Rich nations offer 15-21 percent CO2 cuts by 2020: U.N.

Alister Doyle, Reuters 11 Aug 09;

BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Industrialized nations excluding the United States are planning cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of between 15 and 21 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 under a new U.N. climate pact, official data showed on Tuesday.

The numbers, issued to delegates at August 10-14 U.N. climate talks in Bonn, fall short of cuts of between 25 and 40 percent outlined by a U.N. panel of scientists to avert the worst of global warming such as heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels.

"Emissions ... are expected to be between 15 and 21 percent below 1990 levels by 2020," the U.N. Climate Secretariat said of the figures, compiled from widely differing plans by nations including Russia, Japan, Canada and European Union members.

Overall emissions by the 39 industrialized nations, based on the existing plans, would fall to the equivalent of between 10.71 and 9.86 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 from 12.53 billion metric tons in 1990.

The data excludes the United States, the top greenhouse gas emitter after China, which is outside the current Kyoto Protocol obliging all other industrialized nations to cut emissions by an average of at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

The 2020 numbers include a promise by New Zealand on Monday to cut emissions by 10-20 percent. Environmentalists criticized that goal for hinging on conditions such as agreement at U.N. talks in Copenhagen in December on a strong new climate deal.

The EU, Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein are offering the deepest cuts -- some with strings attached -- according to the plans. Canada, Japan, Belarus and Russia are among those planning smaller reductions.

Inclusion of the United States would reduce the overall ambition since President Barack Obama aims to return U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a cut of about 14 percent from current levels after a sharp rise since 1990.

BUSH LEGACY

Former President George W. Bush said Kyoto would be too costly and wrongly excluded 2012 targets for developing nations such as China, India and Brazil.

National submissions use widely varying assumptions, such as the use of forests which soak up carbon dioxide as they grow. Including changes in land use and forestry, emissions would fall by between 13 and 20 percent by 2020, the data show.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said earlier 2020 pledges were "miles away" from the ambition needed to meet a goal by Group of Eight leaders at a July summit in Italy to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

He also told Reuters the Bonn talks among 180 nations had "got off to a good start" to address huge tasks such as shortening a contentious 200-page draft text for a global U.N. climate accord to succeed Kyoto in Copenhagen.

The chief climate negotiator for Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, saw signs of hope.

"I think we have a slightly positive dynamic," Anders Turesson told Reuters. "On some issues I can sense some progress."

He welcomed the fact major emitters at a summit last month in Italy, including the G8 and China and India, had backed a broad scientific view that global warming should be limited to below 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.
(Editing by Sophie Hares)

Time 'runs short' on climate deal
David Shukman, BBC News 11 Aug 09;

Time is running short to agree a new treaty on global warming amid deep divisions over key issues, according to the UN's top climate official.

Speaking at the start of the latest round of UN discussions, Yvo de Boer said the political signals were positive, but progress still too slow.

About 1,000 officials are meeting in Bonn for a week of informal talks.

The aim is to clear the way for the adoption of a new UN climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.

"We've got a 200-plus-page text riddled with square brackets (where issues are unresolved)," Mr de Boer told BBC News. "And it worries me to think how on earth we're going to whittle that down to meaningful language with just five weeks of negotiating time left."

Time out

Facing delegates is a large digital clock counting down the days to the start of the Copenhagen summit - 119 as of today.

But Mr de Boer warned: "You're looking at hugely divergent interests, very little time remaining, a complicated document on the table and still a lot of progress to be made on some very important issues like finance."

One of the toughest disputes is over which countries should commit to reducing their levels of greenhouse gases.

The industrialised nations say that big polluters in the developing world, notably China and India, must be included in any treaty commitments.

The head of the US delegation here, Jonathan Pershing, said that having those two countries included was "absolutely part of the deal".

"We see success in Copenhagen as in no small measure a function of what all these major players do," he told BBC News. "Ourselves, Europe, China, India, Japan - it has to be the major emitters. If we think of a group of about 15 countries, they comprise on the order of 75% of global emissions.

"We can't solve this without them; you need them all and they all have to move immediately."

Different pace

But developing countries point out that most of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere came from the industrialised world; whereas societies such as India remain desperately poor.

"[India] is a country where half the rural population does not have a light bulb in its home or a gas ring," said Ambassador Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, the senior Indian negotiator here.

"So to describe this country as a large emitter is absurd - there's no other word for it."

Another source of tension is over finance - the help the developing world says is needed to cope with the effects of climate change.

Bernaditas de Castro-Mueller of the Philippines is a senior co-ordinator for the G77 group of developing countries.

She told me that the nations that had caused the most greenhouse gases had an obligation to help those suffering from them.

"It's just an outrage that countries cannot live up to their responsibilities. We're all parties to this convention, including the developed countries," she said.

This week's talks are billed as informal in an effort to foster some breakthroughs. They are not likely to provide answers, but may signal whether a treaty is achievable by December's deadline.

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New Zealand defends climate change targets

David Brooks Yahoo News 11 Aug 09;

WELLINGTON (AFP) – The New Zealand government Tuesday denied it had failed to accept its country's share of the burden for tackling climate change after announcing greenhouse gas emission targets.

The government said Monday it would target greenhouse gas emission reductions from 1990 levels of between 10 and 20 percent by 2020.

New Zealand will cut its emissions by 10 percent if other developed nations sign a comprehensive treaty and by 20 percent depending on the form of the final treaty.

International aid agency Oxfam joined a chorus of criticism from environmentalists, saying the targets indicated New Zealand did not care about the fate of millions of vulnerable people around the world.

But Minister of Climate Change Issues, Nick Smith, said on Tuesday New Zealand's target was "enormously challenging" given gross emissions had already increased 24 percent since 1990.

"I think it's a balanced response given New Zealand's quite unique position, that is, over 50 percent of our emissions come from agriculture," Smith told Radio New Zealand.

"It's going to be a hard ask to reduce those with very limited technologies."

Dairy products make up about a quarter of New Zealand's exports and cattle emit large amounts of methane gas from belching, with the country's 34 million sheep adding to the problem.

Previous prime minister Helen Clark, who lost power in elections in November, had set the goal of enhancing New Zealand's clean and green image by turning it into the world's first carbon neutral nation.

But Smith said the government was now not prepared to make "big, wild promises".

Oxfam New Zealand executive director Barry Coates said poor communities elsewhere in the world would be left with the impression that New Zealand believed their lives were not worth the cost of transforming the economy.

"This announcement is tantamount to telling millions of vulnerable people around the world that New Zealand does not care enough about their fate to make the cuts that are needed," Coates said.

Environmental campaigner Greenpeace were equally scathing.

"We have a long long way to go before New Zealand is a constructive player at the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December," said Greenpeace senior climate campaigner Simon Boxer.

"Ten to 20 percent does not even put us at the lower rung of what the science says is required."

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has called for cuts of 25 to 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Neighbouring Australia has proposed cutting its emissions by between five to 25 percent, depending on the outcome of the international negotiations in Copenhagen.

Japan has proposed cuts of eight percent, Canada three percent, the EU 20 percent and the US has effectively proposed 2020 emissions at the same level as 1990.

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New figures show India's emissions a fourth of China's

Krittivas Mukherjee, Reuters 11 Aug 09;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India contributes around five percent to global carbon dioxide emissions, a new government report showed on Tuesday, but is still only about a quarter of the emissions of China and the United States.

The finding is based on the 2007 World Development Indicators figures of the World Bank.

The report, which said the energy sector contributed 61 percent of total emissions in India, pegged India's per capita emissions at only one-twentieth of the United States and about one-tenth of western Europe and Japan.

A separate government report said India's forests are absorbing about 11.25 percent of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) every year at 1994 levels -- or about 24 billion tons of CO2 -- a potential market worth $120 billion.

But it was not clear if India was quantifying climate benefits from forest cover to put in place a forest carbon trading mechanism or just demand funds to fight global warming under a U.N. scheme.

"India can do both -- they can use this as a bargaining chip to get money under the U.N. scheme as well as use this for trading as the most developed countries look to achieve their emission reduction targets through offsets," K. Srinivas, former climate campaigner of Greenpeace India.

Forests soak up vast amounts of planet-warming CO2 and can act as a brake on climate change.

Under an emerging U.N. scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, developing nations could potentially earn billions of dollars by setting aside and rehabilitating their forests.

The valuable carbon offsets they earn could be sold to rich nations to help them meet emissions goals under the program, likely to be part of a broader climate pact from 2013. Data released on Monday by German renewable energy industry institute IWR showed India's emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide grew 125 percent between 1990 and 2008, while China's grew 178 percent and the United States 17 percent. Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who released the report, said the government was setting up a national institute of Himalayan glaciology and would coordinate with China to study the health of glaciers.

He said while "a couple of" Himalayan glaciers were receding, some others such as the Siachen glacier were advancing while others like the Gangotri glacier were receding at a decreasing rate compared to the last two decades.

"There is as yet, these words are really important, there is as yet no conclusive robust scientific evidence to show that the receding of glaciers in the Himalayas is being caused by climate change," he said.

(Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Sanjeev Miglani)

India makes forestry key plank in climate change plan
Yahoo News 11 Aug 09;

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The Indian government unveiled a major plan to protect its forests on Tuesday, saying the initiative was a key element in its strategy to combat climate change.

"Countries like India must get adequate credit for increasing its forest cover that absorbs greenhouse gases," said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is under pressure ahead of global climate change talks in December.

"We are amongst the few countries in the world who are not just stopping deforestation but are actually increasing forestation," he told reporters here.

India has set up a fund to manage its forests with an initial budget of 2.5 billion dollars and annual funding of one billion dollars, a report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests showed Tuesday.

Forests cover 65 million hectares of Indian territory or just over 20 percent of the country, according to the ministry.

While per capita emissions are low in India -- the average Indian produces one tonne of carbon dioxide per year to the average American's 20 tonnes -- its huge population puts it among the world's leading emitters.

India and fellow emerging market heavyweight China have consistently opposed binding emission cuts in a new climate treaty until developed nations, particularly the United States, present sufficiently stringent targets of their own.

Ramesh's statement came ahead of the December conference in Copenhagen, which is meant to seal a new international accord on fighting climate change after the Kyoto Protocol's requirements expire in 2012.

Ramesh also reiterated his belief that the Indian scientific community found "no robust scientific evidence" that climate change was causing Himalayan glaciers to melt.

"There could be other factors," he said.

The United Nations has warned that rising surface temperatures have led to rapid melting of regional ice caps, which are the headwaters for Asia's nine largest rivers.

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U.S. CO2 emissions from fuels seen falling 5 percent in 2009

Reuters 11 Aug 09;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Annual U.S. emissions of the main greenhouse gas from the burning of coal, natural gas and petroleum should fall 5 percent in 2009 as the recession crimps demand, the government's top energy forecaster said on Tuesday.

"The economic downturn, combined with natural gas displacing some coal as a source of electricity generation, is projected to lead to a 5 percent decline in fossil-fuel based (carbon dioxide) emissions in 2009," the Energy Information Administration said in its monthly forecast.

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy sources represented about 81 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas output in 2007, according to federal data.

The EIA said "an improving economy" should raise annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels by 0.7 percent next year.

It was the first time the EIA, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy, published the carbon dioxide emissions predictions in its monthly short-term outlook.

Fuel switching by electricity generators and declines in industrial use were projected to lead to a 7.9 percent decline in carbon emissions from coal in 2009, EIA said. Emissions from coal were expected to rise 1.1. percent next year.

Natural gas consumption was expected to fall in 2009 due to the downturn and despite being used more to generate power. That should lead to a carbon emissions decline of 2.3 percent from natural gas in 2009, the EIA said.

Petroleum emissions were expected to fall 4 percent in 2009, mostly due to declines in transportation. The EIA expected little change in carbon emissions from use of motor gasoline in 2009, but it expected 9.8 percent less emissions from jet fuel and an 8.2 percent decline in emissions from distillates fuels, which include diesel for trucks. Emissions from residual fuel, which is burned to generate electricity, were also expected to be down.

The EIA cut the monthly forecast for annual U.S. oil demand in 2009 by 140,000 barrels per day. It now expects this year's oil demand to be 790,000 barrels per day lower than last year.

The agency also cut the forecast for annual coal demand from power generators to 975 million tons, down 12 million tons from last month's outlook. That would be an annual drop in demand of 6.4 percent from 2008. Coal consumption by power generators was expected to rise 1.3 percent next year.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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How aviation can clean up its act

Fred Dryer, BBC Green Room 11 Aug 09;

The aviation industry - a rapidly expanding sector - is looking for ways to secure its fuel supplies without increasing greenhouse gas emissions, says Fred Dryer. In the Green Room this week, he outlines some of the options available to deliver these goals.

There is wide agreement that to mitigate climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 50% of 2005 levels by 2050, with industrialised countries cutting their emissions by 80%.

In order to achieve this goal, large increases in both energy efficiency and renewable energy will be required.

Biofuel alternatives to petroleum are getting much attention for both ground and air transportation.

Combustion of fuels made from biomass (plant matter) recycles carbon dioxide extracted during photosynthesis back to the atmosphere, making the fuels nearly "carbon-neutral" if only modest amounts of fossil fuel are used to produce them.

However, many biofuel options will be greatly constrained by resource scarcity and cost.

Using food biomass, such as rape, corn or soybeans, creates food/fuel conflicts.

Opening up land to compensate for the reduced food output leads to large greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during land clearing and tilling that offset reductions achieved in subsequent cropping.

Oil-producing crops, such as jatropha and camelina, can be grown on non-agricultural land but factors such as land availability and rainfall limit how much can actually be produced.

Approaches using algae are attracting interest but costs are very high, and - as for camelina and jatropha - half or more of the harvested biomass ends up in by-products.

Syn of the times

In selecting bio-based transport fuels, two criteria stand out.

First, technologies are needed that maximise liquid fuel production and carbon mitigation from scarce biomass supplies.

Second, bio-derived products must be fully compatible with petroleum fuels.

That's particularly true for aircraft applications, because of the international nature of the aviation industry and because petroleum fuels will be widely used for decades.

Our NetJets-sponsored research at Princeton University is seeking to identify technologies for displacing petroleum and reducing GHG emissions from transportation, both air and ground.

NetJets, the world's largest provider of corporate jet services, is seeking ways to reduce its carbon footprint substantially: its customers expect it, and the long-term future of its business depends on it.

Our analyses show that the most promising options involve borrowing technologies that are already used with coal, along with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that is being developed to enable continuing fossil fuel use under a carbon policy constraint.

Superclean "synfuels", otherwise known as synthetic fuels, can be made from coal via commercial processes that begin with gasification.

But the GHG emission rate for production and use of these fuels is about double that of petroleum fuels.

However, about half of the carbon is released at the plant as a stream of undiluted CO2, so CCS can be pursued at relatively low cost, reducing emissions to about the level of petroleum fuels - a lot better, but not nearly good enough for a carbon-constrained world.

What if synfuels were made from biomass via gasification?

One advantage is that all biomaterials (not just speciality crops) can be processed, which increases the effectiveness of using scarce biomass resources.

As for some other biofuels, the overall process of making and burning the liquid fuels would be nearly "carbon neutral".

However, under a carbon policy it would often be worthwhile to include CCS, making the overall GHG emission rate strongly negative - thereby greatly enhancing the carbon mitigation potential of scarce biomass supplies.

Such biofuels are not competitive with crude oil-derived products today but are likely to be very competitive at carbon prices that may be typical in 20 years' time.

Zero sum

An option that can be pursued now involves co-processing biomass with coal in similar gasification plants with CCS.

Co-processing about 40% biomass and 60% coal provides liquid fuels with a net-zero GHG emissions rate.

Moreover, the amount of liquid fuel produced per unit of biomass is twice as much or more than most other biomass options.

Our analysis suggests that fuels from such systems will be competitive with crude oil-derived products, even with zero pricing on GHG emissions, when the crude oil price is $100 per barrel - a figure that is expected to be typical once the global economy recovers.

The technology is ready to be deployed now in plants that co-process about 10% biomass and inject the captured CO2 into mature oil fields to coax out more crude oil.

The world's first synthetic fuel plant with CCS - the US Dakota Gasification Project that produces synthetic natural gas (not liquid fuels) from coal - has been capturing a million tonnes of CO2 annually since 2000 and transporting it 300km by pipeline into Canada, where it is used for enhanced oil recovery.

Careful monitoring has shown that after repeated re-injection, the CO2 ultimately remains stored underground.

Our research has identified a credible bio-based liquid fuel supply strategy for solving the carbon problem for transportation, even with limited biomass supplies and without abandoning crude oil.

The key concepts are gasification-based liquid fuels and CCS for both biomass and coal.

Coal/biomass-to-liquids technologies would be deployed first in coal-rich countries, to be followed by biomass-to-liquids technologies in coal-poor but biomass-rich regions.

Fred Dryer is professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, US

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

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Best of our wild blogs: 11 Aug 09

18 Aug (Tue): Prof. Leo Tan on "Confessions of a Nature Addict" from wild shores of singapore

Mangroves in the Mizzle: Pasir Ris
from wild shores of singapore

Guided walk at Sensory Trail
from Urban Forest

Common Kingfisher bashing fish
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Crimson Sunbird stealing nectar from flowers
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Read more!

Caring economics as the way forward

Neither capitalism nor communism seems to have got it right, economically speaking. It's time for a new tack
Teh Hooi Ling, Business Times 11 Aug 09;

ADAM Smith (1723-1790) saw the market economy as a near-ideal system. Karl Marx (1818-1883), on the other hand, saw capitalism as a way for the rich to oppress the poor, and hence denounced it as an unpleasant interval on the inevitable path to socialism.

In the last 30 years or so, capitalism has been winning converts, and has been almost universally accepted as the best system available for a country to achieve economic progress. But the recent global financial crisis has exposed the failings of the capitalist system as we know it.

As noted by Tony Tan, deputy chairman and executive director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), in his speech at the Economic Society of Singapore's annual dinner this week, the major challenge ahead is the uncertainty raised by the apparent failure of Western or American models, and the 'serious unanswered questions on the role of markets and the state, including the appropriate level of regulation and state intervention'.

Many of the world's leading thinkers are now cracking their heads trying to come up with improvements for the current systems. Some answers may well be found in the book The Real Wealth of Nations - Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler. She points out the fundamental flaws in our current system, which range from how the economy is being measured, the way we accord value to different types of activities, and the policies put in place by governments the world over to pursue so-called economic growth. She proposes a way forward - through 'caring economics'.

The flaws

First, let's start with what's wrong with current economic rules and practices. For one, they do not adequately value the most essential human work: the work of caring for ourselves, others and Mother Earth.

The work of housewives is not captured in the measurement of economic prosperity, be it national gross product or national income. But the fact is, housewives perform one of the most important economic functions. Household is the production unit of the most valuable economic resource today: human capital.

And because of how economic prosperity is measured and compared, economic policies are geared towards improving these numbers. As a result, it is more rewarding money-wise to pursue careers in the outside world. The caring and nurturing of the young, sadly in many newly developed countries, is being delegated to foreign domestic helpers.

Here's another insanity, noted Ms Eisler: Economic indicators like GDP and GNP (gross national product) put many of the costs of uncaring business practices on the plus side, rather than on the minus side, of productivity calculations. For example, rather than listing the clean-up costs from negligent oil spills as an economic liability, GNP and GDP include them as part of national productivity. So the billion-dollar cost of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez spill was included in the US GNP. But the reality is, the oil spill killed millions of wild creatures and ruined the livelihood of local people for years and damaged their health. The effects are still being felt today.

Exxon, instead of coming forward to pay for the damage, spent millions of dollars on lawyers - expenses that were included in US GNP. Also included were court costs, cost of the expert witnesses and the 14 million documents they filed.

The enormous economic cost of wars is another example of how the real costs of uncaring economic policies and practices are hidden by current measurements. Again, these costs are put on the plus side. For example, the billions of tax dollars the US government paid to contractors, soldiers and others involved in the Iraq War have been included in GNP, along with the medical costs of all the soldiers maimed in the war and the funeral costs of the thousands killed in it. On top of that, the reconstruction costs of Iraq after the invasion - including fees to large US corporations - are also on the plus side of US GNP.

World War II was credited as the event which pulled the US out of the Great Depression. A few months back, when the recent financial crisis was in its darkest hours, some economists ventured that perhaps only a war could pull the world out of the impending depression!

A large part of how the economic indicators were developed stems from our deep- rooted cultural beliefs and value systems on what is valuable and what is not. These beliefs, Ms Eisler says, can be traced back to earlier times when anything associated with the female half of humanity - such as caring and caregiving - was devalued.

This 'systemic devaluation of the activities that contribute the most to human welfare and development' lies behind some of the economic insanities mentioned above. The bulk of the caring work is not included in GNP and GDP calculations. Caregiving is given little economic policy support. And in the market economy, work that entails caregiving is paid sub-standard wages.

Nurses, kindergarten teachers, child and elderly care service providers don't make big bucks. In the US, plumbers are paid US$50-60 an hour. But childcare workers, people whom we entrust our children to, are paid an average US$10 an hour, according to the US Department of Labor.

In addition, the current US-style capitalist system - to a large extent - is based on domination, as opposed to partnership. In the domination system, one is either the dominator or the dominated. Managements of large corporations are dominators. They control those below them. Economic policies and practices in this system (influenced by powerful lobbies and political campaign contributions) are designed to benefit those on top, at the expense of those at the bottom. Among the assumptions of a domination system are:

# the main motivation for work are fear of pain and scarcity;

# caring and caregiving are impediments to productivity, or at best irrelevant to economics;

# selfishness will lead to the greater good.

The remedy

A much more sensible and realistic economic system, argues Ms Eisler, is one which accords greater value to things and activities that support and advance human survival and human development.

Hence, a caring orientation - concern for the welfare and development of ourselves, others and our natural environment - should be highly valued. Such caring orientation should be fostered in homes, businesses, communities and governments. While not all caring and care- giving activities can be paid for in money, there is a large body of evidence to show that caring policies, be they in a corporation or in a country, do yield significant returns on investment.

For example, Chase Manhattan's investment in back-up childcare services for employees yielded a 115 per cent return on investment (ROI), saving the company 6,900 workdays in just one year. First Tennessee National Corporation found that by transforming its corporate culture into a truly caring one - really putting the interests of employees first - it became the most profitable in its class, by a factor of two. It is consistently the most profitable bank. The bank retains 97 per cent of customers, who are better served by long-term employees who feel valued.

The return on public investment in good childcare is also substantial. A study in 1998 showed that the cost for all Canadian children to participate in high-quality childcare and pre-school programmes would be about C$5.3 billion (S$7.1 billion) per year. But the economic value of additional benefits to children and parents would be C$10.6 billion - a 200 per cent ROI. The authors of the study urged the Canadian government to make high quality childcare and pre-school education a top priority. The collective benefits to society and the workforce of the future would be immense, they said. Elsewhere, the Nordic nations, which orient more closely to the partnership system premised on mutually respectful and caring relations, enjoy a higher quality of life.

Ms Eisler suggests six foundations required for a caring economic system. Among them are a full-spectrum economic map including the household economy, unpaid community economy, market economy, illegal economy, government economy, and natural economy. Two, beliefs and institutions should orient to the partnership system rather than the domination system. There should be more equitable and participatory structures supporting relations rather than the concentration of economic assets and power at the top. Three, government and business rules, policies and practices should encourage and reward caring and caregiving. The rules, policies and practices should meet human needs for materials and for development. Effects of policies and technological breakthroughs on future generations should be considered.

Conclusion

The fact is neither capitalist nor communist systems have been able to solve chronic problems such as environmental degradation, poverty, the violence of war and terrorism that divert and destroy economic resources and blight so many lives. In fact, many of these problems have been the result of both capitalist and communist economic policies, argues Ms Eisler.

As Einstein remarked, we cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them. Hence a whole new way of looking at economic systems should be considered. There is no better time to start the ball rolling on the movement towards caring economics than now. Perhaps one country which is in a good place to attempt that move is China, given that it is still an economy in transition. Someone noted:

1949 - Only socialism can save China

1979 - Only capitalism can save China

1989 - Only China can save socialism

2009 - Only China can save capitalism.

But is capitalism as we know it worth saving? Perhaps China can evolve its own brand of economics - one that is caring.

# The writer is a CFA charterholder

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Life in Singapore: Not so black and white

Philip Merry, Straits Times 11 Aug 09;

I AM British. I have lived in Singapore for 20 years and I think Singapore is one of the best places on earth to live.

Yet, when in conversation with Singaporean friends about what can be improved here, I am often told: 'Well, if you don't like it you can leave!'

I usually retort: 'I love Singapore. I have lived longer here than I have lived anywhere in my 59 years. But that doesn't mean I have to forget my critical faculty.'

This is similar to the reaction of Singaporeans to the recent praise from Canadian Eric Brooks, telling him : 'Well, if you like it so much why don't you become a citizen.'

What is it about Singaporeans that causes such black and white thinking? To me the sign of a great nation - and a great citizen - is pride in the country coupled with the ability to recognise what needs to be improved.

I am proud to be a British citizen but that does not blind me to my country's many faults. Both go hand in hand - it's not an 'either/or' matter.

Too often the debate in Singapore forces people into 'hate it' or 'love it' camps. That gets us nowhere. In fact, I would argue that my love of Singapore (or Britain) requires that I be critical of aspects of the country that I find difficult.

Having spent the last 20 years here teaching cross-cultural understanding to Singaporeans as they strive to work with other cultures, I feel I have a certain licence to speak - as a permanent resident and a friend, if not as a citizen.

My key message to Singaporeans is this: Look at what you love about Singapore and more often than not you will find that there is a shadow side to each one of its strengths. Above is my list of Singapore's pros and cons. What is yours?

Is Singapore a wonderful place to live? Yes, no doubt. Has it one of the best physical, social and cultural environments in the world? Yes, certainly.

But please Singaporeans, for the sake of the future of your great nation, don't lose the critical factor.

It is never 'either/or'.

The writer is CEO of the Global Leadership Academy.

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Campaign to attract more farm visitors

Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 10 Aug 09;

SINGAPORE: Not many people know much about Singapore's countryside. To change that, Singapore's farmers have come up with a new campaign.

14 farms in the Kranji and Choa Chu Kang areas have started a farm-pass for visitors. The pass will be stamped after every farm visit.

Every 7th and 14th stamp gives a visitor a chance at a lucky dip. Prizes include free lodging at farm resorts.

During weekends, there are also free shuttle buses to ferry visitors from the Yew Tee and Kranji MRT stations to the farms.

In less than two weeks, the campaign has led to a 30 percent increase in the number of visitors, to nearly 10,000.- CNA/ir

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Singapore firm nets shrimp deal in China

Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times 11 Aug 09;

A SINGAPORE-based aquaculture company has netted an endorsement from the China government to supply disease-resistant baby shrimp to farms across the country.

T-Tech International Singapore, set up last year, will supply first-generation shrimp fries from its farm in Fengxian district, Shanghai municipality.

This agreement gives it a foothold in China, which provides 65 per cent of the world's shrimp supply.

'It gives us credibility as there are firms claiming to be providing first-generation shrimp but they may be taking short cuts and mixing first and second generations,' said executive director Alex Chin, 49.

A spokesman from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said this is the first local firm it knew of that had cracked China in this way.

'Using good quality shrimp fry that are selectively bred for fast growth and certified disease-free against certain diseases is a positive step towards minimising the risk of disease outbreaks and getting a more predictable yield in shrimp farming,' he said.

First-generation shrimp are from parent shrimp which have been genetically selected to ensure their offspring are disease resistant.

T-Tech buys genetically selected parent shrimp from Shrimp Improvement Systems, a United States company with a presence in Singapore.

It breeds them in seawater in its Hainan hatchery before transporting the fries by sea and air to its Fengxian farm to sell. The process, from hatching to selling, takes about 15 days.

The majority of shrimp farms in China use second- and third-generation shrimp, which are 30 per cent to 40 per cent more susceptible to disease, especially white spot - the main killer of shrimp, explained Mr Chin.

Currently, only 3 per cent of all shrimp fries bred and sold in China are first generation - which are usually resistant to white spot.

According to Mr Chin, there are currently six to eight companies which provide first-generation shrimp fries in China, all with foreign components.

The company aims to set up farms in Fujian and Jiangsu provinces.

So far this year, T-Tech has sold 1.2 billion shrimp fries in China, and hopes to up this to five billion next year.

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Warsono: Mangrove man

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post 11 Aug 09;

That mangrove trees can flourish in Tirtohargo village, even as plants in nearby areas fail to develop, is a tribute to the determination of Warsono.

A few years ago, the 71-year-old farmer, who is also known as Mbah Petruk, decided to do something to improve the environment in his remote village in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, where he has lived for decades.

Thanks to the concerns of this grandfather of six, dozens of hectares of mangrove plants in Tirtohargo have taken root and are flourishing. As a demonstration of his characteristic creativity, resourcefulness and determination, Mbah Petruk is willing to protect the mangrove seedlings for no payment.

And there are plenty of predators he must protect them from.

The first hazard, he told The Jakarta Post, were the buffalo. Many residents of the area run their herds of buffalo in the areas where mangrove seedlings were planted. Thousands of seedlings have already been lost to the beasts, whether because they were gobbled up or trampled underfoot.

Instead of losing his temper on seeing his seedlings thus demolished, Mbah Petruk requested a gathering of all the buffalo herdsmen. After a series of discussions, an agreement was reached: If a buffalo should trample or eat a mangrove seedling, the owner of that buffalo would be required to pay a fine.

“My idea of imposing a fine came after almost one year of friendly approaches to the buffalo herdsmen,” Mbah Petruk said. “If a buffalo comes along and eats the mangrove seedlings, we just count how many plants have been destroyed and we charge a fine of Rp 5,000 per plant.”

But even after the buffalo had been dealt with, many of the seedlings kept dying. Closer examination revealed that the plants’ growth was being hampered by the presence of waste – such as dung and plastic waste – and fungal growths.

Tidying up was required. So, to make sure the plants stayed alive, every morning before 6 o’clock Mbah Petruk made time to walk around the mangrove plantation areas, an area that stretches 4 kilometers along the edge of the beach, clearing away any rubbish clinging to the mangrove seedlings or lurking in the area.

He would take a rest every one to two hours, and conducted his routine in conjunction with his farm work. In the afternoon while he was looking for grass to feed his three cows, Mbah Petruk walked around again to clean up any rubbish that had gathered during the day. To make it easier to look after the mangroves, he sometimes kept his cows near the beach, not far from the mangrove plantation area.

“For almost one year, every day I walked around to clean up the rubbish. Well, every day I walked seven kilometers around the mangrove area,” he said. “I didn’t get any payment, but I’m just happy to see the area become green so the crops can grow well, as they do now.”

As part of his work looking after the trees, Mbah Petruk occasionally spreads fertilizer and sprays them to stimulate growth. All the fertilizers and sprays he uses are organic.

Moreover, said Mbah Petruk, “I live in an area near the beach.” Which means that if something happens, such as a tsunami, he and his neighbors will be the first victims. So, he insists, there needs to be a natural barrier in the form of mangrove trees.

Through Mbah Petruk’s hard work, more than 30,000 mangrove trees are now thriving in the area, with the forests having really started to take off in 2006. As well as protecting agricultural crops from the wind, the establishment of the mangrove forests has increased the number of fish.

“The fish get more plentiful because they like a place to lay their eggs which is calm, and that’s around mangrove trees,” he said.

But Mbah Petruk will be the first to admit there was a time he didn’t see the value or significance of mangrove forests.

It was only when he received some training in 2003 and was invited to see mangrove forests in other regions that Mbah Petruk fell in love with the idea and became fiercely determined to ensure his own land and village were thick and green with mangroves.

As a volunteer and conservation motivator, in 2003 Mbah Petruk was paid a salary of Rp 500,000 (US$50) per month by an NGO called Relung.

“For one year I was paid to look after the mangroves,” said Mbah Petruk, indicating the his area of
responsibility, which is now thick with trees.

But since 2004, Mbah Petruk has been employed in a volunteer capacity only. Even without being paid, however, he continues to guard the mangroves to this day.

One achievement that Mbah Petruk is proud of is that other communities, having seen the effects, have started supporting the preservation and development of mangrove forests.

“The community here is committed to being involved in the conservation,” he said. “A long time ago, I was the lone guard of the mangroves, but now I have many supporters. If there are people from outside the area who destroy the trees and one of the community members sees what’s happening, they will certainly immediately come and warn someone.”

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Call in Malaysia for open burning ban to be permanent

Minderjeet Kaur, New Straits Times 11 Aug 09;

KUALA LUMPUR: The government said yesterday that open burning in Sabah and Sarawak will be banned till the end of the year, but an environmental watchdog wants it to be stopped permanently.

The Centre for Environment, Technology and Development (CETD) also urged the government to play a bigger role to stop the use of open burning to clear forests in Indonesia.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said open burning was only allowed in Sabah and Sarawak, but the authorities have stopped issuing permits for such activities until the end of the year.

"We are now also looking at managing peat fires.

"If we do not control it, the haze will get worse," he said after launching the 8th International Symposium and Exhibition on Geoinformation here yesterday.


In the long term, he said he would discuss with the authorities to ban open burning during dry spells.

He said that they may not be able to stop open burning but they could at least allow it to take place at certain months of the year and thereby minimise its impact on the haze.

The government would also attend a haze control meeting this month to discuss long-term solutions to manage peat fires, he said.

This is to implement various measures between Asean countries that could help deal with the haze problem, he added.

Meanwhile, CETD chairman Gurmit Singh felt that open burning should be disallowed. Otherwise, the haze problem would continue to surface every year.

Haze blankets Trans-Kalimantan highway
The Jakarta Post 10 Aug 09;

Smoldering haze from bush and peat land fires in Central Kalimantan has covered the Trans-Kalimantan highway, Antara news agency reported.

"Over the past week, haze has disrupted traffic on the Trans-Kalimantan highway connecting Palangkaraya and Banjarmasin ," Ahmat Baderi, a driver, said Monday.

The haze has reduced visibility and caused respiratory problems in the area, he added.

The Palangkaraya Health Agency reported that a total of 1,882 people had suffered from respiratory problems due to the haze in the first week of August. Local residents have been forced to wear masks because of the smoke.

Fires have become more frequent and widespread especially in Sumatra and Kalimantan due to human-induced changes in the forest ecosystem.

The fires have also sparked complaints about the export of the haze from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

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