Experts reject Indonesia's carbon emission status

The Jakarta Post 11 Nov 09;

Environmental experts say the country is not a carbon emitter, countering a report sponsored by the World Bank and Britain’s development arm that ranked the country the world’s third-largest emitter after the US and China.

The report, which was released in 2007, said that Indonesia’s total annual emissions of carbon dioxide reached 3 billion tons after the US, the world’s top emitter with 6 billion tons, followed by China with 5 billion tons.

Nani Hendiarti, a marine researcher from the National Assessment and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT), said Tuesday that Indonesian waters absorbed more carbon than they released.

Nani said the conclusion was based on her study that analyzed data of sea temperatures from the last 24 years.

Her simulation showed that the country’s waters with cool average temperatures were larger than
areas with average warm tempe-ratures.

Cool seawater absorbs carbon, while warm seawater releases it.

“I have estimated that the average temperature of our cool waters is minus 0.18 degree Celcius, while our warm areas have an average temperature of 0.08 degree Celcius,” she said during a press conference held by the Association of the Indonesian Scholars of Oceanography in Jakarta.

“The research result shows the average temperature of cool waters is twice as large as the temperature of warmer seawater,” she said.

She added that over the last 24 years, Indonesian waters were characterized by cooler temperatures.
She acknowledged that Indonesia released huge amounts of carbon, but said the amount released was smaller than that absorbed.

“We have phytoplankton beneath our waters that absorbs carbon,” she said.

Phytoplankton obtains energy through the process of photo-synthesis.

“Photosynthesis is responsible for much of the oxygen present in the earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, it absorbs a lot of carbon to release oxygen.”

She estimated the number of Phytoplankton could reach a million cells per liter of water.

Edvin Aldrian, chairman of the Center of Air Quality and Climate Change at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), told the conference that sea temperatures had a more significant impact on the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere than illegal logging. (nia)

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Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta top list of Asian cities facing brutal climate future

WWF 12 Nov 09;

Hong Kong – Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta are topping a WWF ranking of the climate vulnerability of 11 major cities in Asia.

As Heads of States gather in Singapore for the APEC summit, WWF says that developed and developing countries must cooperate to prepare these cities for a brutal climate future, highlighting that their vulnerability is yet another compelling reason for a fair, ambitious and binding deal at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.

According to Mega-Stress For Mega-Cities, many of the cities analyzed are extremely exposed to threats such as storms and flooding, while huge numbers of people and assets at stake result in worrying levels of socio-economic sensitivity. At the same time, the cities often lack capacity to protect themselves from devastating impacts.

“Climate change is already shattering cities across developing Asia and will be even more brutal in the future”, said Kim Carstensen, Leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative. “These cities are vulnerable and need urgent help to adapt, in order to protect the lives of millions of citizens, a massive amount of assets, and their large contributions to the national GDP.”

“The APEC summit this week in Singapore provides an opportunity to exploit the true win-win potential offered by low carbon growth strategies for countries in the Asia Pacific region, with benefits for both the economy and the climate.”

The WWF report covers 11 urban centers across Asia, all located in coastal areas or river deltas. Following Dhaka (9 out of 10 possible vulnerability points), other cities at high risk are Manila and Jakarta (8 each), Calcutta and Phnom Penh (7 each), Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai (6 each), Bangkok (5), and Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore (4 each).

“Asia is urbanizing rapidly, and we can be certain that urban areas will be crucial battlegrounds in the fight against climate change”, said Carstensen.

“Cities are responsible for most of the world’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, but they are also pioneers when it comes to developing innovative solutions. We can’t afford to surrender them to climate change. Instead, we must empower them to become change agents and protect both rural and urban areas from devastating impacts.”

The report also includes rankings for sub-categories such as environmental exposure, socio-economic sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Poorer cities often lack sufficient adaptive capacity and generally rank higher in terms of their overall vulnerability.

“Leaders in hotspots of danger like Dhaka, Manila or Jakarta need urgent support from their counterparts in the industrialized world. Effective near-term and long-term adaptation will depend on financial support, technology cooperation, and capacity building”, said Carstensen.

According to WWF, this week’s APEC summit in Singapore provides leaders from developed and developing countries around the Pacific with a great opportunity to boost cooperation on adaptation to climate impacts as well as low carbon economic growth.

“Now we are only a couple of weeks away from the Copenhagen Climate Summit, but so far leaders have failed to clear the way for success next month in Denmark”, said Carstensen.

“APEC is the last chance before Copenhagen for leaders from a number of key countries to show that they really want to protect the planet from climate change.”

* Mega Cities report 2.02 MB pdf
* Mega Cities executive summary 754 KB pdf

Major Asian cities face climate disaster: WWF
Roberto Coloma AFP 12 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE — Low-lying and impoverished Asian coastal cities such as Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta are vulnerable to "brutal" damage from climate change without global action, environmental group WWF warned Thursday.

Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions must be curtailed in "mega-cities" where global warming will affect everything from national security to water availability, the influential campaign group said.

"Climate change is already shattering cities across developing Asia and will be even more brutal in the future," said Kim Carstensen, head of the WWF Global Climate Initiative.

"These cities are vulnerable and need urgent help to adapt, in order to protect the lives of millions of citizens, a massive amount of assets, and their large contributions to the national GDP (gross domestic product)."

Including their suburbs, Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta now have a combined population of about 49 million, according to WWF.

It said better-off cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore also faced varying degrees of risk from climate change, such as rising sea levels, excessive rain, flooding and heatwaves.

Hong Kong could see dramatically fewer cold days per year while dengue fever appears to be spreading to previously unaffected parts of Singapore, it noted.

"Asia is the most populous and arguably the most vulnerable continent in the world because of the high risk of climate impacts and relatively low adaptive capacity," the report said.

"Unfortunately, the full extent of climate change has likely not been fully realised," it said, noting that temperatures in Asia have risen by one to three degrees Centigrade (two to five degrees Fahrenheit) in the last 100 years.

WWF issued its report to coincide with a weekend summit here to be attended by US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Asia-Pacific leaders.

The summit takes place three weeks before crucial talks on a new world climate pact open in Copenhagen on December 7.

WWF said that on a "vulnerability" scale going up to 10, Dhaka rated nine points, and Manila and Jakarta eight each.

"Leaders in hotspots of danger like Dhaka, Manila or Jakarta need urgent support from their counterparts in the industrialised world," Carstensen said.

"Effective near-term and long-term adaptation will depend on financial support, technology cooperation, and capacity-building," he said.

Calcutta and Phnom Penh received scores of seven each on the WWF danger scale, Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai six each, Bangkok five, and Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore four each.

It urged the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to use their summit to promote strategies to reduce carbon emissions across the 21-member organisation.

In a communique to be issued at the end of their annual meeting Sunday, the APEC leaders are expected to declare their support for a global deal at next month's Copenhagen climate gathering.

"We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, recognising that the time-frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries," said a draft of the statement obtained by AFP.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Thursday that it would seek a "fair and reasonable" result at Copenhagen but reiterated that rich nations must bear most of the burden for redressing global warming.

The WWF report said that while they cause many of their own climate-related problems, Asia's big cities are also part of the solution.

It said "cities are hot spots of innovation and technology and have therefore traditionally been the places where many of the solutions to the world's problems have been developed."

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Climate takes back seat at APEC

David Fogarty, Reuters 11 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - With little prospect of any new climate change initiatives emerging at an APEC meeting in Singapore this weekend, the climate agenda might instead focus on liberalizing trade in green goods and services.

Keeping the fragile global economic recovery on track will dominate the talks at the 21-member Pacific rim group meeting, but climate change is also expected to feature prominently with just weeks to go before a major U.N. climate gathering.

Analysts, however, say the leaders will offer no major initiatives to give the Copenhagen talks a much needed push.

The United Nations wants the December 7-18 Copenhagen meeting to yield a broader, and tougher, legally binding agreement by all nations to fight climate change but negotiations have largely stalled, dimming hopes of success.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum gathering represents one of the final opportunities ahead of Copenhagen for world leaders to try to overcome differences on the shape of a broader climate pact to fight rising seas, more chaotic weather and threats to crops and livelihoods.

APEC, which ranges from economic giants the United States, Japan and China to oil-rich Brunei, accounts for more than 40 percent of world trade and over 60 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

"I wouldn't really expect major progress. I think it's going to be overwhelmed by trade, financing," said Changhua Wu, Greater China Director for think tank The Climate Group.

She pointed to the depressing mood that had settled over the Copenhagen talks process and the huge range of unresolved issues.

"I think we could see greater emphasis on macroeconomic stability in general this year," said Leong Wai Ho, senior regional economist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.

But he pointed to the region being prone to costly climate disasters such as typhoons and storm surges and the predicted greater intensity of such disasters as the planet warms.

Recent storms in Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines have killed hundreds, destroyed roads, bridges, farms and homes, lowered farm output and pushed up food prices.

"This link suggests that, despite the distraction from the global economic crisis, APEC leaders are widely expected to call for further cuts in energy consumption amongst themselves at the Singapore meeting," Leong told Reuters.

Wu and other analysts said APEC might try to boost regional trade in clean-energy products and services.

"Our argument would be if you want to push the economy into gear again a very good way to do that would be through green investments because they normally imply a lot of jobs," said Kim Carstensen, the head of conservation group WWF's global climate initiative.

China, South Korea and Japan have large spending plans to boost the clean-energy sector and are keen to boost global market share. The United States is also pushing for greater market access for its green goods.

KEEPING FACTORIES HUMMING

In a draft leaders' declaration obtained by Reuters, APEC backs limiting the global average temperature increase to within 2 degrees Celsius and for emissions to peak within the next few years and then fall by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

The timeframe for the emissions peak would be longer in developing countries, the draft says. It reinforces an earlier goal of reducing energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030 and to try to boost trade in green goods and services.

Given the fragility of the global recovery and concerns over rising unemployment in the United States, bread-and-butter issues will dominate leaders' discussions, said Song Seng Wun, senior economist at CIMB brokerage in Singapore.

"First things first is to get the factories humming again and Americans start spending again with their own money," he said.

The leaders' final declaration needed to point to goals and benchmarks for success at Copenhagen, said Carstensen.

"I would look to them to produce some signals of ambition, referring to Copenhagen, referring to Copenhagen as a place where results need to be achieved," he said.

A key climate benchmark for APEC would be the final text retaining the goal to cut emissions by half by 2050.

"Normally it doesn't survive in these kinds of circumstances," Carstensen said, referring to past objections from China and other big developing nations on adopting a 2050 emissions target unless rich nations adopt a 2020 target as well. The draft doesn't mention a 2020 target.

Some analysts also pointed to the growing threat of protectionism and U.S. and French references to slapping so-called "carbon tariffs" on goods from big developing nations.

"Rather than looking for positive ways to win-win, we are turning to win-lose," said Simon Tay, Schwartz Fellow of the U.S.-based Asia Society.

(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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Playing with weather stirs debate in China

Yahoo News 11 Nov 09;

BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese scientists artificially induced the second major snowstorm to wreak havoc in Beijing this season, state media said, reigniting debate over the practice of tinkering with Mother Nature.

After the earliest snow to hit the capital in 22 years fell on November 1, the capital was again shrouded in white Tuesday with more snow expected in the coming three days, the National Meteorological Centre said.

The China Daily, citing an unnamed official, said the Beijing Weather Modification Office had artificially induced both storms by seeding clouds with chemicals, a practice that can increase precipitation by up to 20 percent.

The office refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP. On Tuesday, an official had said the storm was "natural".

City weather officials have previously said that such methods are aimed at alleviating a drought over much of north China, including Beijing, that has lingered for more than a decade.

But residents have griped about the flight delays, traffic snarls, cancelled classes and other inconveniences of a surprise snow storm, saying officials could warn them if they are planning to toy with the clouds.

Beyond the day-to-day hassles, experts said the weather manipulation had other undesirable side-effects in the longer term, the paper reported.

"No one can tell how much weather manipulation will change the sky," Xiao Gang, a professor in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the paper.

"We should not depend too much on artificial measures to get rain or snow, because there are too many uncertainties up in the sky."

Zhao Nan, a Beijing engineer, was quoted as saying the more than 5,500 tonnes of erosive snow-melting chloride used on city roads Tuesday -- nearly half the annual allotment -- could "erode steel structures of buildings".

In 2005, the snow-melting agent was responsible for killing 10,000 trees in Beijing and decimating 200,000 square metres (2.15 million square feet) of grassland, the paper said, citing official statistics.

Despite a massive effort to clear the capital of snow that involved over 15,000 workers, many roads remained blocked, while highways into Beijing and in neighbouring Hebei and Shanxi provinces were closed, state press reports said.

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It takes a new model of development to hug a tree

Thomas Friedman, The New York Times in the Business Times 12 Nov 09;

NO matter how many times you hear them, there are some statistics that just bowl you over. The one that always stuns me is this: Imagine if you took all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships in the world and added up their exhaust every year. The amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, that all those cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships collectively emit into the atmosphere is actually less than the carbon emissions every year that result from the chopping down and clearing of tropical forests in places such as Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo.

We are now losing a tropical forest the size of New York state every year and the carbon that releases into the atmosphere now accounts for roughly 17 per cent of all global emissions contributing to climate change.

It is going to be a long time before we transform the world's transportation fleet so that it is emission-free. But right now - like tomorrow - we could eliminate 17 per cent of all global emissions if we could halt the cutting and burning of tropical forests. But to do that requires putting in place a whole new system of economic development - one that makes it more profitable for the poorer, forest- rich, nations to preserve and manage their trees rather than to chop them down to make furniture or plant soya beans. Without a new system for economic development in the timber-rich tropics, you can kiss the rainforests goodbye. The old model of economic growth will devour them. The only Amazon your grandchildren will ever relate to is the one that ends in dot-com and sells books.

To better understand this issue, I'm visiting the Tapajos National Forest in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon on a trip organised by Conservation International and the Brazilian government. Flying in here by prop plane from Manaus, you can understand why the Amazon rainforest is considered one of the lungs of the world. Even from 20,000 feet, all you see in every direction is an unbroken expanse of rainforest treetops that, from the air, looks like a vast and endless carpet of broccoli.

Once on the ground, we drove from Santarem into Tapajos, where we met with the community cooperative that manages the eco- friendly businesses here that support the 8,000 local people living in this protected forest. What you learn when you visit a tiny Brazilian community that actually lives in, and off, the forest is a simple but crucial truth: To save an ecosystem of nature, you need an ecosystem of markets and governance. 'You need a new model of economic development - one that is based on raising people's standards of living by maintaining their natural capital, not just by converting that natural capital to ranching or industrial farming or logging,' said Jose Maria Silva, vice-president for South America of Conservation International.

Right now, people protecting the rainforest are paid a pittance - compared with those who strip it - even though we now know that the rainforest provides everything from keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere to maintaining the flow of fresh water into rivers.

The good news is that Brazil has put in place all the elements of a system to compensate its forest-dwellers for maintaining the forests.

Brazil has already set aside 43 per cent of the Amazon rainforest for conservation and for indigenous peoples. Another 19 per cent of the Amazon, though, has already been deforested by farmers and ranchers. So the big question is what will happen to the other 38 per cent.

The more we get the Brazilian system to work, the more of that 38 per cent will be preserved and the less carbon reductions the whole world would have to make. But it takes money.

The residents of the Tapajos reserve are already organised into cooperatives that sell eco-tourism on rainforest trails, furniture and other wood products made from sustainable selective logging and a very attractive line of purses made from 'ecological leather' aka rainforest rubber. They also get government subsidies. There are community co-ops like this all over the protected areas of the Amazon rainforest.

But this system needs money - money to expand into more markets, money to maintain police monitoring and enforcement, and money to improve the productivity of farming on already degraded lands so that people won't eat up more rainforest. That is why we need to make sure that whatever energy-climate bill comes out of the US Congress, and whatever framework comes out of the Copenhagen conference next month, they include provisions for financing rainforest conservation systems like those in Brazil. The last 38 per cent of the Amazon is still up for grabs. It is there for us to save. Your grandchildren will thank you. -- NYT

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Push for Clean Energy: Shedding light on carbon dependence

Goh Sui Noi, Straits Times 12 Nov 09;

FOR the 200 residents of the remote Indian village of Kattehole in Karnataka state, life became literally brighter last year. Until then, the villagers, who did not have access to electricity, relied on kerosene-burning lamps that produced black, unhealthy soot. Bedtime was 7.30pm or 8pm simply because the lighting was too poor for them to do much else.

Then, in the middle of last year, a group of technicians from solar lighting company Selco came to demonstrate what their systems could do for the villagers. They were duly impressed but could not afford the initial cash outlay for the system, which cost 12,000 rupees (S$358) for a two-light system.

So, Selco helped 15 families secure loans with a rural bank, reported the Financial Times. Vegetable farmer Boralingaiaha, 41, will repay 250 rupees a month over four years for his two-light system, much less than the 100 rupees a week he forked out previously for five litres of kerosene. Now, children in Kattehole can study till 10pm.

Selco's solar lighting system brings good, clean lighting to remote areas that electricity grids do not reach - and more cheaply and efficiently to areas the grids do reach. In India, where disruptive power cuts can happen often, solar energy provides more reliable lighting.

Selco, founded by 39-year-old social entrepreneur Harish Hande, demonstrates that going green need not conflict with development and poverty alleviation. Started in 1995, the company has sold solar lighting systems to more than 95,000 village homes. It broke even in 2001 and made a profit every year thereafter until 2005, when a shortage of solar cells led to a spike in their prices. The company has secured new funding and hopes to be in the black within two years.

On a much larger scale, Lighting Africa, a World Bank Group initiative, aims to provide clean, affordable and efficient lighting products and services to 250 million sub-Saharan Africans by 2030. Many households and small businesses on the continent have no access to electricity grids. Like the Kattehole farmers, they rely on fuel-based sources such as kerosene lamps. Lighting is often the most expensive expenditure item for households, taking up 10 per cent to 15 per cent of their income.

Lighting Africa works with the private sector to develop products based on efficient lighting technologies such as light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, using renewable energy such as solar power.

Developing nations in Africa and Asia are well-placed to take a low-carbon growth path and alleviate poverty through sustainable means. Lacking in the polluting conventional power infrastructure of developed nations, they can start on a relatively clean slate. They can leapfrog old high-carbon technology and use green technologies. What they lack is funds to do so.

Mr Richie Ahuja, the India programme manager for the United States-based non-profit organisation Environmental Defence Fund, estimated that developing nations would need US$200 billion (S$277 billion) to US$500 billion annually to combat climate change. He further pointed out that while 15 per cent of global capital flows were public, the remaining 85 per cent were private. Clearly, the private sector has a huge role to play in funding projects to mitigate climate change.

And, as it had been pointed out, markets are created by public policy. Said WWF International director-general James Leape: 'Government policy on fossil fuels is making them cheaper than they may be.'

For example, energy subsidies are meant to bring social benefits, but subsidies can lead to wastage. Subsidising carbon-emitting fossil fuels encourages their use. A study by the International Energy Agency in 2006 showed that in the 20 largest non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, subsidies of fossil fuels made up US$170 billion of a total of US$220 billion in energy subsidies in 2005.

Energy subsidies reform should be undertaken so that subsidies enhance access to sustainable energy sources or have a positive impact on the environment, the United Nations Environment Programme has urged.

Such a reform would not only move public funds to projects that mitigate climate change, but also help unleash private funds in the same direction. This is because subsidies would make renewables profitable. In Denmark, where wind power is subsidised, nearly 20 per cent of its power is generated through wind turbines. A wind turbine industry has flourished, with Danish makers exporting 90 per cent of their products and accounting for half of the world's wind turbines.

What would really drive private-sector investments in green technologies would be the adoption of binding caps on carbon emissions by developed nations. Said Mr Ahuja: 'I believe this will unleash incredible amounts of capital for innovation, both product and process innovation, that will support climate- friendly development in both the developed and developing economies.'

Caps would effectively put a price on carbon and force companies to look for energy-efficient and clean technology solutions. Moreover, poor countries, with their low carbon emissions - an average of 1.6 tonnes per capita against 16 tonnes per capita for developed nations - can sell their carbon credits to rich countries and use the earnings to pay for their low-carbon solutions.

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Golf balls take 1,000 years to decompose

The Telegraph 11 Nov 09;

Golf balls are becoming a "major litter problem", according to scientists who have discovered that it takes between 100 and 1,000 years for one to decompose naturally.

In America alone, an estimated 300 million are lost each year and when scientists searched the bottom of Loch Ness searching for evidence of the monster they were startled to discover hundreds of thousands of the plastic balls.

Now the Danish Golf Association has conducted research into the environmental impact of the litter.

The scientists found that golf balls release a high quantity of heavy metals during decomposition, including dangerous levels of zinc found in solid core balls.

When submerged in water, the zinc attached itself to the ground sediment and poisoned the surrounding flora and fauna.

Torben Kastrup Petersen, course manager for the Danish Golf Union, said the scale of the problem is unknown.

"There has been very little research on the environmental impact of golf balls, but it's safe to say the indicators are not good. We are planning to collaborate with environmentalists in America to conduct more tests to fully explore the extent of the problem," he said.

Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, said: "From the moon to the bottom of Loch Ness, golf balls are humanity's signature litter in the most inaccessible locations.

"Keep your balls on the fairway or invest in a stock of biodegradable balls."

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 11 Nov 09

Volunteers needed to plant butterfly garden
from The Green Volunteers

Guest Lecture by Assoc Prof Yen Shen Horn
from Butterflies of Singapore

Of Dragons and Lizards – Mistaken Identities #4
from My Itchy Fingers

Eyes of the Peaceful Dove
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Butterflies@SBWR
from Life's Indulgences

Tiger Shrike catches a praying mantis
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Kind of a sad hermit crab
from Half a Bunny and the Salmon of Doubt

Marine expedition to Kumejima island
from Raffles Museum News

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World Bank, Singapore Launch Global Urban Strategy

Bernama 10 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- The World Bank and Singapore today launched a new global urban strategy that will guide bank advisory services and financing in the sector over the next decade.

The launch was at the inaugural World Bank-Singapore Infrastructure Finance Summit jointly organised by the World Bank Group, Singapore's Finance Ministry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in association with the Financial Times.

The summit highlighted the importance of urbanisation as a defining phenomenon of this century.

In the next two decades, cities are projected to expand by another two billion people while 90 per cent of urban population growth is expected to occur in the developing world, according to the World Bank.

In a joint statement with the Singapore government, the bank said developing countries needed assistance in facing this historically unprecedented pace of urbanisation, including anticipatory policies and financing for urban services.

"Urbanisation is a vital phase of development, and if managed well, it can be a key driver of long-term economic growth in a country," said World Bank's group president Robert B. Zoellick.

He said climate change, jobs, poverty, education, health, and infrastructure were all development challenges closely intertwined with cities.

"That's why it is so important for the global community to help developing countries address the urbanisation challenge," he added.

The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise and the World Bank will be signing memoranda of understanding with Mongolia, Vietnam and China, to provide the city-state's expertise to assist these governments in developing a regulatory and financing framework to prepare public-private partnership projects for private sector investment.

The cooperation will focus on development of commercially viable infrastructure projects in water and environmental management, power, expressways and roads.

-- BERNAMA

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NEA launches online digital game to raise environmental awareness among youths

Tyler Chao/Dylan Loh, Channel NewsAsia 11 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) has developed a new online digital game to engage younger Singaporeans in environmental issues.

In Operation Monster Annihilation and Control Enforcement (Operation MACE), a futuristic Singapore is invaded by a race of Aedes-mosquito-like aliens. The players are agents who need to protect Singapore against dengue.

The game was launched on Tuesday at the Clean and Green Singapore Schools' Carnival.

Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, said: "We are using new media to engage and educate our youths about environmental issues and getting them to adopt environmentally-friendly habits.

"And we think that this is the way to go because we cannot just rely on, you know, formal classroom teaching and so on."

In addition, the NEA has teamed up with MediaCorp to raise environmental awareness among students through the broadcaster's Roving DV contest.

Students from primary to tertiary institutions are invited to send in news clips about their schools' conservation efforts from January to July 2010.

The best clips will be selected and aired on News 5 Tonight in August 2010. The public can vote for their favourite stories via SMS.

- CNA/sc

Dengue dangers zapped in NEA-developed game
Straits Times 12 Nov 09;

CHILDREN are waging war against mosquitoes in an online game which aims to teach them about the harms of dengue even as they go on their mosquito-hunt.

Operation M.A.C.E, which stands for Monster Annihilation and Control Enforcement, is targeted at children aged between eight and 12.

In the game, which was developed by the National Environment Agency (NEA), players zap mosquito-like creatures that are plaguing Singapore.

The role-play game has three levels and is set in a futuristic Singapore where earth is under attack from the Mosqueros - mosquito-like baddies.

An enforcement task force of five heroes is set up to deal with this threat and dengue prevention messages pepper the game.

The game, launched yesterday at the annual Clean and Green Singapore Schools' Carnival in Anchor Green Primary School, got a thumbs up from Woodgrove Secondary student Nur Hasif Hasny. 'It's quite fun and the graphics are good. I'll be more careful about dengue in the future,' said the 13-year-old.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Environment and Water Resources) Amy Khor said engaging the young was a challenging task as the NEA found that only 60 per cent of students have educated their families on how to prevent mosquito breeding.

'By engaging young Singaporeans in such interesting, innovative and interactive ways, we aim to further promote environmental ownership among the generation who are savvy with the new media,' said Dr Khor.

NEA's 3P network division director Tan Wee Hock said the game aims to capitalise on the popularity of the Internet among the young.

He said: 'We hope the game will create greater awareness about dengue and get children to pass on the message to their parents - who are the ones who will take preventative measures.'

He said the game, which cost $50,000 to animate, could be adapted for other environmental issues such as chikungunya, which is also spread by the virus-carrying Aedes mosquito.

So far this year, there have been 3,897 cases of dengue, down from 5,361 during the same period last year.

To play the game, visit www.macecommand.com.sg.

VICTORIA VAUGHAN

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ST journalist wins green prize

Esther Teo, Straits Times 11 Nov 09;

STRAITS Times reporter Jessica Cheam has won a coveted green journalism prize conferred by the World Bank and Internews, a global media organisation.

The Earth Journalism award, as it is known, honours people who have used their communication skills to promote awareness of climate change issues.

Ms Cheam, 26, won one of 15 regional or thematic awards in a field that attracted 900 professional and citizen journalists from across the world.

Her prize includes an all-expenses paid trip to cover the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month.

As one of the 15 winners, she is also in the running for the Global Public Award. For this, the public votes through online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The top gong and the 15 awards will be presented at a ceremony in Copenhagen during the climate change talks.

Ms Cheam, who has been covering the environment and energy issues for two years, clinched the award with a six-page Saturday Special report for The Straits Times in February.

Over four months, she spent countless hours researching issues, even trekking through frigid Calgary, a temperate Houston in winter, and Bintulu in Sarawak to profile the changing face of the energy industry.

The research also involved interviewing leaders such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi in January to compile the report on the world's rapidly evolving energy landscape and the global shift towards renewable power.

The scope of the project was so wide that it was no easy task. However, Ms Cheam successfully weaved together a comprehensive coverage.

Mr Arul Louis, a fellow at Knight International, an American group that helps develop journalistic standards, was the regional juror in the awards process and described the report as providing 'tenacious and consistent coverage'.

Ms Cheam said yesterday: 'Some people find the energy topic boring and are not interested, but its profile has broadened to include clean energy. It's not just about engineers in dirty overalls anymore.'

'I find climate change a fascinating, multi-disciplinary subject. Besides the intellectual stimulation, I find reporting on it an emotionally rewarding experience as well,' she added.

Ms Cheam has also taken her passion to the Internet, helping to initiate Eco-business.com, the Asia-Pacific region's first dedicated site for environmental businesses.

The site - a non-profit project jointly funded by herself, the British High Commission here and the Singapore Environment Council - will be officially launched tomorrow.

It will share information to help put Asia on a sustainable growth path and tap into a network of environment journalists from the region to contribute to the site.

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Indonesian forests on frontline of climate debate

Jerome Rivet Yahoo News 10 Nov 09;

TELUK MERANTI, Indonesia (AFP) – With the approach of global climate talks in Copenhagen, activists are hoping to draw world attention to their fight to save the last tropical forests on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

If successful, they believe they will slow global warming by preventing the carbon trapped in the forest's timbers and dense peat soils from being released through logging and clearing.

In the complicated argot of climate negotiations, the idea is called REDD: Reducing Emmissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

"We are here on the frontline of forest and climate destruction. This forest is under immediate threat," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said.

The battleground is the Kampar peninsular, 400,000 hectares (988,420 acres) of exuberant nature which is home to rare species such as Sumatran tigers, as well as indigenous people who live on fishing and gathering.

The spongy, peat soil that feeds the forest has stored organic material over thousands of years to a depth of about 20 metres (66 feet), forming part of one of the largest natural carbon "sinks" in the world.

The clearing and burning of Indonesia's peatlands account for four percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Greenpeace.

Vast areas of peatland and other forests have been cleared for pulp, paper and the booming palm oil industry, making Indonesia the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world after China and the United States.

Emissions linked to forest destruction account for about 80 pecent of the 2.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming -- released each year by the Southeast Asian archipelago, according to government estimates.

Environment group WWF says forest loss and degradation, peat decomposition and fires in Riau province, which includes Kampar, cause annual carbon emissions equivalent to 122 percent of the Netherlands' total annual emissions.

But if the government gets its way, Kampar's peatlands will be drained and its carbon-rich forests turned into acacia plantations.

That's the plan of Indonesia's Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Ltd. (APRIL), one of the world's biggest pulp and paper companies, which has been given a huge concession over most of Kampar.

Not surprisingly, the company says it is helping to "manage" the forest for its own good. The acacia project will also create 20,000 jobs, it says.

"Leaving the Kampar peatland forests unmanaged will only accelerate the deforestation and degradation," APRIL sustainability director Neil Franklin said.

"This area is currently under serious threat of unabated degradation through population pressures, slash-and-burn farming, illegal logging and fires."

APRIL says it is negotiating with the Teluk Meranti forest people to "design a comprehensive community development programme" including scholarships, assistance to health services and infrastructure such as mosques and schools.

"We do not believe in giving money. Our philosophy is to teach them how to fish to feed themselves instead of giving them the fish," Franklin said.

Teluk Meranti villager Iras confirms that APRIL's offer has been the subject of much discussion among locals, who are unsure how to resist the might of the pulp-and-paper giant.

The 29-year-old fisherman says he is ready to give up his traditional land if the company pays "around 70 million rupiah" (7,350 dollars) per person and provides land for villagers to plant oil palms.

Others, however, warn against the lure of quick money.

"All our life comes from the forest. If we lose that, we lose our means of subsistence and our traditions," said village elder Mohammed Yusuf.

"The community is too weak to fight the company. It has everything: money, power, connections with politicians... It is very influential."

One way to overcome the power of the pulp companies, according to Greenpeace and other environmental groups, is for rich countries to intervene financially and make REDD part of a future global climate pact.

This would put avoided deforestation at the heart of carbon markets, creating a powerful incentive for countries like Indonesia to stop cutting down trees.

"Indonesia can eliminate, or at least dramatically reduce, its emissions from peatland," said Paul Winn, Greenpeace's Sydney-based forest and climate campaigner.

"For that, we are calling on industrial countries to give more money to help developing countries to compensate communities and to protect intact forests."

Companies like APRIL should get out of forests and do their business on degraded, low-carbon land, he said.

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