The Big Question: Will it really be possible to meet the G8's climate change targets?

Michael McCarthy, The Independent 10 Jul 09;

Why are we asking this now?

Because the leaders of the rich countries, at their meeting in Italy, have just made a great headline-grabbing pledge to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide, in the fight against climate change, by 80 per cent by 2050.

Why shouldn't that be realistic?

Because it is not at all clear what "80 per cent" means; it sounds like a terrific reduction, but 80 per cent of what? It might be taken to mean cutting emissions back to 80 per cent of what they are today, or what they were in 2000, say; while what UN climate scientists and environmental campaigners think is necessary, is to cut them back to 80 per cent of what they were in 1990, and that's a much tougher call (though it should be said that Britain has pledged to do this). Have a close look at the wording of the G8 communiqué issued after the agreement.

So what is the key part of the communiqué?

The leaders say in paragraph 65: "We also support a goal of developed countries reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in aggregate by 80 per cent or more by 2050 compared to 1990 or more recent years [our italics]." Those last four words, put in to keep all parties happy, especially the more reluctant ones, and make sure agreement was reached, in effect render the commitment so imprecise as to be meaningless.

How so?

Since 1990 global CO2 emissions, especially in the US, have soared, and the difference between a cut on a 2009 baseline and a cut on a 1990 baseline is enormous – hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2. To be fair, the communiqué also says that for countries making reductions, "efforts need to be comparable". Yet at the moment the G8 does indeed have a big headline-grabbing target, but nobody knows what it really is.

Is there anything else that's unrealistic about it?

Yes. There are no interim targets, no steps marked out along the way. It's the easiest thing in the world for politicians to get together and promise to do something 41 years from now; none of them will be around to take the blame if it doesn't happen (there's a good acronym for it – Nimtoo, or Not In My Time Of Office). Pledging to reach a certain stage along the way by a certain date not very far in the future, on the other hand, is much more demanding and much more of a hostage to fortune, and perhaps it is no surprise that the G8 leaders have shied away from it.

So what are they saying they will do?

They promise to undertake "robust mid-term reductions", but they don't say what or when. This has not only attracted criticism from the environmental lobby, but more importantly, it is also being seen as a lack of good faith by the developing countries led by China and India, whose own emissions are growing enormously, but who will only agree to cut them if they are convinced that the developed world is showing the way.

But can targets ever be precise?

Yes: the European Union has agreed to cut its emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, rising to 30 per cent if a global deal is secured at the major climate conference in Copenhagen in December, while Britain has agreed an interim target by 2020 of 34 per cent, which may rise to 42 per cent after a deal; this is currently the most ambitious climate target of any country in the world. But not so the G8.

So are the G8's climate pronouncements just so much hot air?

No, they're not; they mark a welcome step forward. The wealthy countries have come together to recognise the desirability of holding global warming to two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level – this is the first time that this has been done, and was never possible, for example, while George W Bush was US President.

Barack Obama has made the difference, and the mood music is changing, which is a hopeful sign that a serious agreement may eventually be possible. The agreement to cut emissions "by 80 per cent" is also an important part of that mood music: it's just important to be clear-eyed about exactly what it means.

How would we go about an 80 per cent C02 reduction once it was properly agreed?

This will be the greatest common enterprise on which humanity has ever embarked. To bring it about you might instinctively think windfarms, or solar panels, or electric cars, and they're all on the way and important, but the basic tool is really a more abstract one: the price of carbon, as determined by markets such as that of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Why is that so important?

Nicholas Stern, in his groundbreaking report on the economics of climate change, said that global warming represented the greatest market failure in history: the true cost of emitting carbon dioxide was not remotely reflected in its price. As the governments in the ETS (and later, we hope, the US and elsewhere) squeeze the amount of CO2 companies are allowed to emit each year, the rising price of permits will drive the efforts to do without it, throughout society; it will drive the necessary behaviour changes by consumers, from transport, to heating choice, to diet (Oxfam points out, for example, how large is the carbon footprint of a steak compared to the same amount of calories produced from vegetarian sources).

Behaviour change is one of the two ways forward, yet despite the fervent hopes of "deep greens", it will need state or market intervention to make most people change their ways. The ultimate (and fair) way of doing it would be to give everyone the same personal "carbon allowance" which they can use as they wish; this is a long way off in practical terms, but as global warming gets worse, it may yet appear on the agenda.

What's the other way forward?

Technological fixes. Nuclear power and the coming technology of carbon capture and storage may – stress the "may" – mean we can carry on with our electricity-based lifestyle while slashing our emissions, as renewable energy on its own is unlikely to be sufficient. Electric motors and hydrogen fuel cells may allow us to maintain private car mobility, carbon-free, on the roads.

Aviation is a lot more difficult: the aviation industry sees biofuels as its get-out-of-jail card, but their expansion shows every sign of drastically pushing up food prices, never mind wrecking the rainforest. Getting aviation emissions down may ultimately mean restricting people's ability to fly, a very difficult job for any politician to undertake. It is becoming obvious that technological fixes are much preferred by politicians to asking people to change their behaviour; it is dawning on them that no one ever got elected by asking voters to make do with less.

Is an 80 per cent cut in emissions just pie in the sky?

Yes...

* It's not realistic until we know precisely what it means – an 80 per cent cut of what baseline?

*It's hardly realistic if there are no interim targets. Without those, action is easily deferred

* Emissions are growing so fast that such a huge cut becomes harder every year

No...

* The world already has the technology to do it; all that is needed is the political will

* New low-carbon technologies will increasingly come on stream, easing the task for us all

* The pressure to cut emissions will increase as the impacts of global warming become more severe

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G8 pledges $20 billion in farm aid to poor nations

Phil Stewart and Daniel Flynn, Reuters 10 Jul 09;

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - G8 leaders pledged $20 billion in aid on Friday to help poor nations feed themselves, surpassing expectations of a summit that made little ground on climate change and may spell the end of the G8 itself.

U.S. President Barack Obama and the summit's Italian host Silvio Berlusconi reflected growing consensus that the Group of Eight industrial powers, long criticized as an elite club, does not reflect the shifting patterns of global economic power.

Tackling global challenges "in the absence of major powers like China, India and Brazil seems to be wrongheaded," Obama said, adding that he looked forward to "fewer summit meetings."

Begun in 1975 with six members, the G8 now groups the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia and Canada. The Italians made it a "G14" with emerging powers on the second day, then added 15 more on the third.

That enabled Obama, traveling to Ghana on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president, to use the summit to push for a shift toward agricultural investment from food aid. Washington will make $3.5 billion available to the 3-year program.

"There is no reason Africa should not be self-sufficient when it comes to food," said Obama, recalling that his relatives in Kenya live "in villages where hunger is real," though they themselves are not going hungry.

KEEP WORD ON AFRICA

Obama said Africa had enough arable land but lacked seeds, irrigation and mechanisms for farmers to get a fair price for their produce -- issues that the summit promised to tackle.

Africa told the wealthy powers they must honor their commitments, old and new -- mindful that some in the G8 had fallen well short of their 2005 promise to increase annual aid by $50 billion by 2010, half of which was meant for Africa.

South African President Jacob Zuma said the new funding will "go a long way" to helping Africa, adding: "We can't say it's enough, but at least it begins to do very concrete things."

Nigerian Agriculture Minister Abba Ruma said the new pledge was "very commendable in view of the current global recession."

But he cautioned that it must be "disbursed expeditiously. It is only then we will know that the G8 is living up to its commitment and not just making a pledge and going to sleep."

The United Nations says the number of malnourished people has risen in the past two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing decades of declines. The global recession is expected to make 103 million more go hungry.

Aid bodies like the World Food Program said a last-minute surge of generosity at the summit in L'Aquila resulting in the $20 billion pledge was "greeted with great happiness."

That amount over three years may compare unfavorably with the $13.4 billion the G8 says it disbursed between January 2008 and July 2009, but aid groups said the new pledge in Italy was more clearly focused.

Japan and the European Union were also championing a code of conduct for responsible investment after growing farmland acquisition or "land grabs" in emerging nations.

G14 THE WAY AHEAD

The summit was held in the central Italian town of L'Aquila, devastated by an earthquake in April which killed some 300 people. That may explain why the usual anti-G8 protests were on an unusually small scale and without the violence that marred Italy's last G8 summit, held in Genoa in 2001.

But environmentalists were disappointed that the G8 failed to get major developing nations China and India to sign up to the goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The 17 biggest emitters in the Major Economies Forum chaired by Obama could only get China and India to agree temperature rises should be limited to 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit).

But Obama, also suffering a delay to his own global warming bill in the U.S. Congress, said the talks had created momentum for a new U.N. climate change pact in Copenhagen in December.

G8 leaders said the global financial crisis still posed serious risks to the economy. Further stimulus packages for growth might still be required and it was dangerous to implement "exit strategies" from emergency measures too early, they said.

"Reaching the bottom of the slump is not when you start with exit strategies," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah; writing by Janet McBride and Stephen Brown; editing by Elizabeth Piper and Crispian Balmer)

FAO welcomes G8 Food Security Initiative
“Encouraging shift of policy” – Diouf
FAO 10 Jul 09;

10 July 2009, L’Aquila - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today welcomed the G8’s $20 billion Food Security Initiative as an encouraging policy shift in favour of the poor and hungry.

Addressing the G8, Diouf said “The L’Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security ... signals a welcome and encouraging shift of policy in favour of helping the poor and hungry to produce their own food.”

This is what FAO had been preaching for years without success, Diouf noted. The G8 meeting agreed to mobilize $20 billion over three years for a comprehensive strategy focussing on sustainable agricultural development.

Diouf expressed confidence that the G8 Heads of State and Government would effectively translate that pledge into concrete action.

“I am convinced that you will ‘walk the talk’ not only for natural ethical considerations but also for sound economic reasons and, last but not least, to ensure Peace and Security in the world”.

Looming famine

He urged the international donor community “as soon as possible” to devote 17 percent of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to agriculture, recalling that this was the level of investment which saved Asia and Latin America from looming famine in the 1970’s.

A similar level of resources is needed now to feed the more than one billion people suffering hunger and to ensure that the world’s population, set to grow to more than nine billion in 2050, will have enough to eat then.

World Food Summit

Diouf underlined that a new World Food Summit of Heads of State and Government – the third after previous meetings in 1996 and 2002 – is to be held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 16-18 November with a view to securing a broad consensus on the eradication of hunger, on improved governance of the international agricultural system and on policies and programmes to ensure world food security.

“I am convinced that your Excellencies will personally participate in this gathering of leaders of [FAO’s] 192 member nations to ensure the most fundamental of human rights, ‘the right to food,’” Diouf said.

Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, he declared, “Everything can wait, but agriculture cannot wait”.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 10 Jul 09

A Grand Species @ Central Catchment Area
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Changi beach - Endless sea of pens and pencils
from Singapore Nature and
from wild shores of singapore

Blue-throated Bee-eater: 3. Feeding the chicks
from Bird Ecology Study Group

*Slurp* That duck looks delicious
from The annotated budak

Buried Beneath the Greenery – Singapore Street Directory #1
from My Itchy Fingers

How to Green the Clothes Hanger with bloomerHang
from AsiaIsGreen

PURE - Lifestyle Magazine by PUB
from AsiaIsGreen

"The Anthropocene"
Are We Living in a New Geological Era? Experts Say "Yes" from The Daily Galaxy: News from Planet Earth & Beyond

Read more!

New conservation fund to protect Singapore's endangered species

938 LIVE | Channel NewsAsia 10 Jul 09;

SINGAPORE: Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) has set aside S$1 million to protect and save Singapore's native endangered species.

The newly-launched conservation fund will concentrate on native animal conservation efforts and the issue of climate change.

Group CEO of WRS, Fanny Lai, said: "We hope to encourage light-minded individuals and organisations that share the same cause to come forward to apply for this fund and be involved in discovering, learning, and protecting our biodiversity.

"And the other way that we can achieve this together is through our field conservation work, education and public awareness programme, human animal work conflict of resolution, capacity building in both Singapore and in the region, and through sharing of best practices."

The first recipient is the National University of Singapore's (NUS') Ah Meng Memorial Conservation Fund, which will receive S$500,000 over five years.

This will support the academic research and study of endangered native wildlife undertaken by students and faculty members of NUS.

NUS' director of special projects, Leo Tan, said: "The first project that we'll be working on is a detailed study of the ecology of banded monkey or the banded leaf monkey. They call it the banded langur. And this is a very small population in Singapore, there are maybe less than 30 of them. They are very endangered species. In fact, they are one of the only four primate species in Singapore.

"This study will help us to determine their feeding habits, how far they range to search for food, and also what kind of food they eat, to have a better understanding of whether we can help to preserve this population."

The WRS Conservation Fund was launched at the Singapore Zoo on Friday with President SR Nathan as the guest-of-honour.

Individuals and organisations will soon be able to submit project proposals to the WRS Conservation Fund.

Funding support will be subject to approval by an independent Specialist Panel. More information can be found at www.wrscf.org.sg.

- 938LIVE/yt

New fund to protect endangered species here
First such public fund in Singapore will support local conservation efforts
Straits Times 11 Jul 09;

WHEN you next visit the Jurong BirdPark, the Singapore Zoo or the Night Safari, you could be helping to rescue Singapore's endangered animals.

Since April, 20 cents from each entry ticket to the three parks have been donated to a new conservation fund.

The Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund was officially launched yesterday by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), the parent company of the three parks. The fund is the first public one here aimed specifically at protecting the island's endangered species.

It will fund local conservation efforts, and it also aims to raise awareness about the effect of climate change on the range of plant and animal life, as well as snuff out illegal wildlife trade.

WRS has put $1 million in seed money into the fund. Another $100,000 has been pledged by corporate and private donors. It further aims to raise $1 million every year from ticket sales. An annual charity bazaar on World Animal Day is planned and donation boxes will be placed in the three parks.

This marks a big step forward in financial support for conservation, considering that WRS spent $500,000 on conservation in its own parks over the last 22 years.

The new fund has committed $500,000 over five years to the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Ah Meng Conservation Fund, which will study the banded langur monkey as its first project. Fewer than 30 such monkeys are estimated to be left here.

Another project it will support is a monthly wild bird survey to catalogue Singapore's endangered birds and to identify those that can be protected. A separate survey on flying squirrels and giant squirrels has been lined up.

Before grants are awarded, proposed projects are assessed by a panel of eight experts from agencies including the National Parks Board, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and the zoo. The panel will make its recommendations to a five-member board of trustees, which will set the level of funding for approved projects.

WRS will not apply for grants for its own conservation projects, as it will continue to use funds from its own operating budget for those, said Ms Fanny Lai, group chief executive of WRS.

Trustee Leo Tan, director of special projects at NUS' Faculty of Science, said the fund was a boon to those who want to work on protecting wildlife.

'There are many things we don't understand yet. This is why research is critical. The fund will identify those species we should be looking at,' he said.

Those working to administer the fund, such as honorary managing director Daisy Ling, are all WRS employees doing this on a voluntary basis. Ms Claire Chiang, who chairs both WRS and the fund, said that when the fund is more established, it will hire its own administrative staff.

The charity has Institution of a Public Character status, meaning it is allowed to collect tax-deductible donations.

President S R Nathan, who was at the launch of the fund, sealed a time capsule containing wishes for Singapore's wildlife made by the public. It will be opened in 2023, when the zoo marks its 50th anniversary.

Visit the zoo and help save wildlife
Straits Times 11 Jul 09;

ZOO visitors taking pictures of the pangolin, an endangered species which is native to Singapore. To save it and Singapore's other endangered animals, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the parent company of the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park, launched the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund yesterday. The company donates 20 cents from each entry ticket to the charity.

$1 million to save the monkeys
Today Online 11 Jul 09;

EFFORTS to protect and save the banded leaf monkey and other endangered species native to Singapore have just been given a $1-million boost.

That is the amount that the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) has set aside for a fund that will focus on native animal conservation efforts and the issue of climate change.

Ms Fanny Lai, WRS' Group CEO, said: "We hope to encourage like-minded individuals and organisations that share the same cause to come forward to apply for this fund and be involved in discovering, learning, and protecting our biodiversity.

"And the other way that we can achieve this together is through our field conservation work, education and public awareness programme, human animal work conflict of resolution, capacity building in both Singapore and in the region, and through sharing of best practices."

The first recipient is the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Ah Meng Memorial Conservation Fund, which will receive $500,000 over five years. The money will support the academic research and study of endangered native wildlife undertaken by NUS students and faculty members.

NUS' director of special projects, Mr Leo Tan, said: "The first project that we'll be working on is a detailed study of the ecology of banded monkey or the banded leaf monkey. They call it the banded langur.

"And this is a very small population in Singapore - there are maybe fewer than 30 of them. They are very endangered species. In fact, they are one of the only four primate species in Singapore."

He added: "This study will help us to determine their feeding habits ... and also what kind of food they eat, to have a better understanding of whether we can help to preserve this population."

The WRS Conservation Fund was launched at the Singapore Zoo on Friday, with President S R Nathan as the guest-of-honour. Individuals and organisations will soon be able to submit project proposals to the WRS Conservation Fund. Funding support will be subject to approval by an independent specialist panel. 938LIVE

For more information, visit www.wrscf.org.sg

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SkatePark among new facilities at East Coast Park after makeover

New haunt for extreme sports lovers
Tessa Wong, Straits Times 10 Jul 09;

EAST Coast Park is giving lovers of extreme sports a good reason to be there.

Its $7.6 million Xtreme SkatePark for skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX bikers is now open. It occupies a space the size of 21/2 football fields.
The makeover of what is perhaps Singapore's most famous stretch of beach is almost complete with this development.

The park, sited near Carpark F1 between the food village and the Bedok Jetty, has three international standard courses designed by Australians:

# A street course with street obstacles such as stairs, handrails and ledges;

# A combo bowl with varying depths; and

# A 3.6m-deep vertical bowl for advanced-level skaters and bikers to show off their tricks.

The park will host its first extreme sports competition on Aug 29 and 30 - the Singapore Xtreme Championship.

The major sprucing up of the 35-year-old East Coast Park began in 2005. The National Parks Board (NParks), with a $160 million budget, divided its 185ha into several zones for various groups of users of the park, such as families, diners and sports enthusiasts.

In the vicinity of the SkatePark, NParks has created a cable-ski facility and a beach club that offers diving courses and weekend sailing classes. A beach volleyball facility is also a possibility.

Elsewhere in East Coast Park, NParks has created a bougainvillea garden, a seafood centre and a playing field.

These are on top of infrastructural improvements such as converting bare spots on the coastline into sandy beach, the upgrading of Bedok Jetty and park amenities, and the relocating of boat storage areas.

Some ideas mooted in 2005 were nixed after the public was consulted.

One of these was a tram system, which got the thumbs-down from park-goers, especially joggers, who felt it would get in their way.

Multi-storey carparks were also rejected. Park-goers said they would mar the park's low-rise ambience.

What's next in the upgrading programme: The conversion of a former golf driving range into an open field, expected to be completed by the end of the year.

NParks' director of parks Kong Yit San said the next round of improvement works is slated for 2015.

These upgrading efforts will ensure that the park keeps its position as a top lifestyle destination for Singaporeans and tourists alike.

Mr Kong said: 'The vision for East Coast Park is that at the end of the day, when people think of recreation...outdoor active sports or wellness, they will think of East Coast Park.

'And when they come here, they will have a nice space to really pursue their sporting lifestyle.'

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Captured python released in forest

Tampines family declines AVA offer to take snake to zoo
The New Paper 10 Jul 09;

THE 3m-long python which terrified a family in their Tampines flat is now back in the wild where it belongs.

After being caught on Monday, the reptile spent the night in an enclosed empty fish tank in the corridor outside the flat.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) officers yesterday offered to take the snake to the zoo.

But Miss Charmaine Tan, 24, a part-time sales assistant, and her brother chose to release it into the wild instead.

At about 3pm, her boyfriend dropped by to pick up the tank and drove to a forested area in Mandai to release the snake.

Said Miss Tan: 'My brother and I feel responsible for the python, and since it's a wild animal, we thought that it shouldn't be held captive.'

The New Paper reported yesterday that the python had made its way into the Tans' 12th-floor flat in Tampines.

The family called a pest control company, but they ended up catching the python themselves after they couldn't agree on a price.

Miss Tan and her father, Christopher, 52, a housing agent, then put it into a pillowcase and secured it by tying a knot.

They placed the pillowcase into a 50cm-long fish tank that Miss Tan's boyfriend had brought.

Very strong

The family placed a metal sheet on top of the tank and weighed it down with bricks so the snake, which Mr Tan described as strong, could not escape.

Mr Tan covered the glass portion of the tank so that their neighbours would not be alarmed.

'We knew that the snake couldn't escape since it was tied up inside the pillow case and was in the glass tank,' said Miss Tan.

When her brother, full-time national serviceman Mark Tan, 20, returned home at about 7pm on Monday night, he called the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) to pick up the snake.

But he was told that Acres could not keep the snake.

'Instead, they told us to release it into a heavily forested area,' said Miss Tan.

She said that she knew of only two forests - in Mandai and MacRitchie. Since the Mandai forest is more isolated, Miss Tan and her brother decided to release the snake there.

An AVA spokesman said that it was not illegal to release the snake into the jungle.

Audrey Tan Ruiping, newsroom intern

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Bigger 'save energy' drive goes to Singapore heartland

Roadshows, exhibitions to engage residents and show ways to save costs
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 10 Jul 09;

EFFORTS to reduce Singapore's dependence on energy generated by fossil fuels have been ramped up and aimed at the heartland.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan launched a bigger, better version of the Energy Save Programme yesterday.

The scheme, initially launched in December, involves roadshows and exhibitions to engage residents and raise awareness of energy issues within HDB estates.

'Being more efficient with energy keeps Singapore competitive and less dependent on the import of fuel for power generation,' said Mr Mah at the launch of the first roadshow in Tampines. 'At a personal level, residents can reduce their energy bills and save money.'

The programme, a joint effort between the HDB, the National Environment Agency and the Energy Market Authority, aims to reduce energy consumption by 30 per cent or more in common areas in HDB estates within five years.

It also hopes to help households reduce their energy usage by 10 per cent.

There is huge potential for reducing energy consumption in the heartland, given that more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in HDB estates, racking up an annual power bill of about $1.2 billion.

The scaled-up programme will feature six roadshows and 25 outreach exhibitions a year over the next five years.

Residents can view a mock-up flat at the roadshow called My Energy Save Home, which will feature exhibits to educate residents on reducing energy usage. For example, changing from a one-tick rated refrigerator to a four-tick rated model can deliver annual savings of up to $110.

The tick ratings indicate energy efficiency. Four ticks means an appliance is more energy efficient than one with three ticks.

The programme could reap an estimated annual cost savings amount of $30 million for town councils and $90 million for HDB households islandwide, said Mr Mah.

Pilot tests at HDB estates such as Serangoon North and Wellington Circle last year showed that energy savings of 30 per cent in common areas can be made by using solar panels and energy-efficient light bulbs.

As part of the programme, home owners can exchange conventional light bulbs, even used ones, for new energy-saving light bulbs at the roadshow.

Retailers will also offer energy-efficient appliances at special discounts.

Mr Mah said: 'We are talking about many significant savings using today's technology, using what is already available at the market, using solutions that have already been proven.

'These are the so-called low-hanging fruits of our energy saving effort.'

Additional reporting by Kate Lim

New roadshow launched to teach residents to be more energy efficient
Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia 10 Jul 09;

SINGAPORE: A new roadshow was launched on Thursday to encourage public housing residents to be more energy efficient.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan was guest of honour at the event in his Tampines constituency.

The programme is in support of the National Environment Agency's 10% Energy Challenge campaign which aims to reduce energy consumption in housing estates by at least 10 per cent and common areas by 30 per cent.

A new guide book to educate residents on energy saving tips was also launched. - CNA/de

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Busting 6 myths about water governance

Seetharam Kallidaikurichi & Eduardo Araral, Straits Times 10 Jul 09;

A RECENT conference held at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy mulled over how the performance of the water sector might be boosted.

On the theme that water governance matters, six myths were delved into and lessons learnt.

First, water governance is not about forming another consumer association or enacting one more law. Instead, it is all about leadership that can bring change in the behaviour of people responsible for managing and operating water resources.

Second, private sector involvement is not a panacea for urban water problems. One must adopt 'best sourcing' principles and be able to manage the critical components of one's water infrastructure. Singapore's Public Utilities Board has done this remarkably well.

Third, waste water reclamation is not an option only for a few water-stressed cities in the Middle East or Singapore. It has to become an integral part of a comprehensive sanitation and river management programme to improve the overall efficiency of water use.

Fourth, in regard to drinking water, the issue is not about the price of bottled water. People will dig deep into their pockets to pay the high prices that bottlers charge for the first few litres of water needed to stay healthy.

Many woes are in fact deeply rooted in the inefficient water management practices in the irrigation sector, which consumes over 80per cent of water resources in countries like China and India.

In the management of river basins, a new model is evolving with management functions dependent on the capacity of river basin organisations. The old model had a single centre of governance.

By contrast, the new model has multiple and overlapping centres and layers of independent authority. Good examples can be found in the Yellow River and Songhua River basins in China, Brantas River basin in Indonesia, and the Murray Darling basin in Australia.

Fifth, there is a fundamental difference between the governance of delivering water as a service and managing water as a resource.

For water services, the need is to develop a sound provider-user-regulator model in contrast to the old thinking of water service as either public or private.

Experience shows that public water utilities can deliver superior performance as shown by the examples of Singapore, Phnom Penh, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Finally, climate change adaptation for water governance is not about putting more dollars into building bigger bunds or dams to protect citizens from water-related disasters.

Instead, it is about living with water by adopting smarter, long-term land use plans that allow people to relocate to less hazardous areas within and across national borders.

The writers are on the faculty at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

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Australian town bans bottled water sales

Kristen Gelineau, Associated Press 10 Jul 09;

SYDNEY (AP) — Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country — and possibly the world — to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry.

Residents of Bundanoon cheered after their near-unanimous approval of the measure at a town meeting Wednesday. It was the second blow to Australia's beverage industry in one day: Hours earlier, the New South Wales state premier banned all state departments and agencies from buying bottled water, calling it a waste of money and natural resources.

"I have never seen 350 Australians in the same room all agreeing to something," said Jon Dee, who helped spearhead the "Bundy on Tap" campaign in Bundanoon, a town of 2,500 about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Sydney. "It's time for people to realize they're being conned by the bottled water industry."

First popularized in the 1980s as a convenient, healthy alternative to sugary drinks, bottled water today is often criticized as an environmental menace, with bottles cluttering landfills and requiring large amounts of energy to produce and transport.

Over the past few years, at least 60 cities in the United States and a handful of others in Canada and the United Kingdom have agreed to stop spending taxpayer dollars on bottled water, which is often consumed during city meetings, said Deborah Lapidus, organizer of Corporate Accountability International's "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign in the U.S.

But the Boston-based nonprofit corporate watchdog has never heard of a community banning the sale of bottled water, she said.

"I think what this town is doing is taking it one step further and recognizing that there's safe drinking water coming out of our taps," she said.

Bundanoon's battle against the bottle has been brewing for years, ever since a Sydney-based beverage company announced plans to build a water extraction plant in the town. Residents were furious over the prospect of an outsider taking their water, trucking it up to Sydney for processing and then selling it back to them. The town is still fighting the company's proposal in court.

Then in March, Huw Kingston, who owns the town's combination cafe and bike shop, had a thought: If the town was so against hosting a water bottling company, why not ban the end product?

To prevent lost profit in the 10-or-so town businesses that sell bottled water, Kingston suggested they instead sell reusable bottles for about the same price. Residents will be able to fill the bottles for free at public water fountains, or pay a small fee to fill them with filtered water kept in the stores.

The measure will not impose penalties on those who don't comply when it goes into effect in September. Still, all the business owners voluntarily agreed to follow it, recognizing the financial and environmental drawbacks of bottled water, Kingston said.

On Wednesday, 356 people turned up for a vote — the biggest turnout ever at a town meeting.

Only two people voted no. One said he was worried banning bottled water would encourage people to drink sugary drinks. The other was Geoff Parker, director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute — which represents the bottled water industry.

Australians spent 500 million Australian dollars ($390 million) on bottled water in 2008 — a hefty sum for a country of just under 22 million people.

On Thursday, Parker blasted the ban as unfair, misguided and ineffective.

He said the bottled water industry is a leader in researching ways to minimize bottled beverage impact on the environment. Plus, he said, the ban removes consumer choice.

"To take away someone's right to choose possibly the healthiest option in a shop fridge or a vending machine we think doesn't embrace common sense," he said.

But tap water is just as good as the stuff you find encased in plastic, said campaign organizer Dee, who also serves as director of the Australian environment group Do Something!

"We're hoping it will act as a catalyst to people's memories to remember the days when we did not have bottled water," he said. "What is 'Evian' spelled backwards? 'Naive.'"

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Poll blinds Indonesian government to haze problem in Sumatra

Fardah, Antara 10 Jul 09;

Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - The ongoing presidential election process, from campaigning to ballot counting, has made Indonesian officials too busy to notice the current haze problem caused by forest and plantation fires in Sumatra.

Haze has forced the closure of airports in Pekanbaru and Dumai, Riau Province, several times over the past two months. But it seems the haze problem remains unnoticed particularly by central government officials who hardly make any comment on it.

Indonesia held its second direct presidential election on July 8, 2009. On the voting day, haze covered Pekanbaru, but it did not prevent local inhabitants for going to polling stations to cast their votes.

The latest airport closure occurred on Thursday (July 9, 2009) at Pinang Kampi airport in Dumai City as haze reduced visibility to less than 300 meters.

"This morning, a Pelita Air plane was supposed to land at 7.30 Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) but the plane could not land because of haze," Edi Kusniadi, head of Pinang Kampai airport said in Dumai on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the condition of Dumai City facing the Malacca Strait`s international marine traffic, was fully covered by haze reducing visibility to less than 50 meters.

"We can`t see vehicles coming from the other direction, we even can`t see the oil pipes located on the roadside," Kusnadi, a local resident, said.

On May 19, 2009, Dumai`s aiport was also closed due to haze. A Pelita Air plane failed to land and a plane chartered by PT Chevron on the Jakarta-Pekanbaru-Dumai route had postponed its departure as visibility at the airport was only 100 meters at the time.

On June 22, Sultan Syarif Kasim (SSK) II Airport in Pekanbaru was closed for 90 minutes because of haze coming from plantation and forest fires.

"We have to close the airport for 90 minutes because visibility has dropped to only 500 meters," Taslim, traffic supervisor at the Pekanbaru SSK II airport, said at the time.
The minimum visibility required for flight safety is 1,000 meters, and if is below the figure, the airport has to be closed, according to Taslim.

The closure of Pekanbaru`s SSK II airport forced the delay of three flights of three different airline companies - Lion Air, Air Asia and Mandala Air.

On May 26, 2009, a number of elementary schools were closed due to haze covering Rokan Hilir, Riau Province.

The haze induced by forest and plantation fires, could affect the health of school children, therefore the Rokan Hilir education office decided to temporary stop school activities, Suma Al Falah, head of the Rokan Hilir Environmental Affairs office, said.

The local environmental affairs office mobilized a number of its personnel to extinguish the forest and plantation fires, despite the geographical difficulties, he said.

Some 159 hot spots of forest and plantation fires were detected in Riau Province at the time. Based on the latest monitoring by NOAA 18 Satellite, the hot spots were detected in 11 of the proovince`s 12 districts.

Most forest fires causing haze were actually triggered by plantation companies, applying the cheapest method to open new plantation areas, particularly for oilpalm.

On July 4, according to data obtained through NOAA 18 satellite monitoring, there were 80 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires in 10 regions in Riau.

The hot spots spread in Rokan Hilir district (55 hot spots), Pelelawan district (24), Rokan Hulu (17), Kuantan Singingi and Indragiri Hulu districts (respectively 13), Bengkalis district (11), Kampar (10), Siak (seven), Indragiri Hilir district (six), Pekanbaru (one), and Dumai City (two).

On July 5, the NOAA 18 satellite detected 161 hot spots in Riau, making the province the largest contributor of forest and plantation fires on Sumatra Island which had a total of 277 hot spots.

Meanwhile, the Tabing Padang meteorological, climatology, and geophysics office (BMKG) recorded a total of 70 hot spots in West Sumatra. In the province, the hot spots were detected in Dharmasraya District, South Solok District, Pasaman District, South Pesisir District, Agam District and Limapuluh Kota District, he said.

"The monitoring of BMKG indicates that there was an increase in the number of hot spots in West Sumatra due to the dry air," Amarizal, head of the Tebing Padang BMKG`s observation and information section, said recently.

He explained the hot spots were triggered by dry air which prevailed over the past two weeks. At least 350 hot spots were detected on Sumatra Island, including in West Sumatra, he said.

Impact on health

Aprt from the economic impact through the closures of local airports, the haze has also affected the health of local people. Haze that continues to cover the city of Pekanbaru, capital of Riau province, over the past one month has caused the quality of the air in the region to deteriorate, an official said.

"Starting from July 5 at about 03.00 pm western Indonesia standard time (WIB) till Monday (July 6), the city`s air pollutant standard index (ISPU) showed 126 PM (particular matter), meaning the air is not good for people`s health," Syahrial, head of the Regional Environmental Impact Control Agency`s Laboratory said recently.

Syahrial said, the ISPU showed the figure 59 on July 4, its range rose to 70, while on July 5 and 6, the grade rose to 126.

The ISPU for a healthy condition was 1-50 with the IPSU display turning green.
MQ Rudi, a local resident, said he started to suffer from throat irritation and a respiratory problem. "Haze lingers on every day, and it gets worse in the evening and morning, when the haze produces a strong smell" he said.

"It smells like smoke and causes eye irritation," Yuki (30), a another local , said.

The number of respiratory infection (ISPA) patients increased in Pekanbaru in May-June 2009 due to haze from forest and plantation fires.

The Jalam Delima community health center (Puskesmas) at Panam, Tampan sub district, for instance, received a total of 300 respiratory infection patients in May, and the number increased to about 500 in June.

Rini Hermiati, head of the Pekanbaru health service, said the number of ISPA patients also surged by 25 percent in July compared to the previous month.

The number of children suffering form cough and mild flu also increased in Pekanbaru, she said. She urged parents to prevent their children from playing outdoor while haze was covering the city.

"Besides, we also call on Pekanbaru`s inhabitants to wear face masks if they go out," she said.

Up to now, there is no concrete action by the Riau provincial and district administrations to address the haze problem.

Mayor of Pekanbaru Herman Abdullah recently urged the neighboring districts to extinguish the fires which have exported haze to Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau Province.

"There is no hotspot in Pekanbaru, yet this city is covered by haze," he complained, adding that forest and plantation fires must be stopped.

Perhaps, if the haze were exported further away, namely to neighboring countries, it would have received different attention, like what happened in 2006, when haze from Sumatra`s and Kalimantan`s bush fires, covered Malaysia, Singapore and partly Thailand.

The haze problem prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to apologize to the governments and peoples of the neighboring countries which had been affected by the haze.

"It is appropriate for me to apologize for the problem although the brushfires are obviously not the result of deliberate action by Indonesia," the President said at a press conference in October 2006.

Over two years ago, Malaysia and Singapore had expressed disappointment over the impact of haze that came from brushfires in Indonesia that had affected not only public health but also the economic sector in that country.

However, the people of Riau now have to endure the haze by themselves, as the country`s high-ranking officials are too busy with electoral ballot counting, and the wind is too lazy to blow the haze to neighboring countries. Surprisingly, some environmentalists seem to be silent too.

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Devastation of mangrove swamps in Selangor, Malaysia

Geetha Krishnan, The Star 9 Jul 09;

ADVOCATING one thing and doing another best describes the situation in Sungai Sepang Kecil where mangrove trees lining the river have been sacrificed by a certain authority for a river-deepening and widening project.

The culprit in question is the Sepang Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID).

The extent of devastation witnessed has raised eyebrows as to why the work was carried out without weighing the consequences.

According to experts, the damage done is irreversible. They are lamenting the fact that the DID proceeded with the project without an impact study, crucial research and consulting the experts.

Riverine mangroves are a much-touted asset for Sepang but what is now seen at the river joining the Bagan Lalang coast could negate the Selangor government’s efforts to boost the eco-tourism potential here.

Four years ago, the Bagan Lalang-Tanjung Sepat coastline was identified as an environmentally-sensitive area.

Could the Sepang DID have gravely erred in its decision to deepen and widen the river to prevent floods? Because, residents say such incidents still occur.

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) environmental education department head I.S.Shanmugaraj told the StarMetro the project was carried out last year without taking into account the serious repercussions.

Mangroves are formed by plants and trees that grow in salty or saline water in an inter-tidal or coastal zone.

They offer breeding grounds for seafood, control floods, protect against erosion and supply forest products like charcoal and construction material.

“When the mangrove was cleared, a thriving habitat for a small colony of fireflies was destroyed. Roosting and breeding places for migratory birds were disturbed,” said Shanmugaraj.

“But it doesn’t end there. The bunds prevent tidal waves from bringing in much needed seawater for nourishing the remaining mangrove trees and eventually the area is transformed into a wasteland.

“Meanwhile, peat soil from the mangrove is washed to the beach along with debris comprising decaying plants and trees, causing the water to turn murky. We have taken some aerial shots and the water which used to be brown is now black,” he added.

The domino effect extends to the small permanent forest reserve nearby, formerly lush with mangrove species like “bakau minyak”, “berembang”, “api api” and “nipah”.

“A deeper river allows water to flow faster, transporting debris and sand downstream and gradually narrowing the river mouth. The river becomes shallow for big fishing boats and fishermen have highlighted the situation to us,” said Shanmugaraj.

Sungai Sepang Besar, located near another forest reserve, has its own problems.

Through its own investigations, the MNS has discovered that the sandbank built near the Jimah coal power plant in Negri Sembilan is slowly encroaching into Selangor.

“Due to this, mangrove trees as old as 30 to 40 years have been uprooted. The Jimah jetty extending to the sea has created a bay so waves thrash against the trees with greater force,” said Shanmugaraj.

Warmer waters resulting from plant operations are already upsetting the eco-system, promoting algae growth and diminishing the fish and other seafood population. Water quality has been affected as well. Another point made by Shanmugaraj was that mangrove trees absorb metals and with a coal plant nearby, the trees played a crucial role. Alas now, the metals will be absorbed by seafood like cockles and eventually, consumed by the public.

He urged the state government to get Jimah operators to produce an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the impact of the power plant in Selangor. Only the EIA for Negri Sembilan was done. Selangor deputy environment chairman Edward Lee said the mangrove swamps in the area had to be protected.

“I will bring up the matter to state tourism, consumer affairs and environment chairman Elizabeth Wong. We will initiate discussions with MNS and the Sepang DID to tackle this problem,” he said at a recent press conference in Sepang.

“We have taken steps to protect the fragile eco-system here and it is costly. If the efforts are not working, the state wants to know why,” he added.

However, Lee declined to comment on whether action will be taken on the DID.

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Experts suggest tiger breeding to quash poaching

Hui Min Neo Yahoo News 10 Jul 09;

GENEVA (AFP) – Dismayed by dwindling numbers, some experts say tiger farming can stem the burgeoning illegal trade in the endangered cat's pelts, bones and body parts but others argue that this will only fuel demand.

"Domestic trade in tiger parts and derivatives has been banned across the world since the late 1990s," said Juan Vasquez, a spokesman for CITES or the UN body that regulates trade in endangered species, adding that illicit trade was still flourishing.

"Since tigers can be bred very easily in captivity, the argument is made that they should be 'farmed' to supply a relatively inelastic demand," he added on the sidelines of a CITES meeting.

There were once over 100,000 tigers throughout Asia, but only 400 are thought to be left, according to CITES.

Not only are tigers threatened by the loss of natural habitat amid rapid urbanisation in Asia, they are also hunted for fur and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Hank Jenkins, a former chair of a CITES committee, told AFP: "You can't address demand by prohibition," stressing that the breeding of crocodiles, once highly endangered, had set a valuable precedent.

"Since then the situation has reversed. There are now more crocodile species on Appendix II than Appendix I," said Jenkins, referring to the categories in the UN Convention on Endangered Species.

CITES Appendix I lists the most endangered species and prohibits their international trade.

Appendix II lists threatened species but allows for limited and licenced global trading.

Jenkins said the legal farming of tigers could also benefit people living alongside the big cats in countries such as Indonesia or India.

"For some people who live in these parts of the world, poachers act like pest control. Any conservation strategy would have to address habitat, prey, human-tiger conflict and demand," he said.

He acknowledged however there was strong opposition to tiger farming.

Major conservation groups such as the WWF are among the opponents who argue this would fuel demand and poaching.

"If you breed tigers, you will stimulate the market," said Susan Liebermann, director of the WWF's species programme.

For those who use tiger parts in traditional medicines, wild tigers are viewed as more potent than those bred in captivity and therefore this would not make a significant dent in poaching, she said.

"It's very expensive to breed tigers in captivity, it's easier to shoot one in the wild," said Liebermann.

The World Bank too urged caution.

"We cannot know for sure if tiger farming will work. And if it does not work the downside risks are just too high -- irreversible harm," said Keshav Varma, who heads the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative.

"Having carefully weighed the economic arguments we urge the CITES community to uphold the ban on wild tiger products and for all countries to continue to ban the domestic trade of wild tigers," he said.

World Bank debunks tiger farming benefits
WWF 9 Jul 09;

Geneva, Switzerland – Experimenting with tiger farming is too risky and could drive wild tigers further toward extinction, the World Bank told a key international wildlife trade meeting today.

WWF endorsed the World Bank’s call for countries to ban tiger farming because of the uncertainty that it will have for the long-term conservation of wild tigers.

“Extinction is irreversible, so prudence and precaution suggest that the risks of legalized farming are too great a gamble for the world to take,” World Bank Director Keshav Varma told the member countries of the 58th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Standing Committee. “We cannot know for sure if tiger farming will work.”

Need to stop all trade in tiger parts now

“Stopping all trade in tiger parts, and phasing out these tiger farms, is of the utmost urgency if the tiger is to survive in the wild”, said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme of WWF International, “It is time for the world community to join together, with tiger range state governments, to stop all poaching of tigers for illegal trade, and WWF welcomes the engagement of the World Bank in these efforts”.

Because of the unpredictability of the market environment and the small number of remaining tigers in the wild, there is “no room for experimentation,” Varma, who leads the World Bank’s Global Tiger Initiative, said after the meeting.

“Commercial trading in tiger parts and its derivatives is not in the interest of wild tiger conservation.”

Tiger trade is prohibited internationally and banned domestically in all of its range countries, including China - historically the largest market for tiger products.

However, owners of privately run tiger farms and a contingent of wealthy business men across China have been pressuring the Chinese government to allow legal trade in tiger parts within China and lift its domestic tiger trade ban, implemented in 1993.

“Having carefully weighed the economic arguments we urge the CITES community to uphold the ban on wild tiger products and for all countries to continue to ban the domestic trade of wild tigers,” the World Bank statement said.

“We also call upon the international community at large to join efforts in providing the necessary technical and other support to the respective countries in phasing out tiger farming. This is the only safe way to ensure that wild tigers may have a future tomorrow."

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