Perspective

Spatial distribution of SO2 from ships around Hong Kong, 2008
October 03, 2012
Finally, some data. A couple of weeks ago Civic Exchange and two Hong Kong universities released a report detailing the extent of emissions from ships in the Pearl River Delta region, and their public health impact. It’s a groundbreaking study. Using 2008 data, researchers from HKUST did a ship emissions inventory of vessels activity across the PRD. They then calculated the dispersion of the pollutants, which showed that Shenzhen and Hong Kong have the most ship emissions, ahead of other coastal PRD regions such as Zhongshan and Dongguan, and outer PRD regions, like Foshan and Huizhou.
Ralls Corp's wind farm on disputed territory
October 03, 2012
US President Barack Obama is to be sued by a Chinese-owned wind farm company. In another nasty twist to US/China trade relations Ralls Corp – which is part owned by Sany Group, China’s biggest machinery maker – says it plans to sue the president over the unconstitutional act of blocking a wind farm near to a US navy test site in Oregon. In fact four sites came under Obama's edict that their operation by Ralls was considered to be a security risk based on a report by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Southeast Asia renewables
October 02, 2012
The South-East Asia and Pacific region is blessed with abundant sources of 'green' energy — including sun, wind, water, biomass and geothermal — but governments are still not doing enough to harness them. The 30 countries in this part of the world are sitting just a few degrees below and above the equator, and enjoy an estimated 300 days of sunshine a year. Advances in photovoltaic (PV) technology mean that solar energy can be harnessed even on cloudy days during the rainy season.
India's Taj Mahal reflect sustainability
September 26, 2012
The circular from the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 13 August 2012 finally addressed some of the issues that have been raised about recent regulation on extra financial disclosures in Indian capital markets. It comes as a follow-up to the SEBI Board’s landmark decision in November 2011 that mandated ESG disclosures from the Top 100 listed companies. The comply-or-explain stance on revelation of policy and the nine principles laid out in the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business, published by Ministry of Corporate Affairs in July 2011, provides a good starting point
Combined wind and solar farm
September 12, 2012
A few years ago the clean energy industry seemed to be entering a golden age of limitless growth and infinite potential, the arrival of a new Aquarian age of progressive environmental business. The arrival of the global financial crisis, coinciding with the failed Copenhagen climate talks, put an end to all that, writes Michael Liebreich, Chief Executive, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, on the company's website.
Hong Kong pedestrian traffic
September 10, 2012
The Hong Kong Government had just announced plans to outfit various outdoor areas with lifts. Whether it was political convenience or largess, the Chief Executive, Leung Chin-Ying, has promised a hefty outlay of HK$100 million (USD12.8 million) on planning and HK$1 billion (USD128 million) each year for constructing some 230 new outdoor lifts across the city. This is quite a commitment from the newly incumbent Chief, who has had a string of bad press and is facing a volatile public, two months into his term.
Hong Kong wealth
August 23, 2012
In a recent publication called the 2012 Wealth Report, Knight Frank Research and Citi Private Bank made the bold prediction that by the year 2050, the wealthiest four economies measured by GDP per capita would be in Asia. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea will stand atop the world, with the United States ringing in 5th. By 2050 Hong Kong’s GDP per capita is projected to be USD116,639, a whopping 157 percent increase over the 2010 figure of USD45,301. Before we start salivating over our predicted future wealth, however, we must first consider the many challenges of realizing this level of economic growth in a sustainable way.
Suntech binned
August 21, 2012
The past two weeks have seen the Chinese solar energy pioneer Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd plunge into a downward spiral after revelations of questionable accounting, leaving the firm on the edge of financial collapse and its fate largely in the hands of Beijing.  But rather than rescue Suntech, Beijing should let the company collapse to send a message that it won't support companies that engage in such financial shenanigans.
Hong Kong skyline at night
August 09, 2012
Hong Kong is the most livable city on Earth! Really? Well, that’s the conclusion drawn by Filippo Lovato, the winner of an Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) competition that challenged participants to find innovative ways of defining what it meant to be the world’s “best city.” After a carefree honeymoon period when we relished our new status — (take that Melbourne and Vienna!) — a suffocating dose of smog choked us back to reality.
India's Prime Minister faces the blackout
August 02, 2012
To paraphrase wit and playwright Oscar Wilde: “To lose one grid, Mr Singh, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness”. For India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the power collapse of, eventually, three power grids over two days leaving more than 600 million people without electricity, should be the starkest message yet that India and its politicians need to stop pandering to populism, bite-the-bullet on economic reforms and clean up its legal and regulatory act.
Philippine e-trike
July 31, 2012
The Philippine’s trikes (motorized tricycles) – the country’s most ubiquitous form of transport – are set for a major makeover with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of the Philippines envisaging having up to 100,000 electricity-powered trikes on the road by 2020. An estimated 3.5 million trikes currently ply the country’s streets with 200,000 in Metro Manila, the national capital. As well as causing roadside air and noise pollution the nation’s trike fleet also releases an estimated 10 million tonnes of CO2 every year according to the ADB. The transport sector is the Philippines’ largest source of carbon emissions.
London's Olympic Park site - before and after
July 27, 2012
The London Olympics 2012, which start today with the much-anticipated opening ceremony, is hoping to be the greenest Olympics in history. The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for building the Olympic Park, acknowledged from the beginning that the construction would impact the environment. Thus, they have taken a number of measures to reduce the impact of their construction work - reducing energy use, protecting wildlife, managing air and water quality, and reducing waste. These showcase what can be achieved by construction projects across the globe.
Picking over a Guangzhou landfill
July 25, 2012
Like many of China's rapidly growing cities, Guangzhou is under siege from landfill. The southern city produces about 18,000 tonnes of household waste every day, 14,000 tonnes of which needs to be disposed of after sorting and recycling. That is as much as the city can handle. Some of the waste is incinerated, but most is sent to landfill, and dumping grounds are slowly surrounding the city. In a controversial move, the city decided from July to start charging residents for waste disposal according to the number of rubbish bags used. An additional charge will be applied for excess waste.
Palm oil plantatation
July 23, 2012
The world's palm oil industry is going through upheavals which bodes ill for the forests of south east Asia and is likely to have impacts as far away as Africa.The markets for palm oil are shifting, refined material prices are dropping, local tariffs are changing and the sustainable land-base is shrinking. These volatile market conditions are being faced by huge conglomerates, many of which have been implicated in breaking laws, ethics and green credentials in the past.
Money down the drain
July 19, 2012
The idea of setting up a conservation trust in Hong Kong has been on the back burner for a number of years but the city’s incumbent Chief Executive, Leung Chun-Ying, is providing new hope that a government-backed trust organization will finally get its wings. Trusts are non-profit organizations that are committed to preserving the cultural landscape and ecological heritage for the public good, indefinitely. Well-known organizations such as the National Trust in the UK have been around for over a century and are seen by the British public as a steward of places significant to its cultural past.
East Asia sea congress
July 17, 2012
Noting what's not said is often as revealing as what is being said. And such were two examples from South Korea this week. Its press was surprisingly quiet on the conclusion of the five-day East Asian Seas Congress 2012 that's just ended in Changwon, in the south of the country. It was almost as quiet as the South Korean government on leaked news that an internal report scrapped its plan to resume "scientific" whaling, apparently because of fierce international pressure. The man at the ministry just wouldn't say.
Rainforest bond
July 16, 2012
Tropical forests cover about 15 percent of the world’s land surface but every year around 13 million hectares of forest are cleared for crop cultivation, cattle, logging and mining (FAO 2010). Forests are both carbon guzzlers (sinks) and emitters (sources) and deforestation and forest degradation accounts for a whopping 15-17 percent of man-made GHG emissions each year. In the context of climate change, a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions is needed by 2030 to prevent global temperature rising above 2 degrees Celsius (IPCC 2007, AR4) but the positive news is that reducing deforestation is the “single largest opportunity for cost-effective and immediate reductions of carbon emissions.”
Hong Kong water supply
July 05, 2012
In the 15 years since it returned to Chinese sovereignty Hong Kong has survived many uncertainties and crises but the place still lacks a sense of “staying vigilant in peace time”, in order to better prepare for future challenges. This is especially so in the case of water, a key issue that has been neglected for too long. The Dongguan–Shenzhen Water Project started to export water to HK in 1965, since when it has seldom suffered from water restrictions. In the past 30 years, HK has been able to supply water 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
Tress provide a natural filtering service
July 03, 2012
Despite the collective groan over Rio+20’s lack of political leadership and a global process that is failing to urgently address our planetary challenges; the contrast between Rio’s Earth Summit 20 years ago and now, could hardly be greater. Back then, the spirit of sustainability was idealistic, not entirely understood and it then took some time for people to put it into practice and get fuddled by its complexity. Compare this to the current polarized ‘sustainability everything’ and surely we should be applauding Brazil’s canny negotiators for getting to any agreement at all - even if it is a hortatory, non-binding statement called “The Future We Want”.
Sha Zukang and Dilma Rousseff happy to see the end of Rio+20
June 25, 2012
It took more than a year of preparatory negotiations and somewhere between 45,000 and 50,000 people converged Rio from all corners of the global to “chew the fat” for up to 10 days (since there are always pre-meeting meetings and parallel “summits”) but what, in the end, did the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development actually achieve? According to Sha Zukang, a Chinese diplomat who had the unenviable job of being Secretary-General of Rio+20, a "substantive" outcome document has been adopted.