Singapore youths in Durban learn vital policy lessons

Grace Chua Straits Times 9 Dec 11;

DURBAN (South Africa): During their one week at the United Nations climate change talks, a group of Singaporean youth learnt some vital lessons - that the best-laid environmental plans can go awry, for instance.

At a reception yesterday on the sidelines of the talks in Durban, South Africa, they shared these with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who are in town for the high-level segment of negotiations.

Ms Tong Sian Choo, 24, a final-year Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student, spoke about finding out that some incentives to encourage biofuel production can lead to forest and peat-land clearing, which releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

She said: 'The devil is in the details!'

In their time there, Ms Tong and her peers had bustled about the International Convention Centre, sitting in for negotiations, meeting other international youth groups for discussions, and gleaning ideas on projects to start when they go home.

Others among the 11-strong youth group said they were pleasantly surprised in their meetings.

For instance, they noticed that United States and Chinese youth non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were more than willing to work together on climate change and pollution reduction. This is in contrast to their nations, which are at loggerheads in the climate talks.

The group comprised two student teams which won the inaugural National Climate Change Competition, organised by the National Climate Change Secretariat, with their ideas about recycling and electricity-use tracking, and a group of youth leaders from Singapore environment NGO Avelife, which focuses on social enterprise and the environment.

The winning ideas were picked from 140 entries from schools and tertiary institutions. The NTU team of three came up with a mobile application to track electricity use, while the National University of Singapore team of four campaigned to boost campus recycling by removing trash bins.

After the reception, DPM Teo said: 'I'm really delighted to see the young people here today from NTU, NUS, Avelife and also from the National Youth Achievement Award Council engaging with young people from other parts of the world, to exchange ideas on how they can play a part and take this forward for all of us.'

Youths urge governments to make progress on climate change
Sabrina Chua Channel NewsAsia 9 Dec 11;

DURBAN, South Africa: Some 1,500 South African students gathered on a Durban beach to form a lion-head - a message to leaders at the climate change talks here, to show some courage for the climate.

They are hoping the leaders will be brave enough to make a breakthrough agreement for the future of the planet.

It's a message shared by youth from as far away as Singapore.

Nanyang Technological University student Tan Jia Yi said: "It's a very grown-up world to think about livelihood, economy and things like that but as youths, we're very direct. We see that climate change, global warming is a fact and there are many extreme weather events.

"We hope that governments will have the political courage to commit. The message is getting stronger. There's no reason for governments to fear or to slow down. In fact, it's imperative that they speed up. As what I heard from some of the government leaders who gave talks, they're leaving a legacy, so let it be something that we can look up to and be inspired by."

National University of Singapore's Students Against Violation of the Earth chairman Tan Wei Ru said: "I've heard a lot of them saying that they're doing this for future generations. I really hope they mean what they say.

"We hope that this second commitment period will really go through. Even if it doesn't, I hope that each government can actually commit themselves to do something in their own country, with their own people and encourage their own people to do something for the environment."

The Singapore youths also shared their views with the country's leaders attending the talks in Durban.

Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman for Inter-Ministerial Committee for Climate Change Mr Teo Chee Hean said: "I'm very delighted to see the young people here today engaging with young people from other parts of the world to exchange ideas on how they can play a part and take this forward for all of us."

Minister for Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said: "It's good to see young people interested, aware and thinking and exchanging ideas and also translating some of these ideas into projects on the ground, which we will support.

"Ultimately, for climate change to be solved, it requires not just governments, not just legislation, not just businesses changing practices, but every single one of us seeking not to be wasteful, to conserve energy, and to organise our lives in a sustainable way. It requires a whole mindset shift and a transformation of society."

But such a transformation takes time which is something the COP 17 negotiators are quickly running out of.

The world is waiting and watching to see if they have the courage to heed the youth's call and compromise on differing national interests to come up with an agreement.

- CNA/fa