The environment in the news wednesday, 22 August 2007 unep and the Executive Director in the News
Terra Daily : ASEAN urged to muster political will to deal with forest fire haze
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Terra Daily : ASEAN urged to muster political will to deal with forest fire hazeby Staff Writers, Singapore (AFP) Aug 20, 2007 Southeast Asian leaders were urged Monday to muster the political will to tackle the problem of forest fire haze that blankets the region regularly during their summit in Singapore later this year. Regional think tanks, environmental groups and academics said the smog -- caused mainly by burnings in Indonesia --- is contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions and could impact on climate change if left unchecked. In a statement following a one-day dialogue here, the delegates acknowledged some "positive steps" taken by Indonesia to deal with the problem, but said Jakarta and the region needed to do more. "The dialogue called for ASEAN leaders to give attention to the haze," said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, which co-organised the event. He said the delegates welcomed the intention of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders to focus on environmental issues at their summit in Singapore in November, hoping "that this would provide political will" to address the problem. Tay said the delegates, including those from the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and Center for International Forestry, "highlighted the connections between the regional haze pollution and fires and the global challenge of climate change." Smoggy haze from the fires on Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan regions had sent air pollution levels in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore to unhealthy levels several times last year. While the haze has not affected major cities in the region this year, this was attributed mainly to the wet weather and favourable wind direction. Sundari Ramakrishna, coordinator fo the Malaysian Environmental NGOs, said the Indonesian fires are expected to continue in the next 20-30 years if big palm oil plantations continue to clear peatlands to grow the plant. Oil palm has a variety of uses, providing ingredients for disinfectants, pharmaceuticals, cooking oil, soap and biofuels. The increasing need for cleaner energy, such as biofuels -- which can be derived from palm oil -- has also led to the clearing of more forests. With more agricultural land lost to urbanisation, palm oil firms have moved further inland to clear tropical peatlands, Ramakrishna said. Many of these companies use fire to clear the land because it is cheaper. But tropical peatlands consist of several layers of dead leaves, plant material and other forest debris that can build up to 20 metres (66 feet) deep, causing the fire to burn for several months. Indonesia and Malaysia have more than 20 million hectares, or 60 percent, of the world's tropical peatlands, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study on the haze problem published in 2001. "We are dealing with very huge players in the world," Ramakrishna said, referring to the palm oil plantations. "Forests are not being cleared for agriculture. There's this big monoculture for oil palm -- this big monster they have created," she said. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/ASEAN_urged_to_muster_political_will_to_deal_with_forest_fire_haze_999.html ........................................................ Channel NewsAsia : Regional Haze Dialogue works on new strategies to fight climate changePosted: 20 August 2007 SINGAPORE : Representatives from five South East Asian countries along with Japan and Australia took part in a Regional Haze Dialogue in Singapore on Monday. The Dialogue was co-organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia and the Institute of Strategic and International Studies of Malaysia. They are coming up with fresh strategies they hope their governments can adopt to address the global climate change issue. This month marks the 10th anniversary of the record haze that blanketed much of Southeast Asia. And thanks partially to luck with wet weather, forecasts of another bad fog-out have failed to materialise so far this year. But experts are warning against complacency. Drawing links between forest fires and global climate change, the experts emphasised how the recurrence of carbon-rich haze caused by illegal fires in Indonesia's vast tropical peatlands may help fuel global warming if left unchecked. The meeting comes ahead of November's ASEAN Leaders Summit in Singapore and the UN-sponsored Bali Climate Change conference in December. In a statement following a one-day dialogue here, the delegates acknowledged some "positive steps" taken by Indonesia to deal with the problem, but said Jakarta and the region needed to do more. Associate Professor Simon Tay, Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs, says: "All the participants at the dialogue really welcomed ASEAN's focus on the environment. They were quick to say that if we look at our region, there are many issues on the table. "But the haze and the underlying causes of deforestation and unsustainable development of the economy like palm oil - these really are issues that must be first and foremost when the ASEAN summit talks about the environment. Because when the summit meets, this gives us the opportunity for leaders at the very top to really set a very strong political tone and help coordinate the different agencies of forestry, agriculture, economics with this environment issue." - CNA/ch http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/295063/1/.html ………………………… ABC : Eco-millionaires see boom times aheadUpdated Tue Aug 21, 2007 Australian entrepreneur David Scaysbrook says three things pushed up share valuations in the wind power industry [File photo]. (Reuters: Fabrizio Bensch) Mankind's response to climate change will shift how the world gets its energy and is already making "green barons" out of early investors in renewable energy, clean technologies and carbon trading. Four entrepreneurs who are cashing in on the energy revolution say there is more money to be made. Australian David Scaysbrook, 43, founder of Novera Energy, made more than $7 million when he cashed in some of his shares in the wind power and landfill gas firm he founded in 1998. He has about 6 million worth of shares invested in Novera and carbon cutter Camco International, which he advises. He says three things pushed up share valuations in the wind power industry. First, people were more worried about energy security and producing energy themselves. Second, the cost of traditional energy sources such as oil and gas had gone up. Third, tax breaks, subsidies and emissions caps had prompted even more conservative investors "to finally move off their perch". "The scale of investment to date is nothing compared to what is coming," he said. "The ['business of green'] bubble aspect is ill-informed investors chasing pipe-dream technology. "For example, there are hundreds of firms competing for the next generation of technology in solar panels but it won't necessarily be the best technology that wins." Opportunities Bruce Khouri, 48, co-founder of Solar Integrated Technologies based in the US, made $US5 million by cashing in shares in the company. He still has a $US11 million stake in the company, which makes lightweight solar panels for commercial roofs. He saw the opportunity while running his own industrial roofing firm. "It hasn't been easy but we transformed an old-world roofing material into a renewable energy technology," he said. "It's a miracle Solar Integrated is still here but a pioneer charging across the prairie is bound to get hit by a few arrows." As long ago as the early 1990s, Mr Khouri saw a market for flexible solar panels which could be laminated on to large roofs, such as warehouses. He did not found Solar Integrated until 2001 once tax and subsidy incentives made the market more attractive. He says the "business of green" is not a bubble. "For political reasons the United States has been behind others on green issues, but once it catches up it will be a domino effect," he said. "In 20 years they won't talk about regular roofing because it just won't exist ... there is so much rooftop real estate that is completely under-utilised. "And 50 years from now every bit of a building that is struck by the sun will be generating power in some way." Carbon trading Pedro Moura Costa, 44, co-founder of Oxford-based EcoSecurities in the United Kingdom, $US10 million when he sold some shares in the firm which helps convert emission cuts into tradable carbon credits. His remaining shares are worth about $US73 million. "I saw the carbon market could be big business and the Kyoto Protocol confirmed my views, but I didn't expect it to take 10 years to come into force," he said. Mr Moura Costa was working as a forester in Malaysia when he saw the potential for an international carbon credit market. He spent the early 1990s advising on a project to plant trees in Borneo to compensate for extra carbon pollution from new power plants in the Netherlands. "It's become quite obvious we do something now or it will be an irreversible trend with catastrophic consequences," he said. "The only chance of it being a bubble is if we lack the political commitment to drive emission reductions worldwide. "If we do that we might as well forget about any environmental effort whatsoever because climate change is hitting us hard and the trend is likely to accelerate. "I think it's very unlikely political support will go away." Neil Eckert, chief executive of Climate Exchange, which runs the main European exchange for carbon trading, has shares worth about $US36 million. He is also non-executive chairman of Trading Emissions and Econergy, both involved in emission-cutting projects and generating revenue from carbon credits. But despite the high paper value of his holdings in Climate Exchange, Mr Eckert has yet to cash in. He already made millions selling his shares in Brit Insurance, which he set up and ran for 10 years until 2005. He also says the "business of green" is not a bubble. "We have the biggest opportunity to replace fossil fuel, which has a market capitalisation of hundreds of billions of pounds, but it's vital we listen to the scientific consensus and create a financial solution," he said. "I believe we have a chance to meet the stated mitigation targets much quicker than people think ... but it depends on whether people believe money can be made." http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/21/2010484.htm?section=business ……………………………………….. 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