Thousands Evacuated From Floods in Eastern India

PlanetArk 29 Aug 08;

PATNA, India - Indian army troops helped evacuate more than 120,000 people from floods in eastern India, but more bad weather raised fears that rivers would continue to overflow, officials said on Thursday.

The flooding, which officials say is the worst in 50 years, was caused after the Kosi river burst a dam in Nepal where it originates, unleashing huge waves of water that smashed mud embankments downstream in Bihar state.

Many villagers offered prayers and slaughtered goats to appease the Kosi, known as Bihar's "river of sorrow" for its regular floods and tendency to change course.

"We are praying to the river goddess and offering her blood since only she can help us", a village woman in the worst affected Supaul district told a local newspaper.

At least two million people have been forced from their homes and a quarter of a million houses destroyed. So far 55 deaths have been officially reported in Bihar, but activists and local media put the toll many times higher.

Stranded villagers complained of an unbearable stench from rotting carcasses and the United Nations warned of the spread of water-borne disease.

TV stations showed swirling flood waters pouring into homes through windows, submerging hundreds of villages and roads and railway tracks. Telephone and power lines snapped.


SOME BLAME GLOBAL WARMING

Torrential rains have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where 725 people have lost their lives. Other deaths were reported from Nepal and Bangladesh.

Some experts blame the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities have failed to take preventive measures and improve infrastructure.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, flew over devastated areas by helicopter on Thursday.

Singh later announced that more helicopters would be used to rescue thousands of villagers marooned in distant villages and assured more financial assistance.

The United States announced a US$100,000 flood-relief package for the victims. Aid agencies, including UNICEF are in Bihar distributing food, clothes and medicines.

State officials told Reuters more than 120,000 had been evacuated and kept in more than 100 temporary camps, but bad weather was hampering rescue and relief operations.

"We have the army, disaster management teams, police and other groups of rescuers making every effort to save the population," said R.K. Singh, a top disaster management official.

Officials said floods had destroyed more than 227,000 homes and damaged about 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of vegetables, wheat and paddy crops. (Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Tony Austin)

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Rich or Poor? New Faultline in UN Climate Talks

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 29 Aug 08;

ACCRA - Rich countries are pushing developing nations with the strongest economies to do far more to combat climate change, opening a faultline between rich and poor in UN talks on global warming.

The European Union, for instance, says that some developing nations such as Singapore, Argentina and some OPEC states have grown richer than some developed nations which have to shoulder the burden of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

"We want some of the developing nations to do more," said Brice Lalonde of France, who led the EU delegation at Aug. 21-27 talks among 160 nations on a broader new climate treaty to be agreed by the end of 2009.

"There needs to be more differentiation among developing nations," he said.

The current fight against climate change is led by 37 developed nations in the Kyoto Protocol who have agreed to cut emissions by five percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. Developing nations have no targets.

Many poor nations, which negotiate in a bloc at UN talks, strongly oppose any attempt by the rich to redefine the boundary between rich and poor, seeing it as a diversion from a need for the rich to make ever deeper cuts in emissions.

"The (1992 UN Climate) Convention did not provide for differentiation between developing countries," said Byron Blake of Antigua and Barbuda, chair of a group of more than 130 developing nations in Accra known as the G77 and China.

Any such talk would be a "diversion of effort", he told Reuters. Rich nations have to agree deeper cuts in greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, to slow impacts such as heatwaves, floods, desertification and rising seas.

The European Union, Japan and Australia are among nations that say it is unfair to expect the rich group from almost two decades ago to keep on taking the lead. Kyoto groups all rich nations except the United States, which rejected the pact.


NEW WORLD ORDER

Since the early 1990s, non-Kyoto countries such as Mexico and South Korea have joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, grouping rich nations.

Non-Kyoto nations such as Argentina or Qatar have higher per capita incomes than insiders Russia or some eastern EU members. And by some World Bank yardsticks of purchasing power, non-Kyoto Singapore has higher per capita income than the United States.

"Most developing countries are not in favour of differentiation," Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters. "I can't predict where that debate is going to go."

A new treaty will demand deeper cuts from developed nations by 2020 and only "actions" by developing nations to slow the rise of their emissions.

"It's a real chicken and egg situation," said Angela Anderson of the Washington-based Pew Environment Group, with both rich and poor wanting the other to promise more. "It is a big divide."

Developed nations say limited funds must focus on the poorest, such as in sub-Saharan Africa.

But Blake said rich nations should focus on keeping past promises to help the developing nations, which have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution and now need to burn energy to end poverty.

"Nations with binding commitments have not, I repeat have not, delivered on those commitments," he said.

Some nations outside Kyoto are promising to do more. South Korea says, for instance, that it plans to set a binding target for emissions and wants to act as a bridge between the developing and developed nations.

And South Africa has laid out a scenario that could mean a peak in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020-25.

Splitting up developing nations "is going to be an issue for further discussions," said Harlan Watson, head of the US delegation.

Developing nations are unanimous in saying they cannot be expected to do more when the United States has no goals. Both candidates to succed President George W. Bush, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, say they will do more.
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)

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Africa climate conference delegates not offsetting flights

Mike Pflanz, The Telegraph 28 Aug 08;

More than 1,700 delegates at two conferences on global warming being held in Kenya and Ghana have largely failed to carbon-offset their travel to the meetings, The Telegraph has learned.

Some 140 participants have flown from as far as Japan to Nairobi for a forum of scientists and African and European MPs to discuss the devastating impact of climate change on the world's poorest people.

But few have opted to pay for the greenhouse gases that their travel to Nairobi produced, which totals 2.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide for each return flight from Japan, for example.

That is almost nine times the per capita CO2 output for the average Kenyan.

A straw poll of 29 participants found only one, a British climate researcher, who had offset his flight. Ten members of the organising committee had also paid the surcharge.

"We were not told anything about that, and these flights are expensive enough already", said Adam Boni Tessi, an MP from Benin in West Africa, whose 5,300 mile round trip produced 0.9 tonnes of CO2.

Others from Germany, Uganda and Ivory Coast all admitted that they had not paid. One Ugandan delegate said the conference organisers should have told them about carbon offset schemes.

"Whether to fly carbon neutral was a decision which was left up to each of the delegates themselves," said Femke Brouwer from European Parliamentarians for Africa (Awepa), the organisers of the Nairobi forum.

"I think you will find that the vast majority will not have [paid], but we as Awepa are developing a policy which will allow our members to fly carbon neutral, which will be in place for the next meeting early next year."

A separate conference with 1,600 participants is being held at the same time in Ghana's capital, Accra, for the latest round of UN-backed talks linked to implementing the Kyoto Protocol.

Again, organisers could not confirm that air travel was carbon neutral because the decision whether to pay the green surcharge on each flight was left to each delegation.

"It's up to the parties to decide for themselves," said Caroline Keulemans, spokesman for the Accra conference.

"The UN is working towards a mechanism in which all emissions for UN conferences will be offset. For now it's up to the parties, but as the UN we would very much like that all of these conferences would be carbon neutral."

Ms Keulemans could not say when this scheme would be introduced.

The conference organisers had advised delegates not to wear jackets and ties, to allow "discussions in a more comfortable environment, as well as [to] limit the use of air conditioning and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions", its website said.

Indonesia paid to offset all greenhouse gases produced during last year's Bali climate conference by planting 79m trees, but it was not clear if Ghana had made plans to do anything similar.

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Aug 08

Cyrene Reef mapped!
kindly shared by Dr Raju, on the wild shores of singapore blog

Big Trees For Me!
about a heritage tree on the Garden Voices blog

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Shot in the arm for Sumatran elephants and tigers

WWF 28 Aug 08;

The Indonesian government is to double the size of a national park that is one of the last havens for endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers.

Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 with 38,000 hectares of forest. Today’s declaration will see that figure increase to 86,000 by the end of this year.

"This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. “To ensure the commitment is effectively implemented we must redouble our efforts to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements within this special forest.”

With more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has the highest lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science, with many species yet to be discovered.

WWF has been supporting the government effort to extend and protect the park as the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatra large enough to support a viable elephant population. About 60 to 80 elephants are estimated to live there, along with 50 tigers.

Tesso Nilo forest is also an important watershed for more than 40,000 people living in the surrounding 22 villages.

“Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there it will give some of Sumatra’s most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive,” Dr Ahmad said.

“And while we greatly appreciate this precedent for more protection from the Indonesian government, there are other areas on Sumatra that need safeguarding for the sake of its wildlife, its threatened indigenous peoples and to reduce the climate impacts of clearing.”

WWF helped establish and supports the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, run by all 22 local communities living in the buffer zone of the national park. The forum supports joint actions to protect the Tesso Nilo forest and gives the communities a unified and more influential voice in park management.

WWF is working with local communities that suffer from human-wildlife conflict as a result of disappearing forests in the province. Hundreds of elephants have died in the last few years.

A successful Elephant Flying Squad uses domesticated elephants and mahouts to keep wild elephants inside the park from raiding village crops outside the park. WWF also promotes the planting of buffer crops that are not attractive to elephants.

New plans to protect native tigers and elephants in Sumatra
Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 28 Aug 08;

New measures aimed at conserving dwindling numbers of native tigers and elephants on the island of Sumatra have been announced.

The Tesso Nilo National Park - a critical area of forest for the two endangered species - is to be more than doubled in size, the Indonesian government said.

The Park in Riau Province contained only 38,000 hectares of forest when it was created in 2004 but this will be increased to 86,000 hectares by the end of this year.

Riau Province has the highest deforestation rate of any province in Indonesia suffering an 11 per cent loss between 2005 to 2006. It has lost more than 4m hectares of forest in the past 25 years which represents almost two-thirds of the original forest.

The province is home to an estimated 210 Sumatran elephants - the remainder of an 84 per cent population decline in the past 25 years - and 192 Sumatran tigers after a 70 per cent loss over the same period.

It is estimated there are 60-80 elephants and 50 tigers within the new boundaries of the Park which is one of the last strongholds for both species.

With more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has the highest lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science with more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far and many more still to be chronicled.

WWF, the conservation organisation, has been supporting the Indonesian government's effort to extend and protect the park as the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatra large enough to support a viable elephant population.

Dr Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's chief executive, said: "This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger.

"To ensure that the commitment is effectively implemented, we must redouble our efforts on the ground to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements within this special forest.

"Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there, it will give some of Sumatra's most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive.

"And while we greatly appreciate this precedent for more protection from the Indonesian government, there are other areas on Sumatra that need safeguarding for the sake of its wildlife, its threatened indigenous peoples and to reduce the climate impacts of clearing."

WWF helped establish the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, run by all 22 villages in the buffer zone of the national park. The forum supports joint actions to protect the forest and gives the communities a voice in park management.

WWF also works with local communities that come into conflict for land with species such as elephants which stray out of the national park into local villages and raid crops.

An Elephant Flying Squad uses domesticated elephants and mahouts to keep wild elephants inside the park from raiding village crops. It also helps plant buffer crops that are not attractive to elephants.

Two of the world's largest pulp mills are based in Riau Province which has lost more natural forest to pulpwood concessions than any other Indonesian province.

The clearing of carbon-rich peatlands and peat forests in Riau has contributed to Indonesia having the third-highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, behind only the United States and China.

Endangered Sumatran Elephants, Tigers Get Boost
PlanetArk 29 Aug 08;

GENEVA - Sumatra's endangered elephants and tigers should get a boost from an Indonesian government move to expand one of their last havens, a four-year-old national park on the island, conservation body WWF said on Thursday.

But WWF warned that increased efforts would be vital to ensure that poaching and other illegal activities -- like unsanctioned logging and settlement -- did not continue in the park, Tesso Nilo in Sumatra's Riau Province.

"This is an important milestone towards securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Mubariq Ahmad, head of WWF in Indonesia as it was announced in Jakarta that the park area would be more than doubled to 86,000 hectares (212,500 acres).

"Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there it will give some of Sumatra's most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive," declared Ahmad.

WWF, whose international headquarters are at Gland near Geneva, said 60 to 80 elephants and some 50 tigers were believed to live in the area now to be covered by the park.

Set up in 2004 with 38,000 hectares (93,900 acres), it also has the highest lowland forest plant diversity known to science. Some 4,000 unique species have been recorded and many more remain to be discovered, WWF said.

Riau Province is home to about 210 elephants, down from around 1,250 just 25 years ago, and 192 tigers, whose numbers have dropped from around 650 over the same period.

The main cause of the decline of both Sumatran species, WWF indicated, is deforestation, the rate of which in Riau is the highest of any Indonesian province.

Some 65 percent of Riau's forest cover, key to the animals' survival, has disappeared since the early 1980s, largely as a result of increased activity by global pulp and palm oil companies -- and from illegal logging.

WWF said two of the world's largest pulp and paper mills are located in the province, which had lost more natural forest to pulpwood concessions than any other in Indonesia.

The clearing of carbon-rich peat land and peat forests in Riau have contributed to Indonesia having the world's third highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions, behind only the United States and China, the conservation body added. (Editing by Richard Williams)

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Put 'eco' back in 'economics'

Growing in a green way means short-term costs but long-term benefits
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 28 Aug 08;

I RECENTLY came to the conclusion that 'growth' is overrated. Or at least, that conventional definitions of economic growth need updating.

To quote from Canadian environmental activist David Suzuki, we need to put the 'eco' back into economics.

Both concepts, he notes, are derived from the same root word 'oikos' (eco) which literally means house - that is, the environment we live in.

The word 'economics' is a combination of 'oikos' and 'nomos' (rules, management). Thus, economics means house management. Somewhere along the way however, we have forgotten about the 'eco' in economics.

What triggered these thoughts was the recent public exercise to gather ideas for a blueprint on Singapore's green journey for the next 10 years.

Since its debut on July 28, the Sustainable Singapore website has received 700 suggestions and counting, on issues ranging from solar energy and cycling, to the country's energy efficiency.

I noted with interest the quick assurances issued by the Government that Singapore's green steps will be taken 'in a manner that will not upset economic development'. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam added: 'What will not be compromised is economic growth.'

Not that these statements are peculiar to Singapore: they are not. They crop up often in multilateral debates on greening economies.

And for good reason: economic growth is important, as it leads to increased wealth and job security, all elements of a happy and stable country.

As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pointed out in his Rally speech, growth gives us the resources to solve problems.

Singapore has used its wealth to move towards greening its economy, such as by making investments into environment-related research and development.

Still, the fear that economic growth will be compromised hampers efforts to go green faster.

When in town earlier this year, the UN Environment Programme's executive director Achim Steiner said to me: 'You can never expect a politician to say you're going to lose your job, or I'm going to make your life more miserable, for the sake of the environment.'

The sad fact, he added, is that 'many of those in charge of economies today exaggerate the cost of moving towards greater sustainability, and under-represent the returns from such actions'.

'This has led many countries to defer decisions about the future for far too long and the result is it gets much more expensive,' he said.

So how to balance the costs and benefits in greening any economy? How much gross domestic product (GDP) should be sacrificed?

In conventional economics, environmental costs are treated as externalities and unaccounted for.

Take China as an example. A recent Financial Times report highlighted its deteriorating environment as the 'devastating price' it pays for its rampant growth.

While millions of citizens are lifted out of poverty, 'large swathes of the country' are being 'devastated and unable to support even basic ecologies'.

Some reports put China's economic losses from environmental degradation at some 5 to 10 per cent of gross GDP.

It is an example of how measuring growth by GDP figures alone is a 'narrow, artificial indicator' that captures economic activity but does not account for real costs, said Mr Steiner.

The good news is, more economists are starting to realise this. The United Nations is working with leading universities and the World Bank to create a new wealth indicator that will take into account the drawing down of 'natural capital' from the environment.

As we in Singapore start thinking about sustainable development, we should keep in mind these changing definitions of wealth and growth.

While we try to perfect the art of 'balancing costs and benefits', we should also ask what we are defining as the reasonable cost of greening.

Are we willing to take the necessary steps, or will our 'greenspeak' just be lip service?

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying we should stop growing. Indeed, the green movement presents tremendous growth opportunities for us in the clean energy, water and environmental sectors.

All I am saying is we can grow in a much greener way, which might cost more in the short-term, but offer much longer-term returns.

And we must dare to do it.

There are already suggestions aplenty. Top of the list would be a greener tax structure to encourage Singaporeans to go green, similar to the pro-family tax structure unveiled earlier last week that aims to get Singaporeans to make more babies.

Under this tax structure could be rebates for adopting energy saving devices, concessions on income from carbon trading, and tax incentives for efficient and pollution-reducing equipment for businesses.

Pricing structures for utilities can also be made greener. For example, electricity can be made more expensive at higher consumption volumes.

Some countries such as Sweden and Norway are ahead of the curve, adopting bold environmental policies that others have avoided (like a direct tax on carbon emissions). They have proven that it works.

One country Singapore could take a leaf from: Switzerland. There, residents have to pay for how much rubbish they throw out. Here, we pay for someone to take our rubbish away, for the waste to be landfilled or incinerated. But we do not pay for the damage or costs to the environment our rubbish causes.

If, like Switzerland, we factored the cost of our rubbish into daily life, our actions will be a lot more different. People will start factoring the cost of their waste and recycling will come naturally.

Such are the changes we can suggest and lobby for, during this nationwide call for ideas to make Singapore greener.

Put the 'eco' back to economics, and chances are, we'll get it right.

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Trials on new system of buying electricity start later this year

Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: A new way of buying electricity is expected to result in lower energy costs for home-owners.

To be on trial later this year, the Electricity Vending System (EVS) is the latest stage in a S$3 million project. If successful, it will be rolled out to all 1.2 million homes and small shops.

The EVS aims to bring down household energy bills by giving customers the freedom to choose different electricity packages from suppliers.

The EVS allows a home owner to buy electricity from vending machines at the touch of a screen. Terminals will be placed at convenience stores and customers will also be able to buy electricity via the Internet and their mobile phones.

Once payment is made, the amount is instantly credited to the user's home electricity monitor via wireless technology. The monitor will beep when the credit runs low to warn home-owners to top up their accounts.

And if the user registers their handphone number, an SMS will be sent advising them to top up their accounts. This can be done via a reply SMS.

One of the biggest ways consumers could save money through this system is simply by being more aware of how much electricity they use.

A consumer display unit will show exactly how much electricity is being used at any one time. As soon as an appliance is switched on, the number on the display unit rises.

For example, switching on a light bulb uses little energy but turning on an electric kettle causes electricity usage to shoot up. Hence, users will be able to see instant savings when they turn off appliances.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA), Singapore's energy market regulator, expects electricity suppliers to offer different peak and off-peak packages to suit the different lifestyles of consumers.

1,000 volunteers from Marine Parade and West Coast will test out the EVS. The trial at Marine Parade will start in November this year, while that at West Coast will start in February 2009. Each trial will last for six months.

Seow Kang Seng, EMA's director of consumer safety and crisis management, said: "In order to keep the costs low for the pilot projects, we actually tried to look for places which have a good mix of private housing, HDB housing and some small shops such that we can get enough volunteers to take part and get a good mix."

Competition will keep prices down. Since 2003, about 10,000 large industrial users, which account for 75% of electricity demand, have been able to negotiate their own electricity rates with SP Services or private retailers such as Tuas Power Supply and Keppel Electric.

But small consumers such as households have only been able to buy electricity from SP Services at a flat rate through monthly bills.

The new monitor for EVS costs more than the current electricity meter, but this is expected to be less than the amount currently spent on the billing, opening and closing of accounts and meter reading, which would no longer be necessary.

Mr Seow said: "Currently we have these processes like account opening, account closing, billing, meter readings, account management processes. Under the EVS system, all these processes will not be required."

If the trials are successful, all households will eventually be switched to the EVS. But it will not be rolled out islandwide until at least 2010.

- CNA/ir

New meters to track households' energy use
Trial involving 1,000 homes will also offer different electricity price plans
Tania Tan, Straits Times 27 Aug 08;

A PILOT project to help households keep tabs on their energy consumption will be rolled out soon.

Advanced electricity meters which give consumers detailed information on their energy usage will be a key focus of the six-month project, which will begin in November.

The meters will be fitted in 1,000 households in the eastern and western regions during the test.

The devices can give consumers an idea of how much energy they are using, including hourly consumption, and the rates they are paying, down to the last cent.

By doing so, they can help consumers to know when to reduce their energy consumption if necessary.

Said Energy Market Authority (EMA) director for consumer safety and crisis management Seow Kang Seng: 'If they think they're using too much, then they can switch off certain appliances and scale back usage.'

Another key plank of the pilot project is a trial of the so-called Energy Vending System, a telco-style billing and consumption plan that will allow households to pick which energy provider and pricing structure they want in future.

Currently, consumers have no choice but to buy electricity from just one company - SP Services - at a flat rate of 25 cents per kWh.

Under the trial, SP Services will simulate a free market: It will offer participating households electricity priced at peak and off-peak rates, the cost of which will depend on when users tap into the power grid.

Said Mr Seow: 'It's like buying mobile phone plans. Consumers can pick packages which best suit their lifestyles.'

Participants in the trial will be able to buy electricity online or at two 'vending machines' in Marine Parade and West Coast. The areas are selected because they give the best mix of HDB and private housing and small businesses.

Feedback from the trial will be studied before a decision is made late next year on whether to give the system the green light.

If the go-ahead is given, about 1.2 million households can expect to be on the Electricity Vending System in about three years' time.

The system is expected to produce more competitive energy pricing, since different retailers will be bidding to win consumers, said Mr Seow.

However, he was unable to say just how much cheaper electricity would be under the new system.

He was confident, however, that the trial will go smoothly.

'We do not foresee anything that's too difficult to resolve,' he said.

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80% of imported chikungunya cases visited Johor recently

Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE : The large number of travellers between Singapore and Johore is a major reason for the recent surge in the number of chikungunya fever cases here, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament on Wednesday.

Mr Khaw said about 80 per cent of the 61 imported cases here had recently travelled to the southern state of Johore in Malaysia, where cases have been on the rise.

While his ministry is working closely with the National Environment Agency to eliminate breeding sites locally, Mr Khaw stressed that the public also had to play their part.

He said: "At this point in time, Johore is a major problem area, and it also coincides with the durian season, and I know many Singaporeans go to durian plantations. So if you do, I think you should just protect yourself... mosquito repellents may help." - CNA/ms

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Mekong flood woes in South-east Asia

China's dams a cause for concern
Michael Richardson, Straits Times 28 Aug 08;

CHINA says it remains a developing country despite its impressively rapid rise in the league of global power. By some measures, it is now the world's third biggest economy and second largest exporter. However gauged, China is clearly a nation with increasing power and influence, especially if you live in nearby South-east Asia.

So it comes as no surprise that China is blamed these days for local troubles almost as ritualistically as the United States is, the superpower Beijing says it will never emulate. The latest finger- pointing at China comes in the wake of devastating floods in parts of northern Thailand and Laos. The Mekong, South-east Asia's largest river, overflowed its banks, inundating villages and rice fields, and leaving a swathe of destruction that will cost many millions of dollars to repair.

The water level on Aug 15 at Vientiane, the capital of Laos on the banks of the Mekong, was the highest since records began in 1913. It has dropped since then but low-lying regions in Cambodia and in the Mekong delta of southern Vietnam are bracing themselves for similar damage as the flood waters move downstream.

Some Thais hit by the floods, as well as non-governmental organisations campaigning against dam building, point the finger at China. The water released from the reservoirs of three big Chinese dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong, they say, swelled the run-off from a tropical storm and heavy monsoon rain across northern Laos and China's southern Yunnan province earlier this month.

But the Mekong River Commission (MRC), in a statement on Monday, pointed out that the volume of releasable water held by the three Chinese hydropower dams to generate electricity was too small to have been a significant factor in the flooding. The MRC, established by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in 1995 at the end of a long period of conflict in the region, helps to coordinate management of the Mekong basin in South-east Asia.

As the world's 12th longest river, the Mekong runs through or between six countries - China, Myanmar and the four MRC member states. Although the Mekong starts high in China's Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and flows through China for more than one-third of its total length of over 4,300km, China is not an MRC member. Nor is reclusive Myanmar.

The MRC said that the combined storage capacity of the three Chinese dams along the upper section of the Mekong is less than one cubic km. It added that only a small part of this could have been released as the flood waters in the area accumulated between Aug 8, when the tropical storm struck, and Aug 12, when the flood peak in the Mekong was measured at Chiang Saen, in Thailand, where the MRC has its most northerly monitoring station.

At Chiang Saen on that day, measurements showed an accumulated flood run-off volume for the month of 8.5 cubic km. Further downstream at Vientiane on Aug12, it was 23 cubic km. This led the MRC to conclude that any release from the Chinese dams 'could not have been a significant factor in this natural flood event'.

While this may be true, Chinese dam construction on the upper reaches of the Mekong is a legitimate source of concern for downstream South-east Asian countries. To generate electricity, water has to be released to drive the turbines. Their worry is that too much will be released in the wet season, contributing to flooding, and too little in the dry season, when the water is needed in South-east Asia.

This concern will be accentuated when China completes the fourth dam on its section of the Mekong by 2013. This dam in Xiaowan, at 292m high, will be one of the world's tallest. It will generate over 4,000MW of electricity, the equivalent output of at least four nuclear power stations.

Its reservoir will impound water in a 190 sq km reservoir that Chinese officials say will hold 15 billion cubic m of water, nearly five times the volume held by the three existing dams.

The officials claim that the way they manage and release water from Xiaowan will benefit downstream countries. They say they will reduce the amount of water flowing into South-east Asia by 17 per cent during the flood season and increase the flow by 40 per cent in the dry season.

Four more dams are planned along the Mekong in Yunnan, one of which will have a storage capacity similar to Xiaowan's. It is estimated that just filling the Xiaowan dam's reservoir will take between five and 10 years, using half the upper Mekong's flow. Clearly, a cascade of dams on this scale will affect the amount and quality of water available to downstream states in South-east Asia.

Averaged over the year, only about 20 per cent of the water flowing into the lower section of the Mekong comes from China. However, Chinese policy is particularly important in the dry season, when the long stretch of the Mekong on its territory accounts for 50-70 per cent of the water flow at the mouth of the river in Vietnam, where it meets the South China Sea.

The four member states of the MRC will meet China and Myanmar in Vientiane tomorrow. The two non-members have the status of dialogue partners. If China is serious when it promises a cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with South-east Asia, it should join the MRC as a full member, share all hydrological information with its neighbours and integrate its Yunnan dam planning into the development blueprint for the lower Mekong basin.

This would strengthen the MRC's efforts to develop and apply an integrated management plan for the whole of the Mekong River basin, with multilateral as well as national interests in mind.

The writer is an energy and security specialist at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

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Floods leave 2.5 million in India marooned

People caught off-guard as area has not seen flooding in past 55 years
P. Jayaram, Straits Times 28 Aig 08;

NEW DELHI: An estimated 2.5 million people in the eastern Indian state of Bihar have been stranded after a swollen river breached its banks following torrential rains and inundated hundreds of towns and villages.

'To call it floods is an understatement. It's a catastrophe,' Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar said, as he urged the affected people to run to safety.

'Our top priority at the moment is to evacuate people and bring them to the safer places,' he added.

The disaster was caused by the surging waters of the river Koshi, known as 'Bihar's sorrow', for the flood havoc it unleashes every monsoon season.

The disaster this year was exceptionally bad as the river, which had shifted its course over the past 300 years, returned to its original course and inundated over 800 towns and villages that lie between the old and new courses.

The Koshi is a cross-border river between Nepal and India and a major tributary of the river Ganges. The unstable nature of the river is attributed to the heavy silt it carries during the monsoon season.

Television news channels showed unending stretches of muddy water with only the tops of houses and trees visible in most places. The water is between 2m and 2.5m high in many places. The marooned people were seen atop houses and high grounds waiting to be rescued.

'The area hasn't seen floods for the past 55 years and therefore people were caught unawares. The army has been called in. Using 300 boats, we have evacuated thousands,' state minister for disaster management, Mr Nitish Mishra, said.

Mrs Ranjeeta Ranjan, an MP for the area, said: 'Waters are still rising, hundreds of bodies are floating in the water.'

Health officials said cases of diarrhoea and fever had been reported in the affected areas because people were forced to drink the contaminated waters.

'Given the scorching heat, unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene conditions, cases may soon increase,' the United Nations Children's Fund said in a statement in New Delhi.

Officials put the death toll from the floods at 46 - but it is expected to rise.

The federal Disaster Management Authority has rushed 48 motorised boats and 31 Indian Air Force helicopters to join in the rescue and relief operations.

The Koshi has also wreaked havoc in Nepal, where it originates. Nepali papers said thousands of people had been left homeless and more than 10,000ha of cultivable land had been submerged.

Nepal's new Prime Minister Prachanda, who visited the flood-hit areas last week, blamed the Koshi barrage, built by India in Nepal under a bilateral pact 50 years ago, for the floods in his country.

He branded the pact as 'a historic blunder' and said Nepal had written to India to repair the embankments' damage.

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Nuptial diners try to save face, not sharks

Grace Tsoi, The Hong Kong Standard 28 Aug 08;

Face and tradition outweigh ecology when it comes to wedding banquets, according to the manager of a top restaurant chain.

"Only a few couples have requested we change the menu due to environmental concerns," Maxim's Group Cantonese Cuisine senior operations manager Raymond Wong Tat-fai said yesterday.

Wong said most newlyweds still asked for a traditional menu not only to accommodate the requests of parents, but also because they fear they will lose face if shark's fin soup and steamed coral fish are not on the tables during the banquet.

Shark's fin and coral fish represent extravagance and are considered a must for banquets despite the fact both are on the list of endangered species.

In February 2007, 20.4 percent of all sharks and related species were included in the World Conservation Union red list as being threatened with extinction.

Sharks are difficult to replenish because they grow slowly and their breeding rate cannot keep up with demand. In addition, it is hard to breed sharks in captivity as they are solitary hunters and prefer to act alone.

Although specially bred coral fish are now more common on banquet tables, it may be too late to preserve the wild coral fish. According to research conducted by Hong Kong University in June, the once- abundant yellow croaker has now disappeared from local waters.

"It is very difficult to change traditional concepts and we can only do it slowly," Eco Association supervisor Ivan Wu Chan-kin said.

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Whale Meat Shipped to Japan May Be Discarded, Greenpeace Says

Stuart Biggs, Bloomberg 27 Aug 08;

Whale meat worth about $1.6 million sitting in warehouses waiting for import into Japan may be thrown away because the importer hasn't applied for a permit, Greenpeace International said.

As much as 80 tonnes of meat from fin whales, an endangered species, and 5 tonnes of minke whale have been in storage for more than two months, Greenpeace said. Under Japanese law, perishable goods can be discarded if they are stored for more than three months without the right permits, the environmental group said.

Australia, the U.S., New Zealand and other countries, along with environmental groups including Greenpeace, are trying to stop all slaughter of whales, setting themselves against Iceland and Norway, the exporters of the meat, and Japan, which has the world's biggest whaling program.

``This pointless import only serves to increase criticism of Japan,'' Wakao Hanaoka, Greenpeace Japan's oceans campaigner, said in the statement. ``The whale meat should be returned to its senders at their own expense.''

Tsuyoshi Iwata, an official of the Far Seas Fisheries division of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the shipment won't be discarded because frozen whale meat can last for about 10 years.

Greenpeace's claims are ``nonsense,'' Iwata said, adding that he didn't know the name of the importer. Greenpeace named the company last month as Tokyo-based Asia Trading Ltd., a company established two weeks before the meat was shipped.

Taste and Texture

There's no listing in the phone directory or on the Internet for Asia Trading.

The fin whale meat was caught in 2006 and put in deep freeze, Kyodo News cited Kristjan Loftsson, chief executive officer of Icelandic whaling company Hvalur, which exported the meat, as saying in June. The meat is in demand in Japan for its taste and texture, Kyodo cited Loftsson as saying.

The meat is valued at about 175 million yen ($1.6 million), based on the market price of 2,060 yen per kilogram of regular grade red whale meat. Fin whales are listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Japan, Norway and Iceland are the world's biggest whaling nations. While Norway and Iceland hunt commercially, Japan hunts under a license it issues for scientific research, allowed under the terms of the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling as long as the meat is later consumed.

The U.S., Australia and other countries say the research program is commercial whaling in disguise.

Japan's whaling fleet killed 211 whales out of a quota of 260 in the most recent expedition, which ended last week, according to an official statement, adding to the 60 minke whales killed in the region on an expedition which ended in May.

Japan killed 551 whales out of a planned catch of as many as 1,035 on its most recent expedition to Antarctica, which ended in April after being disrupted by activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace.

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