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Mayors and leaders from 64 cities commit to policies including providing affordable homes and building accessible transport networks.
Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 11 Jun 15;
NEW YORK: Mayors and leaders from 64 cities have pledged to promote equitable, liveable and sustainable urban environments.
They issued a declaration at the end of the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum on Wednesday (Jun 10), held this year in New York. It is the first time they have done so in the history of the event, which is now into its sixth edition.
The policies that mayors and city leaders have committed to under the declaration included providing affordable homes and building accessible transport networks.
“Things like looking at planning for the long term, having integrity in governance, providing affordable housing, making sure transport is good, these are all things that we have done, and we see this declaration, in a way, as an affirmation of what we’ve been doing in Singapore, and the fact that it’s being endorsed by these other mayors does show this is the way to go for cities around the world,” said Mr Desmond Lee, Singapore’s Minister of State for National Development.
The declaration will also be submitted to the United Nations (UN). It will help shape the UN’s agenda for its conference on sustainable urban development, to be held next year.
Summing up the takeaways from the three-day forum, Mr Lee pointed out some issues that need to be addressed. These include rapid demographic changes, such as an ageing population, and ensuring inclusive growth.
To address the challenges that cities face, Mr Lee said it is important to think out of the box and make use of advancements in technology. For instance, there could be more partnerships between governments and schools, and more crowd-sourcing initiatives for ground-up solutions.
He cited a case study from the mayor of Bandung. “The mayor of Bandung also shared about his command centre idea. He is very hot about technology and smart cities and really using technology to improve the lives of his people, just as we are looking at technology to improve the lives of Singaporeans,” said Mr Lee.
“He set up a command centre that feeds in data from utility companies, from people who monitor the flood levels, and with that kind of central knowledge and data planning, they’re able to react more quickly to difficulties that occur in any part of his city, and that is something for us - a good takeaway, using data, using technology to improve the lives of our people through faster response in government.”
Mr Lee also encouraged citizens to play a part as their cities evolve, to drive positive change and a greater sense of ownership.
- CNA/xq
New ideas and new ways to run cities
Jeremy Au Yong The Straits Times 13 Jun 15;
In the city of Ahmedabad in India, city officials have been able to tackle some of their transportation issues with a well-run bus rapid transit system, using GPS-enabled buses and dedicated lanes in the middle of the road to replicate the functions of an MRT.
In Kiev, Ukraine, the government is trying to put in place a Wi-Fi network to give Internet access to commuters across all 67.5km of its subway.
Meanwhile in Bandung, Indonesia, officials say a new command centre that includes monitoring social media for municipal problems has sped up their response times.
Innovative solutions to urban planning and municipal problems were a highlight of the World Cities Cities Summit Mayors Forum in New York that wrapped up on Wednesday. The theme of the forum was "Innovative Cities of Opportunity" and there was a clear emphasis on being able to think out of the box to try and find solutions.
But while he lauded the many ground-breaking efforts, Singapore Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee - who chaired the forum - also reminded mayors that innovative thinking did not stop at just trying to harness technology.
Speaking at the close of the summit, he said: "I am heartened to hear that there are more partnerships between city governments and academic institutions to look for new ideas, in tandem with more crowdsourcing of ground-up solutions.
"But in the hot pursuit for new ideas and suggestions, there is also value in pausing and reflecting on how existing systems can be improved or better made use of."
He told reporters later about a discussion mayors had about solving transportation issues where the need to take a step back from the problem came into focus.
During a discussion on increasing the capacity of mass rapid transit, providing cycling paths and improving walkability, the mayor of Medellin, Colombia, asked whether they should also try and make people travel less.
"He just sat there and said, can we look at it from the other angle instead? Let's think about travelling less. For instance, can people telecommute - you work from home instead of travelling to work? Can you change the peak period by shifting the working hours of companies and businesses so you attenuate the peak period crush?
"These are things that Singapore has been looking at as well so that is an affirmation of our approach to look at various angles," he said.
He added that interactions like that were part of the value of the summit to Singapore.
"In as much as Singapore profiles ourselves by sharing our experience with these cities, we are also taking the opportunity to learn from other cities because we must never stop learning from the good points and bad points from other cities."
The summit, which is jointly organised by Singapore's Centre for Livable Cities and Urban Redevelopment Authority, is being held outside Singapore for only the second time.
The New York meeting concluded with a first for the forum, as all the mayors endorsed a declaration outlining principles for building better cities. These include increasing communication between governments and the private sector as well as focusing on long-term plans.
Though the document does not set any binding targets for the leaders, Mr Lee said he hopes it will help guide the conversation on the issue at the United Nations.
He said: "The declaration will be submitted to the United Nations as part of the UN discussion on sustainable development for cities next year and we hope that Singapore can play a role, through this forum, to help shape the international agenda and discussion on sustainable cities."
Otniel Tamindael Antara 11 Jun 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Government of Indonesia, in cooperation with various businesses, is committed to shifting development planning to a greener model in order to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The country is now welcoming the opportunity to shift to infrastructure projects that are cleaner, more sustainable, and inclusive.
"Locking in green infrastructure today can bring benefits for many decades to come. In this endeavor, the developing countries can take the lead in leapfrogging from brown to green growth," Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated during his opening address at the Indonesia Green Infrastructure Summit 2015 held at Fairmont Hotel here on Tuesday.
Hosted by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and supported by the World Bank Group, the summit also seeks to strengthen partnership between the government and the private sector in implementing green initiatives.
The event also showcases Indonesias efforts to implement a range of green development initiatives across all core growth sectors as part of the medium term development plan from now until 2019.
Kalla noted that Indonesia has enjoyed significant growth, with its GDP doubling in the last decade and poverty reducing to half, down to 11.3 percent in 2014.
However, he added that not all are benefiting from these achievements, and they come at a high price of environmental degradation.
The vice president pointed out that China has shown double-digit growth for decades but has lost a staggering 9 percent of its expected GDP to "brown growth."
In response, he affirmed that China is adopting green policies and shifting its economic activities to innovation and higher value-added production and is currently seeking to be an early mover in the race to implement green production processes.
"Maintaining the growth can reverse the gains to economic growth, as it quickly depletes the natural resources, which leads to greater vulnerability to climate change or associated with health risks," Kalla pointed out.
He stated that environmental degradation affects everyone and hits the poor the hardest, as they are more vulnerable to violent weather and floods, and their livelihood are more fragile.
Further, he stated that the poverty rate in Indonesia is the highest among the families living in environmentally degraded areas.
"So, if there is one major lesson that development experts, policy makers, and institutions - such as the World Bank - have learnt over the last decades is that: If we want to succeed in ending poverty, we cannot rely on growth alone unless it is inclusive and environmentally sustainable," he affirmed.
On the occasion, Kalla also highlighted three areas that are critical to ensuring that future growth is both green and inclusive.
According to Kalla, the first area is that the energy produced by Indonesia must be clean and used efficiently; second, the natural resources must be managed in a responsible manner; and the third is that the country needs good policies, good governance, and leadership that is not afraid to tackle the status quo.
"There are many who fear that green growth is too expensive, could slow output, or should concern only high-income countries, but this fear is short-sighted," Kalla said, adding that sustainable growth is neither unaffordable nor is it technically out of reach.
In the meantime, World Bank Group Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati explained that development with a short-term outlook will be counterproductive and will impact Indonesias growth potential.
"If we want to succeed in ending poverty, we cannot alone rely on growth unless it is inclusive and environmentally sustainable. In simple terms, success will depend on how a country will grow and not just by how much," Mulyani emphasized.
She noted that without changes in near-term priorities, Indonesia risks treading on a path of unsustainable growth and will be constrained by limited opportunities and could face economic stagnation.
According to Mulyani, Indonesia will certainly face challenges to walk on the path of green growth, including the need for huge financing and implementing the right policies.
There is also a pressing need for good governance, which is among the biggest challenges faced by several developing countries.
However, as proven by countries such as South Korea, which has successfully transitioned to a greener economy, the opportunities to succeed still exist.
"This can be an opportunity for green and inclusive growth by addressing the energy needs in sustainable ways, by handling resources responsibly, and by putting governance mechanisms in place that will benefit all Indonesians, including the future generations," Mulyani remarked.
In addition, Kadin Chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto noted that Kadin is committed to working with the government to achieve "green" and sustainable development goals.
"We in the private sector fully support the development goals for green infrastructure," Suryo pointed out.
He remarked that the challenge to meet the governments infrastructure goals is enormous and will require full partnership and investments from the private sector, domestic and international, as well as the participation of multilateral organizations.
The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board estimates that the potential for "green" infrastructure for foreign and domestic investors will increase by about 20 percent until the year 2019.
Hence, incentives for "green" development are essential to ensure that the anticipated investment growth will take place.
Policymakers from President Joko Widodos government took part in the conference alongside key industry players from Indonesia and overseas.
The topics discussed included: spatial planning and land use, efforts for 35 thousand megawatts of sustainable power generation, promotion of a "blue" economy and support for Indonesia as a global maritime powerhouse, sustainable infrastructure financing, green public transport options, and the role of state-owned enterprises in implementing green development plans.
According to Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel, the governments infrastructure program will require more than Rp5 trillion, or Rp1.1 trillion a year.
"The partnership between the government and the private sector will encourage foreign investors to invest in Indonesia," he pointed out.
The annual national meeting for Kadins Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development division also took place on the sidelines of the summit, where provincial chapters contributed their views on programs related to infrastructure and environment in the provinces.
(T.O001/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Letitia Stein PlanetArk 10 Jun 15;
When Tampa Bay was grappling with repeated fish kills and murky waters two decades ago, the scientists who set out to restore its health by bringing back once-bountiful underwater grasses were doubtful it could be done in their lifetimes.
Yet that mission has now been accomplished. New data show Tampa Bay's seagrasses at levels not seen since the 1950s, before urban development exploded along Florida's west coast and nitrogen pollution of its waters soared.
The rejuvenation of Tampa Bay is hailed as a model for the bays and sounds in other U.S. communities seeking to restore critical coastal habitat under the Clean Water Act, from the Chesapeake Bay in the mid-Atlantic region to San Francisco Bay.
These estuaries, where freshwater from rivers mixes with the salty sea, provide a home or nursery for a wide swath of marine life, including most commercially sold fish.
Experts say the sweeping recovery in Tampa Bay is made more impressive because it appears so far unmatched.
"It shows that you can actually do it," said Rich Batiuk, associate director for science with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program. "Kudos to them for really seeing it through and providing a great shining example."
The clean-up of Florida's largest open-water estuary has been less politically fraught than in the Chesapeake watershed, which has a dense coastal population that spans a half dozen states as well as a deep-rooted farming industry.
Tampa Bay Watch, a nonprofit focused on conservation, highlights the time and money dedicated here to returning the sparkle to the bay's 400 square miles (1,036 square kilometers).
On a recent outing in Tampa Bay, where dolphins playfully leaped, a team of the group's researchers inspected several seagrass beds that were replanted to repair damage by boats.
The water was so clear, small fish could be seen swimming through blades of seagrass.
"Pretty sweet," shouted environmental scientist Eric Plage from the water, where he was measuring the seagrasses. "There's a lot of everything."
CLEAR WATER, BETTER FISHING
A putrid dumping ground by the 1970s, conditions in Tampa Bay inspired residents to petition for a clean up. They asked for clearer water, better fishing and to swim without algae.
Seagrass was seen as the answer. It requires sunlight streaming through the water to grow and thus is an indicator of clarity. Underwater grasses provide a nursery for game fish and creates habitat that anchors their food chain.
"The seagrass has been such a primary focus because it brings in so many aspects," said Holly Greening, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, federally created in 1990 to coordinate the restoration, then in its early phases.
The group set a goal of restoring 38,000 acres of seagrass (15,400 hectares), the quantity observed in aerial photos of Tampa Bay from the 1950s, about half of which had died. That required tackling the nitrogen pollutants chiefly responsible for clouding Tampa Bay's waters to allow the grasses to naturally rebound. Some small areas of seagrass were also replanted.
Ultimately, local governments, utility companies and other industries using the bay invested $500 million in projects that reduced nitrogen pollution, from upgrading sewage treatment plants to generating cleaner electricity.
"Until you really have everybody participating and pulling in the same direction, it's hard to achieve a lot of the accomplishments like they have in Tampa Bay," said Jeff Benoit, president and chief executive of Restore America's Estuaries, an alliance of conservation groups.
In Chesapeake Bay by contrast, pollution caps have been challenged in court by the U.S. farm lobby, and as the legal battle drags on it is not clear if the region will meet the pollution reduction targets set for a 2017 deadline, local experts said.
"If we can't restore the Chesapeake Bay, it doesn't bode well for this country's ability to achieve clean water in the Great Lakes, in the Gulf of Mexico, in San Francisco Bay," said William C. Baker, president of the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
"We may have to admit that Tampa Bay is the only one that did it," he added.
At the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Greening is not yet ready to stand down. She noted the region's population has swelled by more than 1 million people during years in which the grasses were rebounding, and more development is coming.
"It will be a significant challenge moving ahead just to maintain where we are right now," she said.
(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Richard Chang)
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 11 Jun 15;
Worldwide study finds high concern about fixing climate change Photo: Jitendra Prakash
A boy catches fish in a dried-up pond near the banks of the Ganges river Allahabad, India, June 4, 2015.
Photo: Jitendra Prakash
Almost 80 percent of people worldwide are perturbed about global warming and most want tough action to fix the problem, according to a new study that the United Nations touted as a spur to an international climate deal later this year.
The report, based on consultations with 10,000 people in 75 nations from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, also showed that 66 percent viewed measures to tackle warming, such as more wind or solar energy, as a chance to improve their quality of life.
Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said the findings were "important proof" of public support in both rich and poor nations for a U.N. deal to limit climate change due to be agreed in Paris in December.
"Action now is necessary," she told a news conference on Wednesday at talks among almost 200 nations in Bonn, Germany, that began on June 1 and will run until Thursday to lay groundwork for a Paris agreement to limit global warming.
She said public opinion was often overlooked by government negotiators immersed in technical details. "It brings some light into what is otherwise a very dark box," Figueres said.
Organisers from the World Wide Views Alliance, partly funded by the French government, said the study amounted to the largest public consultation ever on climate change. It was conducted on June 6, starting in Fiji and ending in the United States.
The results showed 79 percent of people were "very concerned" by climate change, 19 percent were "moderately concerned" and two percent were unconcerned or had no opinion.
More than 90 percent wanted the upcoming Paris meeting to set some form of legally binding goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2100 to help avert natural disruptions such as more downpours, heat waves and rising sea levels.
On Monday, leaders of the world's major industrial democracies resolved to wean their energy-hungry economies off carbon fuels and set a goal of global decarbonisation by 2100.
Wednesday's report was based on meetings of 100 people, chosen as a cross-section of society in each nation with checks to ensure that that they did not include, for instance, unrepresentative numbers of climate activists or deniers.
Citizens answered questions after discussing global warming in the consultations run by the World Wide Views Alliance.
"It is not a campaign, it is not about telling people what to think," said Bjorn Bedsted, the group's global coordinator.
The U.N. panel of climate scientists says it is at least 95 percent probable that most global warming since 1950 is caused by human activities, led by burning fossil fuels.
(Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Helen Briggs BBC 11 Jun 15;
International talks in Bonn have made progress towards a new global deal on climate change, says the UN, amid calls from NGOs for a faster pace.
Countries are working towards options to limit greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 in time for a crunch Paris summit.
The UN said progress had been made towards streamlining the text of a new agreement at talks in Bonn.
Environmental groups said ''difficult issues'' such as finance and emissions cuts had yet to be addressed.
The 11-day meeting is designed to pave the way towards a new global deal on climate change to be signed in Paris at the end of the year.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said ''step-by-step progress'' had been made towards countries' understanding of the text of the agreement and how to move forward.
Laurence Tubiana, special representative for the Paris climate conference, said the talks had been useful and had gained the trust of parties.
''I'm feeling optimistic after these two weeks,'' she said. ''We should not be frustrated and disappointed.''
Concern
However, The World Resources Institute said progress had been ''slow'' and did not match strong signals for ambitious climate action from outside the negotiations.
And Samantha Smith of WWF said that there was growing concern over ''what is needed and what is being promised on finance and emissions''.
''After difficult negotiations, all countries have said that more ambitious, immediate emissions cuts are needed and these commitments must be a clear outcome of the Paris talks,'' she said.
''However, that work needs to speed up too if we are going to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change.''
Delegates will return to Bonn in August and October for more rounds of climate talks, before the summit in Paris at the end of the year.
The key task now is to revise the draft agreement before it reaches heads of state.
Countries are expected to agree to a plan for the co-chairs of the UN climate negotiations to produce a ''clear and concise'' version of the text.
Momentum
Scientists say ambitious action is needed to avert the most severe impacts of climate change.
So far, more than 30 countries have pledged to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, with around 150 smaller countries yet to set goals.
Analysis suggests these do not go far enough to keep global warming below 2C.
Environmental groups point to key developments outside of the negotiations that are adding momentum towards Paris.
They include moves by business, such as Ikea giving $1bn to expand renewable energy and climate adaptations in developing countries.
G7 leaders have also signalled the need for action with a call for greenhouse gas emissions cuts and a move towards a low carbon future.
Bonn meeting ends with last-minute compromise on Paris climate text
Countries agree to let co-chairs of the negotiations to make their own alterations to the draft and present it for approval in July
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 11 Jun 15;
Climate change negotiators meeting in Bonn on Thursday came up with a last-minute compromise that observers hope will put the talks on track for a new global agreement on greenhouse gases.
Slow progress was made until the final hours, as nations wrangled over the wording of an 89-page draft text, intending to cut it down to a more manageable size. After two weeks, the text had been cut by just four pages to 85.
But shortly before the talks were scheduled to finish, countries agreed that the co-chairs of the negotiations should be allowed to make their own alterations to the text, and present it to all countries for approval, probably in late July. This should be a quicker process, though there is no guarantee that countries will not try to re-draw the new draft when it becomes available.
The talks in Bonn were a staging post on the way to a crunch conference in Paris this December, at which countries are supposed to sign a new global agreement on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, to take effect from 2020 when current emissions commitments run out.
Elliot Diringer, executive vice president of the US Centre for Energy and Climate Solutions, told the Guardian: “There was little chance the parties themselves were going to be able to whittle down the text to a manageable size. Thankfully, they’ve entrusted the co-chairs to do that so they can get down to the real give-and-take next time. That’s a healthy sign.”
Samantha Smith, leader of the global climate and energy initiative at WWF, said: “Progress in Bonn has been slow, but a bigger concern is the growing gap between what is needed and what is being promised on finance and emissions. While much work remains to close that gap, there is hope that governments are finally committed to take more action on emissions prior to 2020.
“All countries have said that more ambitious, immediate emissions cuts are needed: however, that work needs to speed up if we are going to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change.”
The Bonn talks are a staging post on the way to a crunch conference in Paris this December, at which governments are hoping to sign a new global pact, to take effect from 2020, when current commitments from developed and large developing countries to limit their emissions are set to expire.
Jennifer Morgan, global director of the climate programme at the World Resources Institute, a US thinktank, pointed to progress made outside the talks, such as the G7’s vow to decarbonise their economies this century, and commitments by developing countries, cities and businesses on emissions.
“This week, strong signals were sent for ambitious climate action from outside the negotiations, but they did not inspire a faster pace in Bonn. Momentum is growing ahead of the Paris climate talks [but] the modest progress made in Bonn did not match the significant action taking place around the world.”
The talks have been mired in discussions ranging from concern over whether rich countries will follow through on their current pledges to provide financial assistance to the poor world, to arcane quibbles over single words in the text.
At one point, the discussion was divided over whether to use the terms “differentiated commitments/contributions”, referring to targets on cutting emissions, or the term “commitments/contributions/action”. The former was preferred by China, the latter by the US.
The distinction may seem trivial, but it points to some of the entrenched attitudes that have dogged the talks over more than two decades.
“Differentiated” comes from a term used in the original UN treaties, as “common but differentiated responsibilities” was used as the way of encoding the fact that all countries, developed and developing, have an interest in alleviating climate change, but that their responsibilities varied based on historical emissions and economic development.
China is adamant that the phrase, known as CBDR in the UN jargon, is core to any existing or potential new agreement, but the US – though it accepts the principle – is wary of the phrase because it believes it has been used in the past to draw a clear dividing line between developed and developing countries. These categories are no longer so clear-cut, according to the US, because of the rapid progress of emerging economies. China, for instance, is now the world’s biggest emitter and second biggest economic power.
Moving beyond these entrenchments was always going to be a struggle, and the Bonn talks have proved no exception to the routine of long and difficult meetings, bogged down in detail, that have characterised the long-running negotiations.
However, some delegates found room for optimism in the fact that, unlike previous meetings, this fortnight’s talks have not been fractious. “There has been no drama, no theatrics,” said Diringer. “The atmosphere has not been like that.”
He praised the co-chairs of the talks, who will be key to getting countries together to form an agreement. “The co-chairs have done a very artful job of building trust and that’s paying off. All the issues are still on the table, and there’s enormous work to be done, but there’s a clear plan for moving forward. That’s probably the best we could have hoped for at this stage.”
Mohamed Adow, senior climate change adviser at the charity Christian Aid, said that a meeting of key ministers, pegged for late July in Paris, must clear the ground for an agreement.
“The crunch issues that ministers need to work on are ensuring that the Paris deal is funded, that it protects vulnerable communities and it has a mechanism to increase ambition over time. It is vital that when ministers meet in Paris on July 20-21 that they resolve these sticking points so that when formal talks resume in August countries will have no excuses.”
Nations warn time running short to prepare Paris climate deal
Alister Doyle and Megan Rowling PlanetArk 12 Jun 15;
Several nations expressed growing unease on Thursday that time is running short to resolve disputes about global warming after U.N. talks ended with little progress toward an international deal to combat climate change meant to be agreed in December.
Delegates representing almost 200 countries trimmed a few pages off an 89-page draft text at the June 1-11 preparatory meeting in Bonn, but stopped short of confronting major underlying issues such as whether to set a global goal for phasing out greenhouse gases this century.
Several governments called for a faster pace, noting there were only two preparatory sessions left before a summit in Paris in December meant to agree a global deal.
"We have not seen as much progress as we would like," said Elina Bardram, head of the European Commission delegation. "It is not something we can tinker around with indefinitely."
A senior U.S. official called the meeting productive but said: "We would like the pace to be quicker." Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said: "These are negotiations of great moment to countries. The details matter a lot."
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The United Nations said the talks were on track.
"This is a step-by-step process," Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference, saying there had been progress in streamlining the text and clarifying options for action.
Su Wei, China's chief negotiator, said all countries wanted an "ambitious and balanced outcome in Paris" to limit greenhouse gases.
The U.N. panel of climate scientists says it is at least 95 percent probable that most global warming since 1950 is caused by human activities, led by burning fossil fuels.
The Alliance of Small Island States, representing nations from the Pacific to the Caribbean at risk from rising sea levels, said there had been progress in Bonn but: "We are acutely aware that we still have considerable work."
Negotiators meet again in August and October but delegates say the toughest issues will be left for Paris, including aid for developing nations and how to make the deal legally binding.
Nations asked the co-chairs of the meeting to work on the draft text before the next meeting.
Co-chair Ahmed Djoghlaf accused the media of being too negative. "Saying that the process is going nowhere is not a responsible statement," he said. "The job is huge, we are talking about a revolution."
On Monday, the Group of Seven industrialized nations set a goal of phasing out global fossil fuel emissions by 2100. The U.N. talks are deeply split about whether to follow suit.
Many developing nations favor a tougher deadline of 2050 for shifting to renewable energies while some OPEC producers would prefer to omit any deadlines at all.
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
UN climate talks inch forward, putting off tough decisions
KARL RITTER Associated Press Yahoo News 11 Jun 15;
BONN, Germany (AP) — Two weeks of U.N. climate talks ended Thursday with negotiators trimming a draft global climate pact but leaving core sticking points to be untangled later, before a December summit in Paris where the landmark agreement is to be adopted.
Frustrated by the slow pace of the climate talks, some negotiators and observers called the Bonn meeting a squandered opportunity to capture the momentum of a declaration this week by seven world leaders including President Barack Obama endorsing a long-term goal of decarbonizing the global economy — moving away from a dependence on fossil fuels.
"We must go faster," said European Union delegate Ilze Pruse.
Earlier, officials leading the Bonn talks called for patience, with co-chair Ahmed Djoghlaf telling reporters no one can craft a universal agreement with more than 190 countries overnight.
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together," he said.
He noted that some delegates worked so hard in Bonn they missed Saturday's Champions League soccer final in Berlin.
French climate envoy Laurence Tubiana likened the pain-staking U.N. process to giving birth, saying it's difficult to judge the outcome until everything is done.
"You have to wait until the baby is born to see its face," she said.
The Paris deal, which is supposed to take effect in 2020, would be the first where both rich and poor countries pledge to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say are raising global temperatures, resulting in more intense heat waves, rising sea levels and other climate impacts.
A previous agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only required rich countries to take action.
In Bonn, negotiators reorganized sections as they shortened a 90-page text to 85 pages. The co-chairs were asked to streamline the text further by August.
The draft still contains multiple options on contentious issues, including how to differentiate between the obligations of rich and poor countries to fight climate change and what commitments of financial support to fight climate change poor nations want from the rich.
It remains unclear whether the pact will be legally binding.
Also undecided is whether the first round of emissions targets should cover the 2020-2025 period or 2020-2030. Most targets submitted so far are for the latter, while the United States insists on the former.
"The modest progress made in Bonn did not match the significant action taking place around the world," said Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental group.
Norway, meanwhile, recently announced its $900 billion oil fund would divest from coal — the most polluting fuel — and Pope Francis is expected to release his high-level teaching document on ecology and climate change next week.
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Karl Ritter can be reached on Twitter at twitter.com/karl_ritter
ICCS Youth Day Celebrations: Marine Biodiversity and Sustainability Workshop + Mangrove Cleanup @ Sungei Pandan
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Green Drinks Singapore
Samantha Boh The Straits Times AsiaOne 10 Jun 15;
The chances of a serious earthquake in Singapore remain extremely low, given that its nearest fault line is 300km away in eastern Sumatra, said veteran geologist Kerry Sieh.
He said last Friday's 6.0-magnitudequake in Sabah, though rare, was the result of a shifting 10km fault line about 10km beneath the surface, south of Mount Kinabalu.
"Unlike Sumatra, Nepal, Taiwan and Japan, which straddle fast-moving tectonic plate boundaries, Sabah is not a place well known for destructive quakes," said the head of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University. There have been three quakes of such intensity there in the last century.
Professor Sieh and his team are now poring through seismic recordings from around the world, measurements of ground deformation from orbiting satellites, and analyses of Sabah's mountainous topography to understand what happened and why. They suspect that the fault in question is part of a system of faults that runs nearly 200km across Sabah.
Prof Sieh noted that there has been no record of an earthquake in Singapore to date, although weak tremors are felt occasionally from distant quakes. While there is no such thing as absolute certainty in earthquake prediction, he stressed that unlike Sabah, there is no indication the plate Singapore is on is "mildly cracking".
His team plans to try and pin down what exactly happened in Sabah, and put appropriate safety measures in place.
Earth now in active seismic cycle: Expert
The Earth goes through cycles of these seismic activities, with periods of greater frequency and magnitude, and it is now in an active cycle, says a geologist.
Janice Lim Channel NewsAsia 10 Jun 15;
SINGAPORE: Nature's wrath struck in 2004, when a tsunami hit the coasts of several countries around the Indian Ocean. This marked the beginning of what geologists call an "active cycle", where the Earth experiences greater seismic activity.
Said Professor Kerry Sieh, director at the Earth Observatory of Singapore: "The Earth goes through cycles of seismic energy release, and less release and more release.
"We have definitely been in the active cycle in the last 11 years since 2004. All the magnitude-8.4 earthquakes and bigger, up to 9.2, they all happened in the last 11 years. Several of those have been in Asia."
The previous active cycle was in the 1950s to mid-1960s, which saw several earthquakes with a magnitude of a high 8 and above 9. But for the next 40 years, there were no records of a quake with a magnitude above 8.3, until 2004.
Since then, a string of devastating earthquakes has caused much destruction, like in Sumatra in 2005 and Fukushima, Japan, in 2011.
"We don't know whether we are at the end of the cycle or not," said Professor Sieh. "My hunch is we will continue to see a larger number of large earthquakes. But that's only a hunch because we don't really have a way of telling whether we are at the end of the cycle or not."
In response to the recent Sabah quake, Professor Sieh supported the call by Malaysia's Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to relook safety protocols for climbers on Mount Kinabalu and also offered his team's expertise.
- CNA/hs
Challenges that cities currently face, and will face in the future, can be capitalised to benefit their people, says Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee.
Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 10 Jun 15;
NEW YORK: Trends such as urbanisation and globalisation are shaping the development of urban cities, and leaders need to be flexible to capitalise on these "transformative influences" to benefit their people, said Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee on Wednesday morning (Jun 10).
"Increasingly intertwined, the confluence of these forces has had, and will continue to have, a tremendous impact on societies around the world. As city leaders, we need to be prepared for these transformative influences, and be flexible and adaptive enough to capitalise on these forces to benefit our people,” Mr Lee said at the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum in New York City.
This year's forum aims to explore innovative solutions to urban challenges. Into its sixth edition, the three-day event brings together about 70 mayors and city leaders from around the world.
By 2050, around 70 per cent of the world's population will live in cities. Cities account for 80 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), but they also produce more than half of greenhouse gases.
Deputy Secretary-General for United Nations Jan Eliasson speaking at the forum. (Photo: Ministry of National Development's Facebook page)
Deputy Secretary-General for United Nations Jan Eliasson said: "Urbanisation is one of the strongest defining forces shaping the 21st century. Urbanisation can be a transformative force for the sustainable development goals by making cities and human settlements safe, resilient and sustainable."
"City leaders who best adapt to these demographic, social, economic and cultural shifts will be the ones whose cities are more economically viable, more environmentally sustainable, more socially vibrant and alive," he added.
Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said there have been examples of national governments looking away from problems rather than taking them on directly.
"Sometimes it's more politically convenient to ignore problems or minimise them, than to accept the challenge. But then, in that environment, mayors become even more important. We become the bright shining lights, the actual leaders willing to accept challenges, to talk about them bluntly and honestly with our people, to show people that even amidst the complexities, that there are real and tangible solutions," he said.
Mr de Blasio also spoke about his administration's plans for sustainability and equity as the city develops. For example, he said New York City has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
This is the second time the event is held outside Singapore. This year, New York City was chosen because it won the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2012. Organisers hope that by holding the forum in New York City, participants will have a chance to observe how policies were implemented successfully in the city.
The Singapore delegation did just that, by visiting sites on Monday, including the Brooklyn Navy Yard industrial park.
Rooftop garden at the Brooklyn Navy Yard industrial park in New York City. (Photo: Ministry of National Development's Facebook page)
There, the officials visited a rooftop vegetable farm, which supplies produce to restaurants. Executive director of Centre for Liveable Cities Khoo Teng Chye said this could be adapted in Singapore, with the advantages going beyond food production.
"It's the idea that you bring communities together," he said. "There is a lot of community bonding when you do this urban farming. It looks very simple, but actually, you're applying a lot of knowledge, a lot of technology, to try to successfully cultivate - as they say - high-yield, high-density farming."
The farm also plants microgreens, which are the shoots of salad vegetables, that can be sold to restaurants at higher prices.
- CNA/fs/ek
Mark Your Calendar for Ubin Day and Festival of Biodiversity
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Adult Crimson-rumped Waxbill feeding fledglings
Bird Ecology Study Group
Charles Lim's massive project on Singapore's reclamation was like a race on the high seas
AKSHITA NANDA Straits Times 9 Jun 15;
Buoy oh buoy - the massive maritime-themed installation at the Singapore Pavilion of the Venice Biennale was a challenge from start to finish for creator Charles Lim.
The award-winning film-maker, artist and former national sailor channelled a lifelong fascination with the sea into Sea State, which looks at the impact of reclamation and expansion works in Singapore. Curated by Shabbir Hussain Mustafa and on display in Venice until Nov 22, the work includes maps, charts and video installations grouped around a 5m-tall aluminium buoy encrusted with barnacles.
The idea is to show how the seas around Singapore have changed over the years, with islands absorbed into the mainland via reclamation works.
So Lim, 42, chose as his centrepiece a navigational marker similar to that which once marked an island off the coast of Singapore, Pulau Sajahat. It disappeared from maps in 2002, thanks to reclamation.
Getting the company which created the original buoy to make a replica was relatively easy compared with the task of turning the shiny new buoy into something approximating the barnacle- encrusted original.
"We wanted to submerge it for a year but it's illegal to submerge a buoy," Lim says. Eventually, he found a sponsor willing to let him keep the buoy in offshore waters for four weeks.
Then came the challenges of transporting the buoy while ensuring that the barnacles and sea-life encrustations did not drop off in transit.
When the buoy finally reached Venice's historic military shipyard, the Arsenale, one of two main locations for the ongoing Biennale, it was discovered that it was too big to fit through the 16th-century windows on the 250 sq m first-floor space that Singapore has signed a 20-year lease on.
Luckily, Turkey, which has the space next door, allowed the Singapore contingent to use its staircase and corridor to bring in the buoy.
The story of the buoy gives only a slight indication of the mammoth work that is Sea State, a culmination of more than 10 years of Lim observing, filming and recording Singapore's relationship with water, reclaimed land and history.
Part of the inspiration was the artist's own story: He grew up in the Mata Ikan kampung which no longer exists in Simei, and his paternal grandmother searched the shore for seashells which were then ground to make acidic limewater for painting house walls.
He remembers seeing her scars from the work, while his father, a self-taught sailor who later had his own pest control business, explored the sea on a homemade bamboo raft as a boy.
"Actually, I hated sailing at first," laughs Lim, who represented Singapore in sailing at the 1996 Olympics. "My father bought a boat and raced it on weekends so I began to associate sailing with him."
Lim was educated in boarding school in England, returned to Singapore for national service and then studied in London at the Chelsea College of Art and Design before completing his bachelor's of fine arts from Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.
He began experimenting with film, thanks to his wife, arthouse film director Wee Li Lin, who also acts as his manager and producer.
Various iterations of the Sea State project have been exhibited at Manifesta 7, the 2008 European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Trentino, Italy; the Shanghai Biennale in 2008; and at the 2011 Singapore Biennale.
In the 2008 short film titled "it's not that i forgot, but rather i chose not to mention", a man swims laps across a leaf-choked abandoned swimming pool in Singapore.
Three years later, a surreal excursion through the drains and canals of Singapore, All The Lines Flow Out, received a special mention at the 2011 Venice Film Festival as well two awards in 2012 - best experimental short at the Nashville Film Festival and a Silver Award at the 17th Hong Kong Independent Film and Video Awards.
Lim's working relationship with curator Mustafa began with In Search Of Raffles Light, an archival project and exhibition about the Raffles Lighthouse on Pulau Satumu, one of several islands south of Singapore. It was exhibited at the National University of Singapore Museum in 2013.
Forgotten histories, including the disappearance of Pulau Sajahat as well as the relocation of Singaporeans from the offshore islands, are shown through maps and topographical installations at Sea Stage at the Venice Biennale.
Equally memorable is another surreal journey above and below the seascape of Singapore through two linked video installations.
One titled Capsize shows Lim riding the waves and when his vessel apparently sinks beneath the waves, the eye is drawn to the opposing screen. Here, in the film titled Phase 1, workers carry an Optimist sailboat through the Jurong Rock Caverns, the 130m-deep, 61ha area excavated below Jurong Island and used for chemical storage.
"These are new ways of looking at the sea. You have saltwater raining down but you don't get the feeling of being under the sea," says Lim, who originally planned to have someone else film this part of the project. He had to take it on when the cameraman hired refused to go in.
"This is how I think we as Singaporeans feel sometimes, very unstable on reclaimed land.
Jacqueline Woo The Straits Times AsiaOne 9 Jun 15;
SINGAPORE has retained its top spot as the most important maritime capital.
It emerged first among 15 cities that were benchmarked in five categories: shipping centres, finance and law, technology, ports and logistics, and attractiveness and competitiveness.
Hamburg was ranked second in the report by Norwegian consulting firm Menon, followed by Oslo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
"With its business-friendly policies and being strategically located on the trade route between Europe and Asia, Singapore has gained a position in the global economy few would have predicted 40 years ago," said the report, which comprised of responses from 196 maritime professionals from 33 countries.
It added: "As recently as 10 years ago, Singapore lacked maritime research and education, and the lines between foreign and domestic companies were weak.
"Today, the city plays a key role in all aspects of the maritime industry."
The inaugural Menon report three years ago also ranked Singapore in first place.
According to this year's report, which came out last week, Singapore led the way in port services and logistics, beating Hong Kong, Rotterdam and Shanghai.
It was also named the most attractive and competitive city for the maritime industry, given the ease of doing business here and the complete maritime cluster.
Singapore was second as a shipping centre after Athens, which has "an impressively large and strong shipowning community".
But it was ranked fifth in maritime technology, behind Oslo, Hamburg, Tokyo and Busan.
"The city's weaknesses are a limited base of human capital and the increasing costs of hiring local and foreign expertise," said the report.
Singapore was listed fourth for law-related maritime services and insurance, a category where London took first place, followed by Oslo and New York.
The report said Singapore is expected to keep its position as the global leader even in five years.
It also noted that Shanghai is poised to "increase its importance and become the second most important maritime city", in line with the growing influence of the Chinese economy.
The report added: "The fact that the two cities that are expected to become the most important centres for the industry are located in Asia says something about the changing centre of gravity in both the world economy and the maritime industry."
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore chief executive Andrew Tan told The Straits Times in a statement that with more countries investing in their port infrastructure and related services, the global maritime sector is "poised for future growth, even as it weathers the current cyclical downturn".
"With its strategic location and pro-business environment, Singapore is well placed to take advantage of the growth in Asia's maritime trade. The opportunities are immense," added Mr Tan.
"We want to be part of that narrative by planning for the long term, providing certainty and investing in future capabilities."
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