Want to do more to fight climate change? Cut down on driving, buying stuff and eating meat

Aqil Haziq Mahmud Channel NewsAsia 8 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE: In the battle against climate change, environment experts have urged individuals to look beyond single-use plastic and make bigger changes in their daily lives: Drive and fly less, and change what they eat and buy.

"Most of the individual actions people can do are often less visible than not using straws, and requires an effort to change behaviour for the long term," Associate Professor Winston Chow of the Singapore Management University (SMU) told CNA on Wednesday (Aug 7).
"Some steps would be to reduce consumption of goods, materials and services that generate carbon emissions."

A Mediacorp survey released on Wednesday showed that more than nine in 10 Singaporeans and permanent residents agreed that they would do their part to "minimise the impact" of climate change.

But what exactly should they do?

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Singaporeans want to go green but need to learn how to recycle properly, survey finds

TESSA OH Today Online 8 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans are generally quite proactive in taking steps towards a more sustainable way of living but more education is needed to teach people how to recycle properly, a recent online straw poll has found.

The online survey, which polled 100 people aged 16 and above between July 5 and 22, was conducted by Black Dot Research, a Singapore-based market and social research agency.

It found that while Singaporeans try to recycle using the blue bins located in housing estates, close to a third of respondents believed that plastic drinking straws, used paper cups and used plastic cutlery can be placed in the bins when they are in fact not recyclable.

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The link between durian and climate change

Audrey Tan Straits Times 8 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - Global hunger for staples like rice is fuelling the release of planet-warming emissions, a new scientific report released on Thursday (Aug 8) shows.

Closer to home, the growing appetite for other delicacies is also contributing to climate change, with forests in places like Malaysia being cleared to make way for Musang King durian plantations.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) special report on climate change and land shines the spotlight on how the way humans have been using land is affecting the planet.

Agriculture is a major focus of the report authored by 103 scientists from 52 countries.

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Singapore lauds Indonesia's forest fire control efforts

Antara 7 Aug 19;

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government's efforts to combat land and forest fires have received appreciation at the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states in Brunei Darussalam to discuss transboundary haze pollution. "We concluded the meeting only last night. During the two-day session no participant (complained about) transboundary (haze pollution) from Indonesia. We explained our concrete efforts in the field but we must admit that it is very difficult to put out peatland fires," Director of Land and Forest Fire Control of the Environment and Forestry Ministry Raffles B Panjaitan said in a written statement released Wednesday.

"I met with Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Sources Masagos Zulkifli. He thanked the Indonesian government for its efforts to handle land and forest fires and sent best regards to Minister Siti Nurbaya," he said.

The integrated land and forest fire control task force comprising personnel from the military, police, national and regional disaster mitigation agencies, village heads, firefighters, fire brigades of national parks, natural resource and ecosystem conservation agency have continued their efforts to control fires arising from vulnerable areas, Raffles said.

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Malaysia: Hot and dry weather until October, says the weatherman

The Star 8 Aug 19;

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with less rainfall until October, says Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.

She said apart from Malaysia, neighbouring countries Singapore and Sumatra in Indonesia are expected to experience the same weather pattern.

"We expect to experience a shortage of rainfall with warmer and drier weather this year without the El Nino and La Nina phenomena until October, " she said when asked about the essence of the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting and the Ministerial Steering Committee Sub-Region on Cross-border Haze Pollution in Brunei.

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Indonesia: Haze-induced respiratory ailments inflict 1,136 Pekanbaru residents

Antara 7 Aug 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - At least 1,136 residents of Pekanbaru, Riau Province, have suffered from upper respiratory tract infection following exposure to haze arising from forest fires raging in the province’s several districts.

All community health posts in Pekanbaru were notified to be prepared to deliver optimal services to respiratory patients, Mohammad Amin, acting head of the Pekanbaru health office, noted here on Wednesday.

Most outpatients were people belonging to the productive age group that often conducted outdoor activities, he explained.

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Indonesia: Forest fire allegedly drives tiger into Chevron facility

Antara 7 Aug 19;

"From the video we can see that it is a healthy tiger, and it is normal for him to escape from human presence," he noted.
Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - A wild Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) was captured on camera roaming around the facility of oil firm PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia, Siak District, Wednesday, allegedly fleeing from the forest fire that gutted the region.

"Yes, it has been confirmed that it is a Sumatran tiger. It appeared this morning at 7 a.m. local time," Head of the Riau Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) Suharyono told ANTARA on the sidelines of the commemoration of National Natural Conservation Day 2019 here on Wednesday.

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Indonesia: Sumatran tiger preservation to entail adoption of cultural approach

Antara 7 Aug 19;

Indonesia is in a state of emergency with regard to the use of animal traps currently
Batam, Riau Island (ANTARA) - The comprehensive adoption of a cultural approach is deemed necessary to preserve some 600 Sumatran tigers (Phanteratigris sumatrae) surviving in the wilderness.

In the olden days, the Sumatran people, such as those in Kerinci, Jambi Province, lived on stilt houses in harmony with faunal species, including tigers, Hizbullah Arief, communication and reporting staff of the Tiger Project of the UNDP Sumatra Tiger Management Unit, noted in Batam on the sidelines of a discussion on Sumatran tiger preservation efforts on Tuesday evening.

The people had applied local wisdom and led a life in harmony with the environment, he pointed out.

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Best of our wild blogs: 7 Aug 19

Fish Expedition Day 7 - Why do we need to kill the fishes?
wild shores of singapore

How do Cuckoos choose their hosts?
Singapore Bird Group

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9 in 10 S'pore youths willing to do their part for the environment, but want Govt to do more: Survey

NAVENE ELANGOVAN Today Online 7 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE — A survey by Mediacorp has found that the vast majority of Singapore youths are concerned about the impact of climate change and want to do their part to address the problem.

At the same time, they also want the Government to do more on this front — with nearly a third of those aged between 18 and 24, for example, believing that Singapore’s current infrastructure is inadequate to withstand the impact of climate change.

Conducted between July 20 and 24, the online survey polled 1,002 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 18 and above on their views about climate change and the Government's actions on the issue. Days before the survey was carried out, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli described climate change as a “pressing priority and existential challenge”.

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About 30% of Singapore’s recyclable waste exported overseas in 2018: Masagos

Matthew Mohan Channel NewsAsia 6 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE: About 30 per cent of Singapore’s recyclable waste was exported to other countries last year, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli on Tuesday (Aug 6).

The bulk of recyclables are processed locally, he said in a written parliamentary reply.

Mr Masagos was responding to Non-constituency Member of Parliament Daniel Goh, who asked how much of Singapore's recyclable waste is exported to overseas processors, and which countries were the largest receivers of such waste from Singapore.

“Singapore recycles, on average, around 60 per cent of our total waste generated,” said Mr Masagos.

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Every Singaporean household throws away an average S$258 worth of food a year: Study

LOW YOUJIN Today Online 6 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE — Even though Singapore prides itself on all things culinary, a new study has found that each household here throws away an estimated S$258 worth of unconsumed food annually.

Across all households, that amounts to about S$342 million of wasted food a year. Put another way, an average household tosses away the equivalent of 52 plates of nasi lemak over 12 months.

The study, published on Tuesday (Aug 6), was conducted by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), and looked at both household food waste, and the large amount of food lost before it ever gets to the customer — during production, packaging and storage, for example.

Two million tonnes of food is imported into Singapore, of which 393,000 tonnes is lost.

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