the four trails, this is my favourite.

I reckon it is because on this 2km trail, some of the trees were flowering and provided splashes of colour amid the green.

Do stop to smell the slightly sweet scent of the flowers of the Cannonball Tree and look for the bright red blooms of the Flame of the Forest. Mr Simon Longman, National Park Board's director for streetscape, who walked the trail with me, says the flowers do not bloom all the time, so I must be lucky.

Compared to the trees on the other trails, the ones at Fort Canning Park seem more interesting.

I got to see up close the bark of the Paperbark Tree, which peels off like pieces of paper.

I felt goosebumps when I saw the big and thick thorns on the trunk of the Kapok tree. I do not want to imagine bumping into them.

At the Saga tree, I picked up some of its red seeds, something I did as a child. They were fun to play with back then, but it is only now that I learn they were traditionally used as weights.

The trail has some light slopes but is an easy walk. Under the thick tree canopy, it was cool even on a sunny day. At certain points, I had a bird's eye view of Clarke Quay across the road.

The good thing about this trail is that although it begins at the Fort Canning Centre, there are several other access routes so you can begin from wherever it is convenient.

A minor quibble: There are just so many trees that I began to lose interest near the end. But this is all the more reason to come back to the trail again.

Singapore Botanic Gardens


Rating: ***

Getting there: If walking, the nearest gate to the start of the trail is Tanglin Gate, opposite Gleneagles Hospital.

Duration: 30 minutes on foot

I have visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens many times, so I can safely say that I have seen most of the trees on this trail.

I have walked past the Penaga Laut tree next to the Botany Centre and the Kapok tree beside Holttum Hall several times and know their names by heart.

While I have yet to see the Tembusu up close, I have seen many photographs of it. For those who do not know, it is featured on the back of the $5 note.

Still, it is a fairly pleasant walk on the 700m trail that covers about a quarter of the Gardens.

And I did learn something new. The Jelawi, which is marked out on the trail, is one of the tallest trees in the Garden at 47m high. Its buttress roots are awe-inspiring. The best way to see it in its full glory is to stand about 50m away.

The trail is an easy walk, so even toddlers or the elderly can manage it. Dogs are allowed in the park, so the next time you are out walking Fido, you may want to check out the trees.

Still, I feel this trail will appeal more to tourists who are more likely to head to the Gardens.

Changi Walking Trail


Rating: ***

Getting there: If driving, park at the public carpark at Turnhouse Park, located near the start of the trail. Or take SBS Transit Bus number 2, 29, 59 or 109 and alight either at Changi Village Bus Interchange, along Netheravon Road, or along Cranwell Road to arrive at the trail.

Duration: 30 minutes on foot

Mention Changi Point and most people would think of the good food at Changi Village or as the place to take the bumboat to Pulau Ubin.

But the area is home to some of Singapore's lesser-known Heritage Trees, a term given to mature trees.

Armed with a map of the area, Mr S.K. Ganesan, a deputy director for landscape and arboriculture at the National Parks Board, walks the trail with me.

He has been studying trees in the area since 1998 and can identify each one. He says that unlike other areas where there are more than one of each tree, here, every tree is one of its kind.

'These trees were left behind in the 1930s, when Changi, which was then a jungle, was cleared for development,' he says.

But even without a guide, it is easy to spot the trees that are marked on my map, as there are plaques in front of them on the trail.

It takes about 30 minutes to cover the 1.5km route, during which you will see these mature, heritage trees that are about 70 years old and more than 20m tall.

Each has its own special feature or background. For example, the Kelat Hitam at the junction of Catterick Road and Leuchars Road is memorable for its twisted trunk.

Some of the trees, such as the Sepetir and the Strangling Fig, are inside the compounds of government chalets, so I could look at them only from afar.

With just nine trees to see on this trail, it is not worth a trip all the way just to see them.

But Mr Ganesan has a tip: 'The Changi Point Coastal Walk is more scenic, so visitors should check that out, and, at the same time, come and see these trees.'


Guided tours

Want to learn more about trees but prefer to go on a guided tour? Here are some organised by the National Parks Board to check out.

Trees of the Fort @ Fort Canning Park

When: Every second Saturday of the month, 4 to 6pm. Next guided tour on Dec 11

Fee: Free

Contact: lee_weiling@nparks.gov.sg

Elders of the Forest @ Yishun Park

When: Saturday, then in Feb, April, July and Oct next year, 9 to 10am

Fee: $4

Contact: nanthini_elamgovan@nparks.gov.sg

Roots, Shoots and Fruits @ Admiralty Park

When: Feb, April, July and Oct next year, 9 to 10am

Fee: $4

Contact: raem_tan@nparks.gov.sg

A Forest No Less @ Bukit Batok Nature Park

When: March, May, Aug, Nov next year, 9 to 10am

Fee: $4

Contact: dinushini_williams@nparks.gov.sg

Botanical Wonders @ MacRitchie Reservoir Park

When: Bi-monthly from April next year

Fee: $4 a person and $60 for a group with a maximum of 15 people

Contact: mardiah_effendi@nparks.gov.sg

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Malaysia: 200,000 Baby Turtles Released Into The Sea So Far This Year

Bernama 13 Nov 10;

DUNGUN, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- Some 200,000 baby turtles have been released into the sea so far this year, said Rantau Panjang's Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre head Syed Abdullah Syed Abdul Kadir.

He said the number was from 200 hatcheries in 18 places throughout Terengganu.

"Turtle landings this year also have been the highest in a decade.

"In Pantai Geliga, Kemaman for example, only between 300 and 600 nests were recorded annually from 2000 till 2009 but this year the number has risen drastically to 1,391," he said.

He told this to reporters after a ceremony which saw the releasing of 2,428 baby turtles at Rantau Abang beach here Saturday.

The event, which was officiated by Terengganu Infrastructure Development and Public Amenities Committee chairman and witnessed by schoolchildren and nearby residents, entered the Malaysia Book of Records for the most number of turtles released into the sea in one occasion.

-- BERNAMA

Record release of turtle hatchlings
New Straits Times 14 Nov 10;

DUNGUN: Although the odds are stacked against them, turtle conservation works will continue with new approaches to ensure the marine animal that is synonymous with Terengganu thrives.

Turtle and Marine Environment Centre (Tumec) here scored a new record yesterday as 2,428 turtle hatchlings and juveniles were released simultaneously in what was hailed as the biggest single release of turtles in the country.

Tumec chief Syed Abdullah Syed Abdul Kadir said the event was aimed at increasing turtle conservation awareness among the public especially the younger generation.

He said it was important for kids to understand the importance of turtle conservation as it would have to span decades before any result could be seen.

"According to scientific data, only one out of 1,000 hatchlings released will survive to adulthood. This would mean only 500 out of the 500,000 hatchlings released from our hatchery in the past 10 years will survive."

Syed Abdullah said more than two million hatchlings had been released from hatcheries in Terengganu in the last 10 years.

"The figures may be big but it is not much when we take into account the hatchlings' survival rate."

Syed Abdullah defended Tumec's move to release the hatchlings at 5.45pm, as some turtle conservation experts had pointed out that it could lead to a feeding frenzy by predators.

"All our releases in the last 10 years had been done between 7pm and 10pm, thus the predators around here would have been programmed to spring into action after dark," he said, adding that the slightly rough sea now had driven most predators away from the coast.

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Sime Darby lends a hand in setting up Malaysian rhino sanctuary

Muguntan Vanar The Star 14 Nov 10;

KOTA KINABALU: Yayasan Sime Darby has emerged a key player in assisting efforts to set up the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve over the last three years.

The foundation has contributed RM5mil towards the development of Borneo Rhino Sanctuary as well as provide additional funds for management of wildlife in Tabin Wildlife.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said that support by the private sector played an important role in the conservation of the Sumatran rhinos whose last known remaining populations were in the Danum Valley and Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the Lahad Datu district.

He said the Government had outlined several steps towards helping in the survival of the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros.

The first need is to prevent the poaching and illegal trapping of Sabah’s remaining wild rhinos.

The second need is to bring the few remaining rhinos which are not breeding to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, a managed fenced facility being developed at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

“The people who will be protecting, monitoring, rescuing and caring for rhinos need a comfortable place to stay as well,” he said in thanking Yayasan Sime Darby and other partners in helping provide basic facilities for the area.

Yayasan Sime Darby’s funds were used to build five units of staff accommodation that provided 15 bedrooms at Tabin, Laurentius said when opening the accommodations dubbed as Rumah Gajah and Rumah Harimau Dahan on Saturday.

Yayasan Sime Darby was represented by its chief executive officer Puan Yatela Zainal Abidin who pledged to continue a wide range of programmes encompassing human welfare, education and sports, as well as conservation of the natural environment.

Another house with six bedrooms dubbed Rumah Badak and funded by WWF-Malaysia and WWF-Germany was officially opened at Tabin by WWF-Malaysia president Tengku Datuk Zainal Adlin.

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Plastic-bag ban in Malaysia: Negri may ban plastic bags

The Star 14 Nov 10;

SEREMBAN: The state government is considering making it a condition that all businesses – from hypermarkets to pasar malam traders – do not use plastic bags on stipulated days as part of their licensing requirement.

Their licences will either be revoked or the traders will be fined if they do not adhere to the condition.

The state authorities had no choice but to take drastic measures to reduce the use of plastic bags, said state Housing, Local Government, New Villages and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Siow Chen Pin said.

“We are happy that five big businesses here have started the ball rolling by not using plastic bags on Saturdays.

“We want to extend this to the markets, pasar malam, mini-markets and smaller businesses as well,” he said.

Siow was speaking to reporters after launching the “Day Without Plastic Bags” campaign at Carrefour here.

The other businesses which have decided against giving out free plastic bags on Saturdays are Tesco, Jusco, Giant and Econsave.

Siow said he would also get the more than 1,000 traders at the wet market here to adhere to the ruling.

“We want to educate as many people as possible on the adverse effects plastic has on the environment.

“Since it is not biodegradable, it can take up to 400 years to disintegrate and we all know how hazardous it is to our surroundings,” he said.

He added that many governments had taken similar steps after realising the damage plastic could cause to the environment.

“We want Malaysians to go back to basics ... you either take the rattan bag to the market or use green bags which are easily biodegradable,” he said.

Siow said plastic was a petroleum by-product and the demand for fossil fuel would drop if demand for plastic fell.

He added if plastic was burnt, it would release a carcinogen into the air. Similarly, toxins from plastic could also pollute underground water resources.

NGOs urged to show support for state’s no plastic bag ruling
The Star 13 Nov 10;

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Penang to speak up in support of the no plastic bag ruling daily from Jan 1.

Facing the heat from plastic manufacturers, he said the NGOs must now “cakap serupa bikin” (practise what is preached).

“We have done what you asked of us by implementing this ruling to reduce plastic bag usage in the state.

“This move could cost us seats (in the next general election) and we have received strong opposition from the public and plastic manufacturers,” he said.

“So, now you (NGOs) must support us and help convince 98% of Penangites that this move is important for the future generation,” he said to reporters here yesterday.

Lim said the public’s support was crucial in ensuring the success of the campaign to reduce plastic bag usage.

“This is not a ban — hawkers and market traders are unaffected.

“Furthermore, consumers can still get plastic bags at the outlets covered by the ruling by paying 20 sen.

“The move is meant to discourage people from taking too many plastic bags when they go out shopping,” he said.

Present at the press conference were representatives from the Friends of Penang Botanic Garden Society (FPBG) and Penang Heritage Trust (PHT).

FPBG vice-president Datuk Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim said the NGOs were in total support of the state’s move.

“We have had many campaigns to encourage the public to recycle,” she said.

PHT spokesman Loh-Lim Lin Lee said feedback from the public was generally positive.

“I assure you, what we’ve heard on the ground is that there’s little protest,” she said.

Lim announced the ruling at last week’s state assembly sitting.

The ruling covers all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets and convenience stores including chain stores and those at petrol kiosks.

Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will also have to adhere to the ruling on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in addition to Mondays, before their licences can be renewed.

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Johor: Reclaimed land caves in

Desiree Tresa Gasper The Star 14 Nov 10;

JOHOR BARU: Part of the land being re­claimed for a multi-billion ringgit project along Lido Beach here caved in, causing a tractor driver and some machinery to fall into the sea.

Work on the integrated commercial and residential project, which involved the reclamation of 123ha of land started early this month with one sq km already reclaimed. Half of it caved in yesterday.

Mohd Noor Miskan, 36, is believed to have fallen into the sea along with the tractor he was operating.

The developer of the Lido Boulevard project is Central Malaysian Properties Sdn Bhd.

Also lost in the incident were three tractors, two containers and one generator unit.

At press time, Noor has not been found.

“We arrived at the scene at around 10.36pm on Friday night and 18 officers were conducting the search and rescue for the victim,” said Johor Fire and Rescue department senior operations officer Aminah Saimin.

Mohd Noor’s mother and sister who were at the scene said they were shocked when they heard about what had happened.

“He was supposed to visit my mother at the hospital not too far from where he was working.

“She had been warded several days ago with thyroid cancer,” said Mohd Noor’s sister Hani Masra Miskan, 40.

“We are still hoping that they will find him, because he is a wonderful brother and the pillar of strength of our family,” she said, adding that Mohd Noor was married with four children.

Mohd Noor’s mother, Siti Tasuki, 58, said she could not take the news and only wanted her son back. “He is my only son and he is very close to me,” she said.

A spokesman from the Central Malaysian Properties said a team of technical consultants were investigating the cause of the accident.

“We started reclamation work on the site this month after getting the approval from the authorities and we are doing our best to find out what went wrong,” he said.

Reclamation work on the integrated waterfront development had been scheduled to be completed in the next 24 months.

Man drowns as excavator on barge topples into sea
Ben Tan and Ahmad Fairuz Othman New Straits Times 14 Nov 10;

JOHOR BARU: An excavator operator drowned when the construction barge he was working on capsized in the Johor Straits, in front of Istana Besar here, late Friday night.

Mohd Nor Miskan, 36, drowned when the excavator plunged into the sea when the construction barge capsized while undertaking reclamation works at 10.30pm.

At press time yesterday, his body had not been found by a 29-man search team, comprising 15 divers from the Fire and Rescue Department, southern region Marine Police and Johor Marine Department.

The incident, which happened adjacent to the busy Jalan Skudai, also created a kilometre-long traffic jam where curious passers-by thronged the stretch of the road.

It is learnt that efforts to recover Nor's body had been hampered as the excavator had plunged deep into the sea.

The incident happened in a part of a 9.7ha construction site being developed by Belgian construction firm Jan De Nul (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for Central Malaysian Properties Sdn Bhd's high-end Lido Residences condominium project.

State police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff, who was at the scene, said the rescuers' were trying to recover the body as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Nor's mother, Siti Tasuki, 58, rushed to the scene at 4am from Sultan Ismail Hospital where she was seeking treatment for thyroid cancer.

"I am very worried for my son. I never thought something like this would happen," she said, in between sobs.

Nor, who is a father of four, had been working for the company for 10 years.

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Be your own NGO, advocates Clinton

New Straits Times 12 Nov 10;

NILAI: Former United States president Bill Clinton urged students and guests attending his talk yesterday to become their own non-governmental organisations by contributing their time and skills to the world's future.

"Each one of us needs to become our own NGO, by contributing towards the growth and well-being of our community and country and the world as a whole by doing our part as responsible citizens.

"You don't have to be a billionaire like Bill Gates or a former president of a country, like me, in order to make a difference in the world. You have the power to do whatever, regardless what the circumstances are," he said in his address to students, business and government officials at Inti International University, here.


Clinton is the honorary chancellor of the Laureate International Universities, which owns Inti.

Also present were Lauerate Education chairman and chief executive officer Douglas L. Becker and Inti International University chairman Tan Yew Sing.

Clinton said the 21st century world, which was the most independent age of human history, had three main challenges to overcome: inequality, unsustainability and instability.


"There is a limit to what governments, private corporations and NGOs can do, and this is where private citizens and communities come in to help cope with the challenges of the modern world.

"For example, there is a rapid rate in climate change where global warming and melting ice caps are a cause for concern. We have to do something about environment unsustainability," he said, adding that Greenland's melting ice caps might render northern European countries uninhabitable.

He described Malaysia's pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40 per cent by 2020 as a promising effort in helping the environment and the economy.


On inequality, he said the lack of a proper system in poor countries had caused a great deal of suffering.

In places such as Haiti, for instance, 75 per cent of the people live on less than US$2 (RM6.40) a day while a billion people worldwide are living on less than US$1 a day.

"These people are living below the poverty line. It is dramatically unequal and that inequality is going to cost an enormous amount of social unrest and political upheaval."

On the world's third major challenge, Clinton said the things that made all the information available to us on the Internet also made the world unstable.

"Networking can be good, but it is also an opportunity for disaster."

Clinton also answered a question from an undergraduate student on what this generation could do that the previous generation couldn't.

"You should not worry about what you can't do but more about what you can do and find like-minded people to help do your part together.

"The ability to have a choice is a liberating feeling and whatever choices you make in life, it shouldn't stop you from being a responsible citizen in order to make the modern world work."

On a question on world peace, Clinton advised people to be respectful of each and everyone's faith and belief.

"Spend more time thinking of good things rather than only worrying about bad things."

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Film on climate change bad boy says 'Cool It' over panic

Nina Larson Yahoo News 13 Nov 10;

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Humanity has what it takes to adapt to global warming and there's no need to panic: so goes the message in a new documentary on the bad boy of the climate change debate, Bjoern Lomborg.

The towering Dane, who catapulted onto the global stage in 2001 with his book "The Skeptical Environmentalist", was emphatic in a telephone interview with AFP ahead of the release of the aptly entitled "Cool It".

"Panic is not a good state of mind if you want to make sound decisions," said the 45-year-old whose book challenged the mainstream global climate debate, which he says is exaggerating the dangers.

"Cool It", released in the US on Friday, is seen as a response to the Academy Award-winning documentary by former US vice president Al Gore, "An Inconvenient Truth".

Lomborg, with his mop of blond hair and boyish grin, has often been labeled a climate change denier, a notion he rejects, insisting that "global warming is real, but we are tackling it stupidly."

In the film, which he co-wrote with US documentary filmmaker Ondi Timoner and others, he offers a litany of ideas he feels the world should invest in to counter climate change: paint cities white to better reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere and thereby cool ground temperatures, capture the energy of waves, and even create artificial clouds to keep the planet cooler.

The one thing we should not be spending so much time and money on, the film says, is the narrow focus on curbing carbon emissions that dominates today's debate -- the focus of the Kyoto Protocol that Lomborg has fought.

His stance has caught attention, putting him on the Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people, while in 2008 he was named by the British paper the Guardian as "one of the 50 people who could save the planet."

He says he admires Gore's documentary since "his movie made us all aware of climate change".

However, "it did so by creating panic, and we need to move on from that," he told AFP.

"Cool It" opens with British school children recounting, in drawings and tales, what they expect to happen "quite soon": most countries will flood, others turn into deserts -- a prospect one girl says keeps her awake at nights.

"I'm scared because it's going to get very, very hot," another child says.

"The animals will die, the trees will all die and fall down. Everyone is just going to die," a third warns.

"The whole climate debate has been marred by the fact that just two positions have been viewed as acceptable: either you are a climate change denier or you are Al Gore and the world is coming to an end," Lomborg told AFP.

"The problem is neither position is true.

"There is no middle ground, and that is what we need, very, very much," he said, urging alternatives to the current focus on cutting carbon emissions.

"The current approach has failed for 18 years and there is no reason to believe that it will suddenly begin to work," added Lomborg, a professor at the Copenhagen School of Business and founder and head of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre think-tank.

He feels it is both costly and inadequate, "sort of like buying a fire insurance policy for your house -- a very expensive one -- that only covers the door frame and nothing else."

Lomborg estimates that the total cost of implementing the Kyoto Protocol -- which requires wealthy nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming until the end of 2012 -- amounts to 180 million dollars a year.

He says a separate plan by the European Union to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent from 1990-levels by 2020 will cost 250 billion dollars a year -- more than five times the amount calculated by the bloc itself.

Yet the two projects will each only lead to a temperature drop of between 0.08 and 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit (about 0.05 degrees Celsius) by 2100, the film insists.

The world would be better served, he feels, by investing say 100 billion dollars a year in research and development of new scientific solutions to curb warming in the long-haul, as well as geo-engineering solutions like building resilient levies for a quick fix to imminent dangers.

"If we are going to spend money to fix this problem, we should not spend money on stupid solutions, but instead on smart ones," he said.

This alternative approach, he insists, would leave money left over to tackle other major world problems as well, such as AIDS, malaria and providing clean drinking water.

Lomborg also insists that the worst-case climate change scenarios were unlikely to happen, and that it was not helpful trying to scare people into action.

"There are many well-meaning people who think you need to 'sex up' the message a little to get your point across.

"That didn't work with the Iraq war, and it won't work if what you're looking for is long-term solutions," he insisted.

In a bid for balance, "Cool it" interviews numerous renowned scientists on both sides of the debate.

It has been shown at several festivals, including in Toronto and Copenhagen, and is scheduled to open in Europe after the US launch.

Read more!

Climate talks 'will not yield binding treaty': Calderon

Marianne Barriaux Yahoo News 12 Nov 10;

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) – Mexican President Felipe Calderon said that upcoming climate change talks in Mexico will produce "unprecedented results" but not a hoped-for legally binding treaty.

Later this month 194 countries will meet in the Mexican resort city of Cancun for a second attempt at hammering out an agreement to curb greenhouse gases after 2012, when the current arrangement expires.

The climate gathering takes place in the shadow of last December's Copenhagen summit, which ended in failure after China was accused of blocking a deal on binding commitments.

"There are reasons that allow us to be moderately optimistic about what is going to happen there (in Cancun)," Calderon said on Saturday in a speech to a business conference ahead of a Pacific Rim summit in Japan.

"It is not possible to expect the founding treaty of the future (with) the legally binding commitments that we all want," he said on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) talks.

"The good news is that Cancun will certainly make unprecedented results in my opinion."

"We may not score a touchdown in Cancun but we will certainly make a significant first down with a very important advance in the negotiations," he said, using an American football analogy.

In Seoul on Friday, the world's 20 largest rich and emerging economies including China vowed to "spare no effort" at the Cancun talks, which run from November 29 to December 10.

However, China has routinely voiced reluctance to take the lead in curbing greenhouse gases, saying it is not to blame for the situation the world is in.

China and the United States clashed at a UN climate gathering last month in the Chinese city of Tianjin, accusing each other of blocking progress ahead of Cancun.

The United States wants China, the world's largest source of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, to commit to curbing carbon emissions and developing countries to agree to more scrutiny of their climate claims.

China has rejected pressure for outside verification, saying it is a US attempt to divert attention from the fact the United States has so far failed to get emissions-cut legislation through Congress.

As the prospect of a path-breaking deal in Cancun has dimmed, efforts have moved towards more modest and incremental steps.

Nobuo Tanaka, head of the International Energy Agency, issued a wish list to the conference of steps he said could become "concrete achievements" in Cancun.

"The G20 leaders agreed in Seoul to phase out fossil fuel consumption subsidies. This is important to really reduce the oil demand by about 5.0 million barrels per day," he said.

"You can save five percent of the energy demand in the future, you can save 2.0 gigatons of CO2 emissions."

Tanaka, from the Paris-based energy monitoring and strategy arm of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, also called for a "strong push" from leaders to develop energy-saving technology.

The new focus on smaller goals -- deals on deforestation, progress on financing and technology transfer -- were echoed in the G20 statement.

"We all are committed to achieving a successful, balanced result that includes the core issues of mitigation, transparency, finance, technology, adaptation, and forest preservation," the statement said.

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