Hong Kong is believed to be the world's worst city for light pollution, with levels in the popular tourist shopping area of Tsim Sha Tsui, 1,200 times brighter than a normal dark sky. Unlike other world cities - including London, Frankfurt, Sydney and Shanghai - Hong Kong has no laws to control external lighting.
The findings were described as shocking by survey leader Dr Jason Pun Chun-shing, of the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong, who said he could find nowhere else on earth as badly affected.
Singapore will enforce Euro V emission standards from January 1, 2014 on new diesel vehicles, according to Vivian Balakrishnan, the environment and water resources minister.
More than 3,300 decomposing pigs have been pulled from the upper reaches of Shanghai’s Huangpu River – a source of drinking water for some of the mega-city’s 23 million inhabitants – but the authorities insist the city’s tap water is still safe to drink.
In a stark illustration of China's problems with environmental pollution, authorities had little immediate explanation on how so many dead pigs ended up in the river or what killed them.
In yet another effort to spur sales of electric vehicles, Beijing authorities announced yesterday that new buyers will not be obliged to participate in the city’s car license plate lottery.
Hundreds of items of medical waste, including syringes and infusion bags, have been found washed up on a beach at a Hong Kong residential resort, according to local English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
China vehicle manufacturer Geely Holding Group has urged the government to include other types of fuel-efficient cars such as hybrids in its subsidy program.
The Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced plans to conduct a three-year study to evaluate the general health of residents of the 10 most polluted cities so to develop an early warning system for the public.
Hong Kong should be a walker’s paradise. It is compact and dense, with a large number of amenities concentrated in a very small space. Few errands require the use of a car, and in fact over 90 percent of daily journeys occur on public transportation.
Walk Score, a US-based website which calculates walkability based on the proximity and concentration of amenities in a neighborhood, gives much of urban Hong Kong scores of 70/100 or above. Moreover, Hong Kong has a vibrant street food and market culture, boasting areas with enough complexity and variety to keep people entertained for hours. Yet Hong Kongers do not seem to enjoy walking.
Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang announced funding plans for water improvement, recycling and waste treatment facilities, and other measures to improve environmental infrastructure in what is being described as an “overly cautious” budget.
The Philippine Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has announced a PHP100 billion (USD2.45 billion) program of water infrastructure projects this year.
The chickens from China’s decades-long custom of turning a blind eye to the damage inflicted on its environment in return for developing an economic powerhouse are finally coming home to roost as an increasingly-agitated populace demands action from its leaders.
With suffocating smog in Beijing and other major cities still making headlines around the world, renewed focus is now being turned on China’s deplorable fresh water conditions as the government scrambles to show it is in control by issuing reams of new standards on industrial pollution and promising to punish violators.
More than 20 million daily journeys were made by public transport last year, with 44 percent of commuters choosing public transportation, which was the highest in the country, according to a report in Beijing Daily. The percentage is expected to reach 50 percent in 2015.
Despite plans to invest up to USD850 billion over the next ten years in a bid to improve filthy water supplies, experts warn of minimal impact on the damage caused by decades of pollution during China’s rapid economic growth. Rather than more cost-effectively preventing pollution at source, money is being poured into water treatment and desalination.
The central government has earmarked 4 trillion yuan (USD650 million) for investment in rural water conservation projects between 2011 and 2020 – four times as much as was spent in the previous decade.
The Thai government faces a legal challenge to the bidding procedures for a THB350 billion (USD11.7 billion) water-management scheme – drawn up in the wake of massive flooding in 2011 - over concerns about the likelihood of corruption in the contract process.
The major elements of the scheme have also been criticized by a Japanese expert as being unnecessary, which will reinforce local concerns that – like many major infrastructure projects in Thailand – it is a boondoggle designed to line the pockets of politicians and bureaucrats.
Shanghai Electric and Siemens have announced the completion of the 50-MW wind power plant at Guangrao in China’s Shandong Provice. It is the first project jointly delivered by the two companies which signed an alliance at the end of 2011, using two subsidiaries - Siemens Wind Power Turbines (Shanghai) and Shanghai Electric Wind Energy Co.
This report by the World Bank spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
Companies in Asia reveal expectations that regulations that could lead to rising costs for reporting and reducing GHG emissions will also be the main sources of climate-related business opportunities.
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